The Gates of Jerusalem. A History of the Holy City.

it's been called the Golden City the city of peace and gods home with more than 3,000 years of continuous existence it remains one of the most fiercely contested cities in the world it's been conquered on almost 40 occasions and has been completely overrun and destroyed 18 separate times Jerusalem is the Jewish and Christian like the holiest place on earth Muslims consider it the third most holy site in their religion but it takes no special faith to share in the pulsing energy of this vital and often controversial capital of the modern nation of Israel as the geographic center of several diverse faiths Jerusalem is seldom lived up to its name a city of peace since well before the time of King David walls have been built to keep out the unwanted and within each wall gates have been constructed through which the history of the world has marched and will as prophecy distance continue to march indeed one cannot enter this city emotionally spiritually or physically without entering through a portal of history as you pass through these gates you may think as I do but each one has a story to tell an untold story spanning over 3,000 years this then is the story of the gates of time join me now for a journey through these gates into the past of this incredible city the city at the center of world history [Music] just as the human soul is buried within the body the old walled city of Jerusalem is surrounded by the traditional trappings of a modern urban area coming through the West through the 19th and 20th century buildings of the new city area or approach through the Muslim East Jerusalem section and you eventually find the life and personality of this holy land you find old Jerusalem this is a city within a city visitors soon realized that the true spirit of this international community lies in an ancient tected in clave walled off from the rest of the world today the throngs that packet of old Jerusalem passed through one of seven major working gates an eighth walled up gate is clearly evident but is unusable the blocked gate is the beautiful Golden Gate a double entry that was bricked in during the seventh century by Muslims determined to thwart Jewish prophecy many Jews believe their Messiah or Savior will someday enter old Jerusalem from the east through the golden gate so Muslim occupiers blocked up the gate and it remains close to this day the remaining useable gates are as varied and interesting as the old city itself they each have close ties to the people places and events that for centuries have been shaping the face of world history to enter or leave old Jerusalem you must choose a gate that suits your spirit the Zion gate in the southwest scarred by bullet holes teaches that in Jerusalem you must often guard your beliefs from those of your enemies the Jaffa Gate in the West has welcomed the trade and ideas of Empires a new gate in the northwest without much history was cut to allow a direct route into the Christian community the busy Damascus Gate in the north is the most dramatic and elaborately decorated of the gates Aaron's gate in the Northeast is an entry for the humble the Lions Gate in the east leads into the Muslim Quarter and out to the revered Mount of Olives in the south the dung gate takes us back to the days of Kings David and Solomon [Music] in the scriptures we are told that Abram who was later called Abraham left Haran for the land of Kenan taking his nephew lot with him Abraham had already been blessed with material possessions from the Lord however Abraham stepped over in faith and compromised his wealth and security in response to God's call he traveled to a land he knew not he came to Shechem which was rebuilt by Hadrian and named Theophilus or Nautilus in the time of Jesus this was the home of the Samaritans and the place where Jesus talked to the woman at the well it was here in Shechem that the Lord appeared to Abraham and gave him assurance that this land would be given to him and his descendants each day the streets and plazas of Jerusalem's Old City fill up with people of faith most are religious pilgrims and tourists coming to visit some of the most revered and secret historical sites on earth numerous different beliefs and religions are represented since the old city was the site of the ancient temple it is the focus of the spiritual longing of all Orthodox Jewry Muhammad is said to have had a heavenly vision on a celestial steed which made Jerusalem forever secret in the eyes of Muslims and since many of the events in the life of Christ occurred in the narrow streets of old Jerusalem it is hallowed ground for Christians [Music] given the large-scale ambitions and wide scope of history encompassed by Jerusalem the visitor may be surprised to find the actual size of the old city to be very small Mark Twain who came through these gates in 1869 claimed you could walk entirely around the city walls in an hour if you walked briskly in fact a complete circuit of the wall covers only about two and a half miles even today after years of reconstruction the old city is crowded and in constant need of repair but no matter what condition it's in Jerusalem's Old City still bears witness to the grandeur of some of history's most powerful kings and rulers and some of the most incredible feats of engineering and architecture ever undertaken these walls the Twain saw is small and unimpressive are actually quite new by the standards of old Jerusalem they date back only to the early 1500s when the Turkish ruler Suleiman the first often referred to as Suleiman the Magnificent took control of Jerusalem and began a major program of urban renewal when the Turks took control of Jerusalem the city was in very poor condition he directed major reconstruction of the wall again completely circling and limiting access to the city he repaired some of Jerusalem's holy places and improved the failing water system but the work was done quickly and often carelessly it is still obvious today that many of the large stones displaced when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in the first century were haphazardly set in place by Suleiman's workers Suleiman's wall frequently strays from the path of earlier city walls an old Roman wall engravings can be found upside down or out of place with his efforts Suleiman joined a long line of rulers who felt Jerusalem needed to be protected by a wall evidence indicates man first established a true community in the area nearly three thousand years before Christ reasons for selecting this particular Judyann hillside are fairly obvious the area is well elevated allowing for an easy defense the water comes from the Gihon spring which has for centuries been praised for being surprisingly clear and clean nearly 4,500 years ago a community of Jebusites built what is believed to be the first of the city walls however they left the Gihon spring outside their new war to prevent an enemy from cutting off access to the water they completed a secret tunnel to the spring but for normal peaceful times they also cut what is believed to be one of the first of Jerusalem's gates an entry placed near the spring so the water could be easily carried into the city since that time old Jerusalem's walls and gates have gone through a variety of incarnations over the centuries there have been perhaps as many as 50 different gates they were gates named for the everyday Commerce they allowed such as the Sheep gate horse gate and even the water gate there were gates named for profits and tribes of Israel and ever gates named for the places to which they led over the centuries new gates were cut only to later disappear covered by the ages the ruins of new entrances are constantly being located during excavations in the city for instance in the early 1980s work was begun to renovate the plaza inside the Muslim quarter of the old city during construction the remains of a magnificent second century Roman gate were exposed as the workmen dug further they found Roman rooms and relics from the Crusades still further