Appendix 1: A Basic Summary of [Important]
Events in the History of the
Golden Gate
Footnotes added recently; originally, works were cited here only
by the author names, since they had full citations in
Appendix 2.
(Copyright © 1975, 2023 by Daniel B. Sedory)
NOTE: This is a summary of many sources I used when researching for my paper about the Golden Gate.
These Appendices show how
much time one needed to spend reading many different books in various libraries for just a simple study on the gates of Jerusalem — before the Internet existed.
1. Date of Construction Probably Late Fifth Century [After original temple walls were destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE and the city walls significantly damaged and left in disrepair].
Although some would place this in the seventh century A.D.[1] [2] or "the beginning of the Moslem occupation" ("probably dates from the early days of Islam"[3]), there is evidence that it already existed as early in the sixth century from a "description given by Antoninus Martyr [whom we know today as actually being an anonymous pilgrim from Piacenza] (circa 570 A.D.)"[4] and from its depiction in the Ma’dabā mosaic map which dates from the 6th century A.D.[5] Therefore, Gray describes it as "a Byzantine work of the fifth century A.D." (Gray, p. 225), and many simply refer to it as "Byzantine".[6] [7] An old (1902) Bible encyclopedia simply stated that the gate "is no older than the time of Constantine"[8] [c. 280-337 A.D.].
Builder. If the gate was constructed before the sixth century, Eudocia may receive the credit for initiating the work (she died in Jerusalem, 460 A.D.).[9] In the 6th century, Justinian I (483-565 A.D.) or his wife Theodora (circa 500-548 A.D.) could be credited for the work - which is surprisingly suggested by Gray (p. 261). "There is as wide a degree of disagreement as to the identity of the person who erected the present gate as there are people expounding theories on the subject" (Steckoll, p. 32).
2. Date of Closure Probably more than once and the last time in mid sixteenth century.
There is a great variety of conflicting opinions as to when the Golden Gate was last sealed. This conflict appears to stem from the lack of knowledge as to what the conquerors of Jerusalem decided to do with the gate during its many "Christian" liberations from the Muslims. That the gate has been closed for at least four and a half centuries appears to be unquestioned. According to Gray, it was walled up by the Muslims sometime between 1537 and 1542 (Gray, p. 261). Without any further explanation, Howard F. Vos said, "It was blocked up by the Turks in 1530"[10] The majority of the authors would agree that sultan Suleiman sealed it [for the last time in the mid sixteenth century].
The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted from 1099 to 1187, and was again in "Christian" hands from 1229 to 1239 and from 1243 to 1244. "With the expulsion of the crusaders... in A.D. 1187," the gate was sealed "prob. for security reasons" (Payne, "Jerusalem," p. 488). [However,] "Except for a short period during the time of the crusades," states Moshe Tavor, "this gate has been walled up since the eighth century." (See Appendix 2, for both Tavor and Steckoll, pp. 31-32.)
3. Site of structure (Not a Temple gate).
The gate may rest on the same site as the old Susa Gate, but it ts definitely not to be identified with the Gate Beautiful (Parrot, p.83, 88; Steckoll, pp. 31-32; Payne, "Jerusalem," p. 488; Stigers, p. 649).[11]
Appendix 2 (Full Contextual Quotations of Sources Cited here and in Paper).
1[Return to Text] Moshe Tavor, Jerusalem - Text by Moshe Tavor, Translated by Maria Pelikan. New York: Hill and Wang, Inc., 1969; p. 115.
2[Return to Text] J. Boudet, ed., Jerusalem: A History (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1967), p. 207.
3[Return to Text] Andre Parrot, The Temple of Jerusalem New York: Philosophical Library, 1955; p. 83.
4[Return to Text] Solomon H. Steckoll, The Gates of Jerusalem (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, 1968), p. 33
5[Return to Text] John Gray, A History of Jerusalem New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, 1969; pp. 202-203.
6[Return to Text] J.B. Payne, "Jerusalem," in The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Merrill C. Tenney, ed., Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1975, 1976; Vol. 3, p. 488.
7[Return to Text] H. G. Stigers, "Temple, Jerusalem," in Ibid.; Vol. 5, p. 651.
8[Return to Text] Rt. Rev. Samuel Fallows, ed., The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopaedia Chicago: The Howard-Severance Co., 1902; Volume 2, p. 938.
9[Return to Text] "The evidence we have regarding the construction of the city wall and its rehabilitation is from the fifth century CE and is ascribed to the Empress Eudocia (Eudoxia) who was famous for having ‘expanded the borders of Jerusalem and reinforcing its walls’." from: "The Conservation of Jerusalem's city Walls," “The Byzantine Period, 326-638 CE” at antiquities.org.il.
10[Return to Text] Charles F. Pfeiffer, Howard F. Vos and John Rea, eds., Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia Chicago: Moody Press, 1975; Vol. 1, p. 656, caption under the picture.
11[Return to Text] H.W. Hoehner, "Suggested Plan of Herod’s Temple" in article “Herod” in Ibid. (Zondervan Encyclopedia), Vol 3., p. 135.
First Published on: 24 SEP 2023 (2023.09.24).
Updated on: 01 OCT 2023 (2023.10.01); changed Intro and added link to Appendix 2.
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