Bible Questions and Answer

Nehemiah 3 describes the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls, section by section, and names about ten gates along the way. It starts with the Sheep Gate, near the temple, rebuilt by the high priest and his fellow priests. Then come the Fish Gate, probably where fish sellers from the coast brought their goods, the Jeshanah or Old Gate, the Valley Gate facing the Hinnom Valley, the Dung Gate leading to the city dump, the Fountain Gate near the Pool of Siloam, the Water Gate near the Gihon Spring, the Horse Gate, the East Gate and the Inspection Gate. Different families and groups took responsibility for sections, often the part near their own homes. The whole wall was finished in fifty-two days. The gates of today's Old City are different. They were built by the Ottomans in the 1500s and include the Jaffa Gate, Damascus Gate, Lions' Gate, Zion Gate and a Dung Gate that reuses the old name.