huge thousand-year-old peeving stones that were part of a magnificent Plaza were unearthed many times over the centuries the walls and gates of old Jerusalem have protected the residents from enemies they have allowed the people to shut themselves inside their city locking out physical attackers in fact four of the gates Herod's gate the Jaffa Gate the Zion gate and the walled up Golden Gate have a history closely tied with physical threats from the outside but it's the stories of the remaining four gates the Lions Gate the new gate the Damascus Gate and the dung gate that are stories of the battle to win hearts and souls first let us look at the story of the gates that protect the spirit of the city these are the doorways to some of history's most coveted holy sites the dung gate leads us out into the Kidron Valley and takes us back to the origins of Jewish settlement in this region while the current gate structure was built by Suleiman the gate itself points to a history stretching far back in time back to a point when the history of the Jewish nation and old Jerusalem became forever entwined it dates back nearly one thousand years before Christ when the jewish king david captured the city from the Jebusites at the time the walled city was called Jebus and was considered one of the strongest fortresses in the area the Jebusites were confident of their defenses and when David led his troops on the city they scoffed at him but David's chief general and nephew learned of the secret tunnel to the Gihon spring which had been dug to protect the city's water supply David sent his nephew Joe F to find a way through the tunnel beneath the walls and into the city it is believed that the shaft Joab climbed to reach the city is the one now called Warren shaft named after Charles Warren a British explorer who unearthed it Joab probably maneuvered his way through the tunnel and then up the dark wet 43 foot shaft to surprise the unsuspecting jeta sites ironically the first conquest of the walls of Jerusalem came not over not through but bypassed them by going under the Israelites young king made a spectacular entrance into his new conquest Jerusalem he danced through the gates with the sacred Ark of the Covenant and the tablets of the law of Moses the Old Testament says the Ark's entry into the city was done with much pomp and celebration David was so excited he must have lost his head for a time the book of second Samuel claims David danced before the Lord with all his might his wild dancing embarrassed his wife Michael and she roundly criticized him when he returned home but his act of bringing the ark into the city forever established Jerusalem as the center of Judaism the city quickly became known as the City of David and the Kings influences felt there to this day and yes this is the same David a handsome young shepherd boy remembered for his stunning duel in the Valley of Elah with the Philistine giant Goliath shunning armored sword and shield young David took five small River stones and his sling he slew the Giant in the name of his God and the nation of Israel just outside Jerusalem's walls archaeologists recently discovered the ruins of a city nearly 3,000 years old all agree that these ruins were part of the actual city that David built David began transforming his city into a showplace he fortified the walls but from the standpoint of history his most important act was establishing the site of the future Jewish temples David longed to build a house of God where he could place the holy ark the ark was a mobile shrine that had been the center of Jewish religious life during the 40 years they wandered through the deserts after the exodus from Egypt after building his palace David climbed to the highest point in the city which was called Mount Moriah and purchased the hilltop for 50 silver shekels from agate height named obed-edom it had been used as the farmers threshing floor plans were started for a splendid new temple in the sacred writings of both Jewish and Christians David is depicted as the epitome of a ruler pleasing to God he was a statesman a poet a general and a musician all the country's rulers after that were measured by his standards however in first Chronicles David was told by God that because he had shed much blood and fought many wars he was not to be the person to build a new temple instead his son the wise and magnificent Sullivan would be given the task in 970 BC shortly before David's death at age 70 the aging king anointed his son the new king of Israel Solomon proved to be a wise and ambitious King who brought his nation to new levels of wealth and influence he was a visionary a scholar a poet a master statesman and an astute businessman Solomon began enlarging the old city bringing it approximately to the size it is today Solomon created a large army of chariot warriors and horses stationed along Israel's trade routes his caravans and ships travel the known world to bring back treasures never before seen in Israel from India came gold and silver from Asian ports came peacocks and apes ivory and incense one of Solomon's first acts was to complete a palace more spectacular than his father's Solomon's Palace astounded everyone who looked on it Travel is reported that nothing like it had been seen in any Kingdom but Solomon was frequently given to excess taking for himself 700 wives mostly for political reasons and 300 concubines mostly for personal reasons his saying trade follows the bride was famous throughout the empire in Solomon's day the population of the old city quickly doubled and before his death some estimates indicated reached an incredible 25,000 people it has only about 27,000 residents today [Music] after building his palace with conscripted labor Solomon then turned his attention to building the temple 30,000 men and seven years were required to complete this overwhelming task the stones used in the construction of the temple were pre finished at a quarry in the northern part of the land in this depiction we see what Solomon's Temple may have looked like in its day the temple grounds were bordered by as many as 12 gates the temple was 90 feet long 30 feet wide and 45 feet high it contained gold silver bronze cedar pine and other fine materials this house for God was without equal in fact the blueprint can be found in the Old Testament book of Chronicles on the outside of the temple building or Hickel Solomon ordered two hollow bronze pillars cast each were 27 feet high and 18 feet around each pillar was decorated with 200 pomegranates the entire inside from floor to ceiling was paneled with cedar and the floors were made of Cypress boards the remainder of the temple other than the room containing the Holy of Holies was 60 feet long the inner room of the Hickel was where the Ark of the Covenant was placed this inner sanctuary was 30 feet long 30 feet wide and 30 high within the sanctuary Solomon placed two statues of guardian angels made of olive wood each 15 feet high tradition says they were placed so that their outspread wings reached from wall to wall while their inner wings touched each other at the center of the room the Ark of the Covenant was situated directly in front and below the wings of the cherubim the veils separated the holy place from the most holy place the veil was made of fine linen in colors of red and blue embroidered with angels work on the majestic temple helped the growth and prosperity of our Jerusalem the wonder of the beautiful mystical building fired the imaginations of the entire empire from all over the ancient world strong stream to Solomon's Temple in Wunderland Jerusalem's reputation as a city with the sanctuary of God in its midst travelled to the ends of the earth religious festivals like the Passover the feast of weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles became huge events filling the city with pilgrims local residents began renting out living space to visitors during festival time also Jewish law called for an elaborate series of animal sacrifices at the temple for instance during the Feast