Sha'ar Ha'araiot

The Lion Gate

• Lions' Gate;
• The Gate of Jehoshafat;
• St. Mary's Gate - Bab Sitt Miriam;
• St.Stephen's Gate;
• The Gate of the Tribes.

• This gate takes its name from the heraldic lions which are carved in stone relief on either side of the gate.
• In the Middle Ages the Christians called it the Gate of Jehoshafat. This was later changed to St. Stephen's Gate as he is said to have been stoned to death nearby.
• They also call it St. Mary's Gate - Bab Sitt Miriam by the Christians due to the proximity of her tomb.
• The Arabs call it the 'The Gate of the Tribes".

Distinctive Feature:
A pair of lions carved into the stonework on each side of the arch.

Design
The gate had an L-shaped internal structure which was later removed to provide access for motor vehicles.

Date:
1538-39.

In the early 1500s before the walls were rebuilt, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent captured Jerusalem. He imposed heavy taxes on its Jewish inhabitants who were unable to raise the money. One night he had a nightmare in which two pairs of lions were ferociously attacking him. His advisers told him that his dream was a heavenly warning of his downfall for wanting to harm the Jews. Out of sheer fright the Sultan decided to help the Jews and promptly set about rebuilding the city wall in order to protect its inhabitants. This took seven years. As a final gesture Suleiman ordered that the two pairs of lions which had appeared in his dream be engraved into the stonework on either side of the arch. The Lions' Gate is in the same stretch of wall as the Gate of Mercy. It is the only open gate on the east wall of the Old City. There is a tradition that the lions are symbols of the thirteenth century Mamluk ruler Beybars.

Israeli paratroopers from the 55th Paratroop Brigade came into the Old City through Sha'ar Ha'araiot during the Six Day War in June 1967, and raised the Israeli flag above the Temple Mount, liberating the Old City of Jerusalem.

The lion is the symbol of the City of Jerusalem.