Gates of the Temple Mount
The Temple Mount, a holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem, also known as the al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf or Al-Aqsa, contains twelve gates. One of the gates, Bab as-Sarai, is currently closed to the public but was open under Ottoman rule. There are also six other sealed gates. This does not include the Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem which circumscribe the external walls except on the east side.
List of openable gates
The following is an anti-clockwise list of gates which open onto the Al-Aqsa Compound. Currently eleven gates are open to the Muslim public. Non-Muslims are only permitted to enter through the Magharibah gate. The keys to all the gates, with the exception of the Magharibah gate are held by the Islamic Waqf; they can only open or close gates with the permission of Israel.Gate of the Tribes (Bab al-Asbat)
The Gate of the Tribes is located at the north-eastern corner of the compound. Its name refers to the Twelve Tribes of Israel who left Egypt and came to the Holy Land/Bayt al-Maqdis to find the Promised Land. Bab al-Asbāt is located to the east of the short northern side of the compound. Behind the gate, there is also a road as the Lions' Gate in the old city.Asbāt gate is one of the important ancient gates and the gate names had been given by Ibn al-Fakih and Ibn Abd' Rabbih two earliest authorities. The Asbāt gate was first built by the Mamluk ruler Baybars. Later, the door was renewed by Sultan Süleyman I during the Ottoman period. According to a legend, Sultan Suleyman I, who had a bad dream, is claimed to have started to renew the walls of Jerusalem after this dream.
The Asbāt gate is located on the northern wall of the Haram al-Sharif and it is in the double gateway also, it is almost directly opposite Ahwab Mihrab Mariam. The entrance to the gate is impressively decorated. There has the single opening of a semicircular arch with a distinctive 45-degree chamfer and segmental inner arch at the part of the gate that has reached the present time, also the masonry of the wall shows that there are two gates because 1.20 meters of the gate wall reaches to the west side. According to Ratrout, the Early Muslim architecture of Bab al-Asbāt and its dimensions coincide with those of Bab al-Hashmi. Bab al-Asbāt is 2.81 meters in the width of the doorway, 3.30 meters in the width of the inner threshold of the doorway, and 4.30 meters in height of its arch. Due to its level with the ground, this gate is the only gate through which ambulances can enter the mosque in case of emergency.
Gate of Remission (Bab al-Hitta)
The Gate of Remission, where 'remission' means 'forgiveness', is located on the north side, about westward of the far eastern-end of the Temple Mount. It is one of the oldest gates of the Al-Aqsa compound, and is the main entrance for visitors entering from the northern side of the city of Jerusalem, including the neighborhood of Bab Huta.The gate is said to have taken its Arabic name from a verse in the Quran, which has a reference to 'remission of sins'.Gate of Darkness (Bab al-Atim)
The Gate of Darkness is one of the three gates located on the north side. It was called "Gate of al-Dawadariya", after a nearby school. It is now also known as King Faisal's Gate. The gate is four meters tall, with an arched roof. At least a couple renovations are known, once circa 1213, during the reign of Ayyubid King al-Mu'azzam Isa, and then circa 1930 by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the three gates on the north. The gate is also known as the "Gate of Honor of the Prophets".Gate of the [|Bani Ghānim] (Bab al-Ghawanima)
The Gate of the Bani Ghānim is located on the north-western corner. The name is the Arabic collective for the clan name Ghanim, a name documented since at least the 16th century. It was called the al-Khalil gate.Gate of the Seraglio or Palace (Bab as-Sarai; closed)
A twelfth gate still open during Ottoman rule is now closed to the public: Bab as-Sarai ; a small gate to the former residence of the Pasha of Jerusalem; in the northern part of the western wall, between the Bani Ghānim and [|Council] Gates.Council Gate (Bab al-Majlis)
The Council Gate, also known as the Inspector's Gate, is located on the northern side of the western Temple Mount wall. It was called and . The gate is thought to have existed as early as the Crusader period. The gate was refurbished during the reign of the Ayyubid Sultan, al-Mu'azzam 'Issa, in 1203 CE. An inn for wayfarers was built on the road leading from the gate in the years 1260–1277, and was later converted into a prison compound, hence the name Bāb al-Ḥabs. The name 'Council Gate' is derived from the fact that on the north side of the gate stood the office of the Supreme Muslim Council during the British Mandate over Palestine.Iron Gate (Bab al-Hadid)
The Iron Gate is located on the western side, at the end of Bab al-Hadid Street, being within the Muslim Quarter, and where, before entering, one gains access to an exposed and contiguous section of the ancient wall of the Temple Mount, known locally as the Little Western Wall.Cotton Merchants' Gate (Bab al-Qattanin)
The Cotton Merchants' Gate leads onto the Temple Mount. Merchant shops align both sides of the passage-way leading to the Cotton Merchants' gate, a mercantile zone known as the Bazaar of the Haram. The gate was built by the ruler of Damascus, Tankiz, during the reign of Mamluk Sultan ibn Qalawun, as marked by an inscription over the door. Since this site is the closest a person can get to the Foundation Stone without setting foot on the mount itself, the gate was a popular place of prayer for Jews during the 19th century.Ablution Gate (Bab al-Mathara)
The small Ablution Gate is located on the western flank.The gate is rectangular in shape and reaches a height of 3.5 m. It was renovated during the reign of the Mamluk emir Alaa al-Din al-Busairi in the year 666 AH. It is the only gate that does not lead to the streets and alleys of the Old City, but to a private road that leads to the Ablutions Place al-mathara located 50 meters away from it.