of Tabernacles 70 Bulls were sacrificed on the temple altar the blood and awful from the slain animals was directed on a special sewer system and moved outside the see through the dung gate the temple remained the hub of Jewish life until time revealed how fragile Solomon's massive Empire really was [Music] when the King died in 927 BC the kingdom again became divided into tribes first the ten northern tribes broke away forming two separate nations Israel in the north and Judah in the south two hundred years later in 722 BC Israel was captured by the Assyrians one hundred years later in 606 BC the tyrannical Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar took control of Judah and the capital Jerusalem he became the first of several non-jewish rulers to govern Solomon's beautiful temples stood for nearly four hundred years until about 586 BC when in response to a revolt Nebuchadnezzar ordered the city plunder a sacred temple burned looting and pillaging was so complete but except for a tiny Vaz now on display in the Israel Museum none of the temple artifacts have ever surfaced in approximately 700 BC about a hundred years before Cyrus was born the prophet Isaiah foretold that a king named Cyrus would make it possible for the temple to be rebuilt after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it with the patronage of Cyrus the temple was slated for reconstruction the materials and workmanship never equaled the first temple built by King Solomon but for the Jewish people they was hoped for another temple Cyrus can best be judged as a righteous Gentile by the Jewish people his contributions were high minded in an era when rampage and pillage were the norms finally in 536 BC a smaller temple was started on the foundation of Solomon's Temple by the Jewish leaders arou babel nearly five hundred years passed before true pomp and spectacle returned to the Temple Mount Herod the Great a Niger Mian was made king by the Romans Herod was a descendant of Esau the son of Isaac Isaac also fathered Jacob before Herod was born his family was forced to convert to Judaism however he was never accepted or respected by his Jewish subjects the new King Herod was one of the most complex and unpredictable leaders ever to rule the Jewish state Herod could be a generous benefactor and builder one day and a paranoid sadistic killer the next he murdered his own wife and in an effort to stop the prophesied birth of a new Jewish Messiah he once ordered the execution of all boys under the age of two who were born in Bethlehem the Roman Emperor Octavius once remarked it is better to be Herod's Pig than his son but his reign was a time of stability and wealth in Israel he began financing improvements in the infrastructure of the city building magnificent new palaces and Citadel's he built the largest port in the ancient world Caesarea and completed an elaborate water storage system all across the nation perhaps remembering the financial benefits of Solomon's Temple Herod began expanding and refurbishing the old temple structure he started the work about 20 years before the birth of Christ the resulting temple was about twice the size of Solomon's it required 10,000 builders Herod tried to do everything by the book so when it came time to build the Holy of Holies he had 1,000 priests trained in masonry so no unclean hands would touch the sacred walls the construction took about 46 years to complete at this point the Temple Mount encompassed about 35 acres Herod created vast porticoes around the huge courtyard and linked the temple area to the city by a series of bridges and staircases records indicate that the new temple was opulent to the extreme nearly every metal fitting was plated with gold and silver the stone exterior was a brilliant white with blue highlights that could be seen by pilgrims from distant hills as the temple progressed the city continued to attract people according to some estimates the old city population grew to more than a hundred and fifty thousand people at festival time more than a million people would gather within Jerusalem's walls many wealthy citizens began investing in elaborate mansions near the temple to rent up during festivals such mansions recently excavated under Jerusalem's Jewish quarter had elaborate tile floors huge pillared courtyards and beautiful ritual baths called mikvahs people ascended to the Temple Mount by a wide staircase moneychangers would exchange foreign currency for shekels the only money accepted in the temple each pilgrim was required to pay for at least one animal sacrifice pens of sacrificial animals were kept on the temple grounds they were courtyards set aside for Gentiles and for women however both had to move around with care because if they strayed beyond their prescribed area they could be severely punished Gentiles were warned not to stray too close to the holy sites upon pain of death Solomon's Temple contained the Ark of the Covenant and the tablets of the law but in Herod's day the Holy of Holies was empty the sacred artifacts from Solomon's day disappeared after the carnage and destruction of the Babylonian invasion even without the Ark and other sacred items the new temple proved to be very popular and the pace of ritual slaughtering increased dramatically at festival times visitors were overwhelmed by the number of animal sacrifices performed by priests often thousands each day but like the earlier temple Herod's edifice ended up as a timeless ruin on the Temple Mount [Applause] in about 6 9 ad Titus the son of Roman Emperor Vespasian's marched on Jerusalem with a 65,000 man army he was sent to suppress a Jewish rebellion against Roman oppression but the revolt failed miserably after a long siege Jerusalem fell and Titus torched the entire city a beautiful temple went up in flames while the first and second temples are now rubble and ashes the masses of pilgrims still have reason to pass through the dung gate on their way to the Western Wall this 50-foot stone block retaining wall was once a part of the actual temple complex some of its stones actually date back to the time of Herod the Great although the prayers here often take on the form of chanting and even singing most Jewish people prefer to call this site the Western Wall as opposed to the Wailing Wall as a travel writer once called it on this holy ground the Jewish people come to mourn the loss of their empire they mourn the cities of David and Solomon and the destruction of their temple on the Mount just above this wall here they can contemplate the many hardships they have endured throughout their history from exile to Holocaust they can pray for the return of the glory of their ancient past the western wall is treated as a synagogue men must cover their heads the Torah is read aloud on Monday and Thursday mornings and bar mitzvahs are a common sight on Saturdays no trees can be planted in the courtyard as long as the third and final temple remains unbuilt the wall area is divided into two sections one for women and one for men the ancient custom of leaving petitions inside the cracks of the wall has been renewed it is now possible to fax your prayer to the western wall from anywhere in the world requests left between the huge Roman stones of the wall are supposed to get special attention from God as the only part of a temple complex to survive the Roman destruction the wall has been revered by Jewish believers for nearly 1,900 years the plaza in front of the Western Wall was opened three days after the Israelis captured this part of the old city from the Jordanians in June 1967 six hundred shanties housing North African Muslims were bulldozed to make way for a space that would accommodate the tens of thousands of worshippers whose dream has always been to pray in Jerusalem in the first few weeks after the western wall was reopened more than 500,000 people made a pilgrimage to see it Jewish believers are joyful with these trips to the wall however Orthodox rules forbid the Jewish faithful from visiting the area of the Temple Mount because the exact site of the sacred holy of Holy's the innermost sanctuary of the old temple has not as yet been found only the high priest was allowed to set foot on the ground beneath the Holy of Holies and then only once a year so the fear is that believers entering the area might accidentally walk across the holy of Holy's violating one of the most secret of Jewish laws Jewish believers approach the wall with care men go to the left women to the right when they leave as an act of reverence they back away still facing the sacred wall they never wish to turn their backs to a place so holy and sacred the wall serves as a center of Jewish social life and all manner of important state and religious ceremonies take place there even army recruits are sworn in at the wall so despite the loss of the temples the dung gate has managed to retain its position as a guidepost for Israel's religious life the western wall has gates of its own some lead into prayer areas others lead to tunnels below the wall here deep underground it is possible to find more ancient gates leading to the Temple Mount most of the alleyways are long narrow and straight conforming to the Roman grid pattern set up after Jerusalem's complete destruction by Emperor Hadrian after a Jewish revolt in 135 ad Hadrian believed as did many in the Roman Empire of the 2nd century that Jerusalem was a nun govern of a place which would never know peace Jewish interests and Roman interests were completely at odds and had been for centuries the Romans saw the Jewish people that locked into an ancient and unworkable code of laws thousands of years old and entirely out of keeping with modern life the Jews saw the Romans as egomaniacal colonizers with a seductive modern culture which would pollute alter and ultimately destroy the purity of Jewish religious practice after a series of upstart Jewish revolts and violent reprisals by the Roman authorities the decision is made to start over again in Jerusalem from the ground up under Hadrian the city was completely razed to the ground renamed and rebuilt the Jewish community was evicted and not allowed to return a whole new city called Aelia Capitolina was laid out under the Roman plan it is from this time that we begin to see the shape and form of today's Old City of Jerusalem beginning to emerge straight boulevards were laid out in grid form across the city the main road running roughly from today's Damascus Gate to the dung gate was called the cardo and was the main axis of city the forum or marketplace was located along this Main Avenue and some of the arched stalls dating back 2,000 years have recently been excavated and are visible along the Cardo today parts of this ancient Roman Street have been preserved roofed over and modified the Cardo has now become a modern tourist arcade it even boasts a Roman version of a famous department store amongst its many art shops galleries Harrods all Jerusalem is a city that is learned to live with divisions its ethnic populations have separated themselves into clear-cut communities in fact two of the main city streets David Street running east to west and soupcon Easy Street from north to south divide this ancient community into four clear sections the Christian quarter in the northwest the Armenian Quarter in the southwest the Jewish quarter in the southeast and finally the Muslim Quarter in the Northeast the beautiful Damascus Gate gets its name from having been the traditional starting point for travelers planning to go to the city of Damascus the ancient capital of the Muslim state of Syria the gate is easily the most regal of all the city's gates there is a well-preserved ancient Arabic inscription over the gate announcing there is no god but God and Muhammad is His Prophet it is the first hint of what visitors are about to see the Damascus Gate is the most direct entry into the large Muslim Quarter of old Jerusalem the gate is always busy especially at noon on Fridays when huge crowds of Muslims make their way from the al-aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount to their homes outside the walls in East Jerusalem they are returning from personal prayers and the gathering of the congregation in the Central Mosque they will usually be making their way home in the hot midday Sun that always seems to be beating down in the old city this opens the door for the water sellers who have been plying their trade near the Damascus Gate since earliest times they make a few coins providing cool drinks the Damascus Gate also goes by other names the Jewish community calls it the Shechem gate and Muslims refer to it as the column gate because the gate structure contains a column from which early travelers calculated the distance to Damascus near the gate is a flight of steps which leads up to a pathway on top of the wall called the ramparts walk Suleiman the wall built ur obviously had important visitors in mind what he built the dramatic Damascus Gate he flanked the gate with two towers and covered the top with impressive decorative battlements visiting leaders passing through the gate were impressed both with the beauty and the defensive posture of the city entering the Damascus Gate one quickly understands he has entered the world of Islam Muslims came to Jerusalem in about 638 AD and have been an important part of the old cities character and culture ever since in fact the city was in the hands of various Muslim dynasties for more than 450 years before it was briefly captured by Christian Crusaders it was quickly retaken by Muslim armies and was held for another 600 years after that in 1494 one Christian pilgrim wrote of his visit each one who goes on the voyage to the Sepulcher of our Lord has need of three sacks a sack of patients a sack of money and a sack of faith one of the greatest contributions of the Muslim empires was the invention of new and distinctive styles of architecture the mama Luke's in the 14th century were famous for their beautiful red white and black stone architecture including the Magnificent Babel Quran in gate on the Temple Mount the Mamaluke dominion of the old city ended in 1516 when the Ottoman Turks took over Muhammad taught that his first connection with Jerusalem happened when he was awakened by the angel Gabriel in Mecca who removed and washed Muhammad's heart and instructed him to take an evening journey to the farthest place which is widely understood to be Jerusalem while there he visited all the holy places and met Abraham Moses Jesus and other prophets at the Temple Mount from the rock in the center of the Temple Mount Mohammad climbed a ladder of light through seven heavens he appeared before Allah who instructed him about prayer shortly after Muhammad's death in 632 his successors began rapidly spreading their faith beyond their Arab home at that time Jerusalem was ruled by Roman and Byzantine conquerors in about 638 the Muslims under caliph Omar moved on the city and after a four month siege took control the most dramatic evidence of the long Muslim presence in Jerusalem is the exquisite Dome of the rock which still stands in the middle of the old Temple Mount the Muslims refer to the dome as the most holy sanctuary the Dome of the rock was built in the year 691 by caliph abdullah al malik the 9th successor to the Prophet Muhammad his desire was to erect a building which would rival in beauty the Christian churches of Byzantine Jerusalem al Malik could see the popularity of Christian holy sites in attracting pilgrims he wished to offer a majestic holy site to Muslim pilgrims perhaps in hopes of luring them away from the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad in Mecca the Caliph hired Byzantine Christian architects to design the eight-sided structure al Malik covered the sacred monument with tile mosaics rubies and semi-precious stones the interior was also covered with radiant gold mosaics the work of Syrian Christians on the outer and inner walls words from the Quran were written in elaborate calligraphy a major Muslim contribution to the arts of the region even today the outside of the dome is a paint