The Waqf Department in Jerusalem, which is in charge of managing the affairs of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, rebuilt it in the 1980s.
The name of the Ablution Gate is a euphemistic indication that it leads toward public latrines. These might well be the oldest still in use worldwide, dating back to 1193, when Saladin's brother Adil had them built.
Tranquility Gate (Bab as-Salam)
The Tranquility Gate, or what is also known as the Gate of the Divine Presence, is the closed, twin gate of the [|Chain Gate]. It is situated on the north side of the 'Chain Gate'.Chain Gate (Bab as-Silsila)
The Chain Gate is located on the western flank. Though not without dispute, some think that this was the site of the Kipunos Gate, which existed during the Second Temple period. The Chain Gate lies immediately over the Pool al-Burak.Magharibah Gate
The Moors' Gate, also known as Magharibah Gate, is the southernmost gate on the western flank of the compound, built directly over the Herodian-period gate known as the Gate of the Prophet. It is believed that the current gate was built during the Ayyubid period and renovated and connected to the western section of the compound during Mamluke rule. The gate was constructed around the time that the Ayyubids endowed the quarter to North Africans and Moors of Andalusia, Malikites, who were living side by side in Jerusalem. The Magharibah, as these communities were called in Arabic, lived in this area until they were dispersed with the quarter's demolition in 1967 by Israel in order to construct the Western Wall Plaza for the Jews to pray. Some 130 homes were destroyed, displacing the North African inhabitants who came and settled in the area since the time of Saladin.Over the years, the ground level outside the Magharibah Gate rose by many meters above its threshold and the Gate of the Prophet was finally walled up in the 10th century. At some stage, a new gate called Bab al-Magharibah was installed in al-Buraq Wall above the Gate of the Prophet, at the level of the compound esplanade. It was named after the residents of the adjacent neighborhood, who had come to Jerusalem from the Maghreb in the days of Saladin. This gate is open to this day and since 1967 has been the entrance to the grounds of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, accessible to non-Muslims only. Muslims have been banned from using this gate since 1967.
Although the keys to the Al-Aqsa compound gates are in the hands of Islamic Waqf organization, access to the al-Magharibah gate has been dictated by Israel since 1967.
The gate, specifically the excavation of the historic ramp leading up to it, has been a point of contention between Israelis and Arab Muslims. In February 2004, a wall which supported the 800-year-old ramp jutting out from al-Buraq Wall and leading up to the Maghariba Gate, partially collapsed. Israeli authorities believed a recent earthquake and snowfall may have been responsible, while Hamas and Muslim officials blamed the collapse on Israelis working in the area. The Maghariba Gate is the only access for non-Muslims to enter the site, meaning its closure will prevent both Jews and tourists from visiting until a replacement structure is built.
The ramp leads from the plaza by the Western Wall up to the adjoining compound, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is known that Israel has been carrying out archaeological excavations in an area outside the compound, inviting the charge that they are trying to destabilise the mosque, Islam's third holiest site. In 2007, the Israel Antiquities Authority built a temporary wooden pedestrian bridge to the Maghariba Gate. No agreement could be reached over a more permanent structure.
The damaged ramp, situated beneath the bridge and not connected to it, consists of an accumulation of archaeological layers which have been excavated by the IAA, who removed surface material and made visible several ruined structures. This was done in contravention to the action plan initially submitted by the IAA to the UNESCO.
In 2013, an archaeological excavation was conducted at the Maghariba Gate by Hayim-Her Barbe, Roie Greenvald, and Yevgeni Kagan, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Firas Dibs, Press Spokesperson for the Jerusalem Islamic Foundations Administration, stated that the Israeli police attacked the al-Haram as-Sharif community. Dibs pointed out that there was a dispute and friction between Palestinian youth and Israeli police in front of the Al-Maqariba Gate in the south west of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and write that the police intervened with sound bombs and rubber bullets.
On 24 May 2021, the Temple Mount complex was reopened to Jews for the first time in 20 days after Muslim unrest.