box of colors capped by a gold-plated aluminum dome that dominates the old city skyline curved pillars at the top of the monument steps are according to Muslim tradition scales where the souls of all mankind will be weighed on Judgment Day this building is enormous its octagon base is about 180 feet in diameter the dome is about 78 feet across and the whole structure Rises about 108 feet into the air perhaps realizing the religious fervor once generated by the Hebrew temples al-malik took the controversial step of building his Muslim holy place directly on the Jewish temple site he chose the cradle of all Western religion Mount Moriah as the home of his new holy site somewhere under Alba Leake stone no one seems to know exactly where is the area consecrated by the Jewish people as the Holy of Holies the very center of their religious universe inside the dome can be found a huge boulder that has religious significance for both the Muslim and Jewish faithful many Jewish faithful are sure the so-called rock of the foundation or rock of Moriah is the exact site where 4000 years ago Abraham is said to have prepared to sacrifice Isaac before receiving instructions from God to spare his son perhaps from this very stone one of the great ideas in the history of man was born the idea that all men have descended from only one God one creator it is a belief which is transcended time place and generation and it's a belief that is made Jerusalem the world's great religious center the dome is sometimes referred to as the mosque of Omar which is incorrect since it is neither a mosque nor was it built by caliph Omar who predated the structure the Dome of the rock is an ornamental shrine the true mosque on the Temple Mount is nearby el Aqsa and it is the place to pray it is Israel's largest mosque Jerusalem is Islam's third holiest place behind Mecca Muhammad's birthplace and Medina the location of his tomb Alex's Silver capped Muslim holy place serves as a prayer hall and can accommodate as many as five thousand worshippers the mosque has been renovated and restored a number of times over the years obviously because of the location and the general explosiveness of the world around them the dome and the mosque have long been a place where passions become easily inflamed the 1951 a Muslim fanatic murdered Jordan's King Abdullah near the mosque in 1969 an unstable Australian set fire to the mosque causing heavy damage and increasing calls for a holy war against Israel but the holy site has also been a place of peace in 1977 former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat prayed at the mosque today masses of the faithful still crowd through the quiet sunny plazas that surround the mosque then just as they came most of these devoted followers wind their way back through the Damascus Gate past the old city walls and into the secular world from whence they came one can be certain that anytime day or night somewhere in old Jerusalem someone will be praying the intensity of the religious order in this tiny city can sometimes be overwhelming in the Jewish quarter the sound of the shofar can be heard coming from the Western Wall the Muslim Quarter the daily call to prayer of the moussine echoes from the mosque and from the Christian and Armenian quarters entreaties can be heard coming from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Christian prayers aren't new to old Jerusalem in fact some of the most dramatic moments in the life of the creator of the Christian faith Jesus of Nazareth were played out on the streets of the old city Jesus and his first converts were Jewish with close ties to the sacred temple the gates most closely associated with the life of Jesus and the early Christians are the new gate and the lion's gate also known as st. Stephen's Gate the new gate is the closest physical entrance to the Christian quarter of the city the new gate was the last of the current gates to be constructed and was built in 1896 by the Sultan Abdul Hameed it is a subtle and easily overlooked entrance and offers little when compared to the Magnificent Damascus Gate nearby but to many in this century it symbolizes the first Christian efforts to spread the teachings of Jesus the itinerant Jewish preacher and carpenter's son Christians throughout the world have always had a strong interest in old Jerusalem primarily because Jesus ministry and death were so closely tied to the city Christian's expect Jerusalem to play a major role in the events that lead to the end of the age immediately south of the Christian quarter is a group of about 2,000 Armenians who live in a tightly knit community known as the Armenian Quarter it is the smallest ethnic community in the city the Armenians take pride in being some of the earliest of Christian converts and occupants of Jerusalem in about 70 AD Armenian soldiers apparently came to Israel under Titus they were among the first to hear the Christian teachings that they were converted in large numbers the Armenian community in old Jerusalem began to develop sometime in the middle of the third century so long before Christian pilgrims began arriving from Western Europe thousands of Armenians had already settled in the Holy Land over the years the Armenians have generally been able to steer clear of the violence that frequently breaks out in Jerusalem perhaps it is that skill to escape violence that brought many of the last armenian residents to the old city many in the armenian community follow their own religion which is referred to as the gregorian faith it differs from Orthodox Christianity in that it rejected the official doctrine upheld by the Council of Chalcedon that the Incarnate Christ had two natures divine and human such a doctrine the Armenians claimed divided Christ into two persons the holiest place to Armenians is Mount Ararat the sacred mountain where noah's ark came to rest the symbol of Ararat is represented by the distinctive pointed hats worn by Armenian priests for hundreds of years Christians were barred from sounding bells across the Holy Land they were considered a distraction and interference with Muslim prayer calls and an unpleasant memory of the Crusader era when bells arrived at the port of Jaffa Arab workmen often refused to unload them from the ships in several cases religious pilgrims created and hauled the bells themselves even today in Armenian Christian churches would clackers are used instead of bells to summon the faithful to prayer a holdover from Saladin edict 800 years ago the strong spiritual tie that both Christians and Armenians feel toward the old city goes back into the history of the lovely Lions Gate or st. Stephen's gate near the Temple Mount the Lions Gate actually opens into the Muslim section of the city but its long-standing historical tide of the life and death of Christ gives it special meaning to Christians the Lions from which it got its name are actually a pair of spectacular carved beasts put there by Suleiman the Magnificent legend has it that the idea of two lions came to Suleiman a dream threatening to tear him to pieces if he didn't repair and rebuild the walls of old Jerusalem the dream spurred him to restore the walls and gates to some of their former glory the gates other names st. Stephen's gate was given by the early Christian Crusaders wanted to rename it after the first Christian martyr st. Stephen during the time of Jesus another major gate is believed to have been located right at or near the Lions Gate this so-called Sheep gate was named for the Sheep baths that were located nearby the analogy to sheep is poignant because many Christian historians believe that Jesus last entry into the city of Jerusalem was made through the Sheep gate [Music] Jesus encounters with the city of Jerusalem were always dramatic ones the Christian Bible teaches that the young Jesus astounded the priests at the temple with his knowledge of the holy books his last entry into Jerusalem began with a celebration his followers through branches in front of his mount as he rode into the city and they shouted blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord the pre-easter Christian holiday a Palm Sunday celebrates this entry after Jesus entered the city he went to Herod's beautiful temple he became angry when he saw money changers polluting the court of the Gentiles profiting from those who are buying sacrificial animals he angered the Jewish religious leaders when he stormed through the People's Court of Gentiles angrily overturning the money tables and running off the money changers just inside the current lion's gate the crucifixion of Christ is brought into vivid detail along the street called the Via Dolorosa there marked along the narrow Roman Street are the so called Stations of the Cross commemorating the places Jesus passed on his way to Golgotha the last seven stations are inside one of the most holy of Christian sites the Church of the Holy Sepulchre the current building dates from the 12th century and is one of the oldest standing buildings in Jerusalem many additions have been added over the centuries six rival Christian sects jealously guard their portion of the holy sepulchre sometimes to the detriment of maintenance and cleaning after a 1927 earthquake damaged the structure it took 32 years for the Roman Catholics Greek Orthodox Armenians Syrians Copts and Ethiopians to come to an agreement as to how to proceed with repairs left out of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are the Protestants some of them claim a separate burial site for Jesus the garden tomb near the central bus station in East Jerusalem not far from the Damascus Gate they argue that a large rock nearby looks decidedly like gall Gotha which means skull the rock upon which Jesus was said to be crucified the rock appears to have a face looking directly at you the tomb at this site would have been located outside the city walls as required by Jewish law the Holy Sepulcher which is located within the city might not have been the original place of his burial however the Protestants emphasize that geography is unimportant since after all Jesus has risen and cannot be absolutely identified with any specific site [Music] every Friday crowds of Christians gather at the house of caiaphas the former high priest in Jerusalem who played a key role in Christ's crucifixion to begin a pilgrimage on the Via Dolorosa many of these holy sites celebrated by pilgrims today Oh their existence to the work of a bishop and a Roman queen who located and protected them early in the 4th century the Roman Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire he had been converted to Christianity by his mother Queen Helena who had come to her faith late in life Constantine was dramatically changed by his new religious commitment he credited all his military victories to his new religion and became zealous and his desire to spread the faith pilgrims began demanding to see exact sites of sacred events but no one really knew where most of these biblical events actually took place in 325 AD Bishop Makarios of Jerusalem convinced Queen Helena to come to the Holy Land to officially determine the sights in the life and crucifixion of Jesus the holy sites had been neglected for some time using intuition and logic Bishop Makarios and Queen Helena identified many of the Bible's holy places Queen Helena even claimed to have found the original cross and nails used in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ she also established 50 holy sites on the Mount of Olives just inside the Lions Gate pilgrims can visit the site of the birthplace of the Virgin Mary at st. Anne's Crusader Church nearby are the Bethesda pools where jesus healed an invalid paralyzed for 38 years venturing outside the Lions Gate worshippers discover the Mount of Olives it was on this hill some 2,000 years ago that Jesus and His disciples walked the mosque of ascension on the top of the mountain is a rare Muslim site which recognizes Jesus from this spot Jesus is thought to have ascended to heaven 40 days after the resurrection inside this humble building is what many believe is a footprint of Jesus nearby at the Church of Paternoster is the site where Jesus is believed to have taught his disciples the Lord's Prayer to celebrate the event the Crusaders built a church and are placed on the walls the Lord's Prayer in 60 different languages at the Church of dominus flevit pilgrims can find the very stone upon which Jesus is said to have wept for Jerusalem the church is built in the shape of a teardrop symbolizing Christ's pity the view through the stained glass window is one of the majestic sights in the country down the hill in Gethsemane is the location of the garden where jesus prayed was betrayed and was arrested under these ancient olive trees he once sat and taught his disciples the site of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot is marked by the Church of All Nations built in 1924 looming over the Mount of Olives is one of the most beautiful churches in Jerusalem these are the onion domes of the Russian Orthodox Church built by Tsar Alexander the 3rd in 1888 but are these really the locations where these events took place it's hard to know while these were dramatic events at the time it was still more than 300 years later when Queen Helena began trying to locate the actual sites archeologists tell us that some of the sites don't seem to correspond with a historical record while others do but two most faithful pilgrims physical proof isn't the point parishes see the most important bond that holds together the communities of old Jerusalem is faith the holy ground inside these gates must first be entered through the heart for the Jewish people who inherited this land from time immemorial the old city of Jerusalem is sacred it is their beloved home it is the site of their ancient temple [Music] but life goes on in the ancient walled city believers of all faiths are called to prayer pilgrims and the devout enter the gates to the city of peace some find no peace but the peace is there somewhere within the gates of time this is the city where history began and where many believe history will end thank you for joining me for the gates of time a 3,000 year journey through the history of Jerusalem I'm Richard Kiley I'll see you again [Music] there are cities the time has forgotten and there are cities which time he'll never forget throughout history there have been many holy cities in many places of legend but this is the city where history began and some believe the city where history will end this is Jerusalem and the story is told here the story of God and the story of man it's a city of conquerors and empires which have long since faded from memory it's a city of wonders and miracles which could have over time been forgotten if they had not been kept alive by faith of the scriptures it's a city which has been completely destroyed dozens of times and through it all through the rich and diverse history which has stretched over 3,000 years Jerusalem has survived it remains the center of the world's faith because it's a city of the Spirit it is aroused in its conquerors a lust for control the no amount of material treasure could ever satisfy it is aroused in its pilgrims a desire to see but no other destination could ever match in the first hour of the program we explore Jerusalem's troubled history as the holiest site in the Jewish faith we've seen an array of historical figures marched through the gates from King David to King Solomon to Alexander the Great to King Herod please join me now as we continue our journey through the gates of time the story of the eight gates of Jerusalem [Music] today Jerusalem's walls are actually breached by seven working gates and one gate that was purposely closed nearly 1300 years ago the obstructed gate is the beautiful Golden Gate an entrance that were sealed off by Muslim conquerors determined to stop the prophesied entry into the city by a Jewish Messiah this gate remains clearly visible in the city walls waiting for the dramatic events millions believe will precede the end of the world in our first hour we looked at the four gates that open to the spirit of the city the gates most closely tied to Jerusalem's varied and contentious religious life we traveled through the new gate and the lion's gate commonly used by the Christians who live in and travel to Jerusalem the Lions Gate in particular opens out of the sacred Via Dolorosa the street Jesus walked to his crucifixion [Music] the Damascus Gate a beautiful structure now used by the masses of Muslim faithful heading to prayer at the mosque and holy sites on the Temple Mount and the fascinating new gate which allows Jewish worshippers to walk to their most holy site the Western Wall here the Orthodox can be heard praying that the Jewish temple which once graced this site will someday be rebuilt but there are three gates that tell the story of the warring and bloodshed that threatened Jerusalem even to this day gates that can tell stories of conflicts and conquerors this is the Zion gate it is scarred and puffed with Jordanian bullet holes this gate bore the brunt of the conflict outside the city walls during the six-day war through the Jaffa Gate recent European conquerors and foreign ideas forced their way into the city and Herod's gate here 12th century Crusaders surmounted the walls of the old city in their effort to wrest Jerusalem from Muslim control the words are everywhere in everyone's mind another tip of every tongue the words are from the Bible pray for the Peace of Jerusalem it has been a city that kings and rulers have longed to possess almost all have come from the north to stake their claim David Solomon Nebuchadnezzar Alexander the great Caesar Herod Suleiman the Magnificent and Napoleon how could so much blood be shed and so much misery inflicted over a city with almost no natural resources no river access no seaport and far from any important trade route what is made this city valuable in the eyes of almost all who have come here is not material riches or natural resources it is in one word God [Music] throughout history the world has believed that these are God's chosen Hills some believed that by entering one of the stone gates of Jerusalem the chosen are as close to God as they will ever be on this earth in the book of Psalms a poet sang of his love for the city if I forget thee O Jerusalem let my right hand forget her cunning let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I prefer not Jerusalem above my highest Joy's Herod's gate called the flower gate in Arabic is in the northeastern part of the city today it is an entrance into the Muslim Quarter of the old city the least impressive and most easily overlooked gate in his witness the most spectacular invasions of Jerusalem Herod's gate is a structure that dates back to the 16th century when a Turkish ruler Suleiman the Magnificent began rebuilding the city's walls and infrastructure [Music] Herod's gate now leads through a narrow layer of shops and homes of the Muslim Quarter there are some indications that earlier gates at this location might have led to the land of the Jewish tribes Ephraim and therefore might have been called the Ephraim gate but this cut in the old wall was later named for Herod the Great's who rebuilt the sacred Jewish temple shortly before the birth of Christ Herod's gates only liability is that it faces north the direction from which Jerusalem's enemy is seemed to come the idea that trouble often comes from the north wasn't a new concept for early residents of this ancient city in fact 600 years before the birth of Christ the Jewish prophet Jeremiah predicted violent attacks from the north for his unpopular predictions Jeremiah's writings were burned and he was banished to a cave which is believed to be only a short distance from what is now Herod's gate the old prophet continued his writing and prophesying of future wars and pestilence even after he was banished in the old Jerusalem book that carries his name Jeremiah predicted for disaster looms out of the north even terrible destruction and he was right over the walls near Herod's gate came Nebuchadnezzar banishing all in his wake over these walls came Titus to completely destroy Jewish civilization all of these walls King Christian procedures unleashing the worst killing spree Jerusalem has ever known and over these stones came Saladin Sultan of Egypt to drive out the Christians standing in the gates of Jerusalem Jeremiah cut off his hair and cast it away and predicted that all gladness and mirth would fail this city and Jerusalem would be desolate from the north they came burning pillaging killing and exiling Alexander the Great walked through the gates of Jerusalem and 334 BC not as a conqueror but as a friend Alexander according to tradition was greeted by the Jewish leaders and told how his arrival had been prophesied by Daniel Alexander was so impressed he did not overthrow Jerusalem he and the Greek Empire which succeeded him brought a new invasion of Western values to the city Alexander the Great believed in a one-world civilization a brotherhood of man in which all people were united in a similar cultural practice it was an enlightened idea for its time but it did not sit well with traditional Jewish faith the Greeks were for the most part tolerant of many cultural practices of the people in their empire and for a considerable time Jewish and Greek colonies lived side by side in Jerusalem without much disagreement Greece was an admired Empire exporting a way of life that was highly seductive to the young people of Jerusalem [Music] many Jews were taken in by the modern cosmopolitan ways of the Greeks and readily integrated with them Greek culture was an awesome force and most educated Jews found it irresistible the Greeks were magnificent architects and they excelled in poetry philosophy theater and other arts as traders none had matched them for a thousand years Greek culture or Hellenism as it was known promised Judea a glorious future but it also threatened to destroy Judea slowly but surely Jerusalem was transformed into a Hellenic city adapting Greek life styles and institutions but Greek culture was full of excesses supported by mythology for its spiritual direction to protect themselves from this polluting influence the Jews began to put up walls and barriers to keep their cultures separate from the Greeks in response the Greeks issued the first anti-semitic writings during this era slowly tensions began developing between these two cultures when the Syrian Emperor Antiochus Epiphanes came to power things became worse Antiochus wanted the entire Empire to be more Hellenic seeing the Jewish faith there's ancient backward and an embarrassment to his vision for a glorious Empire Antiochus banned circumcision and recognition of the SAP he renamed Jerusalem Antioch on a Greek gymnasium was built at the base of the Temple Mount where uncircumcised naked men performed exercises in public this event alone shocked and deeply offended the conservative Jewish community Antiochus ordered the rebuilt Second Temple to be converted into a shrine to Zeus the ultimate Greek God antiochus humiliated all of israel when he sacrificed a pig on the altar of the temple he'd boiled its remains and poured the broth over the sacred vessels defiling and desecrating everything in the temple the Jewish community of Jerusalem was now faced with three options some converted to worshipping the Greek gods others continued to practice circumcision and observance of the Sabbath away from the eyes of the authorities a third group faced honourable death by openly defying Hellenism sensing that the Jewish community was stubbornly and openly flaunting him Antiochus stormed through the gates of Jerusalem like a wild beast and massacred young and old he killed an estimated 40,000 people and sacked the temple carrying off gold worth millions in response to Greek refreshing no revolt was launched in 167 BC the Jews began a national war of resistance against the Syrians it was led by Matthias and his five sons from the house of hasman also known as the Maccabees which means hammerer they led a guerrilla war attacking from the hills surrounding Jerusalem hammering their Syrian oppressors three years later the desecrated temple was captured and reconsecrated by the Maccabees they destroyed the image of Zeus and cleanse the temple restoring and sanctifying it for worship after taking the temple the Maccabees discovered that the temples light had only one day's supply of oil it would take eight days to prepare more oil the temple of menorah had to be lit always miraculously as legend tells us the fire and the oil lasted for eight days until a new supply of oil could be ready this event is commemorated in the story of Hanukkah which means dedication or also the festival of lights on the stage Jewish people all around the world light candles on a special menorah designed for this purpose the menorah is the symbol of the nation of Israel [Music] some of the bloodiest and most constant Fighting's swept down on the area when the Crusades began late in the 11th century ruling Turks restricted travel to Jerusalem and to the holy sites a trip to the Holy Land was often imposed as a penance on Roman Catholic worshippers of the day Christians who believed a pilgrimage to the Holy Land was a religious duty grew more and more angry with the Turks Jerusalem had been under Muslim control since the 7th century when not long after the death of Muhammad the Arab khalif's moved into Jerusalem then conquered the old city initially the arab invaders were tolerant of other faiths for a period jews and christians had relatively free access to the holy sites but in 1071 ad control of jerusalem passed from the egyptians to the turks they were less tolerant and restricted access to many of Jerusalem's holy places they were even believed to have desecrated many of the sacred sites pope urban ii gave a speech at the Council of Clermont in France in 1095 calling on the Christians to do their moral duty to save the holy places he called for volunteers to retake Jerusalem shouting their battle cry God wills it thousands took up the Crusader cross and set out for Jerusalem [Music] the first Crusaders were even trained and poorly armed and the expeditions were underfinanced but a short time later a better equipped army of French and Norman knights joined forces in Constantinople launching savage battles Crusaders captured Antioch in 1098 ad and finally overwhelmed Jerusalem in 1099 ad the Crusader siege of the city lasted nearly forty days and thousands were slaughtered when the Crusaders finally breached the north wall and stormed the city they butchered most of the Muslim and Jewish inhabitants even those who had fled to their mosques or synagogues for protection were not spared rulers of the New Kingdom of Jerusalem began taking steps to protect the holy sites and visiting pilgrims the well-known order of the Knights Templar was founded in about eleven 1980 these soldiers and their white cloaks decorated with a red Maltese Cross travel the land protecting the faithful today the sacred el aqsa mosque of the Muslims is believed to rest on an area once important to the Knights Templar the Knights got their name from the former courtyard of Solomon's Temple which they converted to their headquarters legend has it that an underground building beneath the courtyard once stabled Solomon's horses later the Knights also used it to protect their horses the Crusaders converted the beautiful Muslim holy place the Dome of the rock to a Christian shrine they called it templum Domini to this day a drill work put in place by the Crusaders protects the huge holy rock in the center of the dome from visitors who want to touch the stone Muslim forces under the Egyptian Sultan Saladin regain control of the city and 1187 when Saladin arrived the Jewish pilgrims also began returning to the city on mass being less afraid of the Turks than of the Crusaders by 1190 there was again a sizable Jewish community behind the city walls in fact in 1211 ad a journey to the old city by about 300 French and English rabbis was graciously allowed by the Muslim rulers however during this period the old walls of the city were torn down the Muslim rulers wanted the city as open as possible to discourage any future Crusader initiatives Jerusalem was now open to all comers but in 1250 ad Jerusalem fell into the hands of another Muslim group known as the mammal oops these former slaves began gaining power in Egypt in the late 13th century these hardline Muslims took Jerusalem from Saladin armies and once again began closing the city establishing it as a holy Muslim site during this occupation neither Jews nor Christians were allowed on the Temple Mount various military and religious leaders across Europe managed to organize a few later Crusades however these efforts never have the enthused some of those early attempts to protect the holy sites of Jerusalem and thankfully by the late 13th century the Crusades became a bad memory today most Christian leaders agree that the Crusades were a serious error and resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people their effects continue to influence the world to this day those holy quests hardened Muslim attitudes toward Christians and began raising doubts in the minds of laypeople everywhere about the total authority of the Christian Church but a few positive things did happen the Crusades prompted otherwise isolated people to learn about different cultures and religions and they began casting doubt on the well-established idea of religious conversion by force however one of the last Crusades was led by frederick ii of germany he took charge of the 6th crusade to Jerusalem in 1228 and was ousted by the Turkish mercenary court semion in 1244 after Frederick's departure except for a brief period from 1248 through 12.54 Jerusalem would not see Christian rule for nearly 700 years earlier ULA's always kept the Jaffa Gate locked from sunset to dawn those needing to enter the city before the gate was opened could often be seen lowering themselves over the wall with ropes on fridays the iron gates were locked at noontime to ensure no infidel would take over the city while the Muslims were at prayer Jewish visitors who saw Jerusalem for the first time through the Jaffa Gate were required to tear their clothes as a sign of mourning for their loss of the City of David a rabbi was stationed with the gate to supervise this task the Jaffa Gate along with the Damascus Gate are the two main entrances into the old city the gate is one of the most important openings through the walls because it is the main link between old Jerusalem and the new city to the West each day masses of people intent on commerce or spiritual fulfillment marched through this gate facing West the Jaffa Gate traditionally marked the start of the old road to Jaffa which is a Mediterranean port city about 40 miles away the traffic through the gate began growing in the middle part of the nineteenth century when a second city began developing outside the walls traditionally residents were leery of leaving the protection of their walls only a few if any settlements could ever be found outside old Jerusalem but as the old city began to decline from within a few brave souls began looking to the open areas outside the Jaffa Gate the father of the new city that emerged was an Englishman of Jewish descent sir Moses Montefiore the son of a wealthy merchant Montefiore became a generous philanthropist with a yen to make dramatic changes in the lives of Jerusalem Madhavi aura came to the old city as a tourist in the mid nineteenth century he was appalled by the dirty and diseased conditions inside the city walls he took as a personal cause and effort to improve the quality of life of the residents by moving them into new settlements outside the city in 1854 he began building a neighborhood across the valley from the Dafa gate known as the Mishka note Shah anonym to supply cheap flour for future tenants Montefiore imported a huge windmill from England which was brought to Jerusalem piece by piece on the backs of camels strange that a European windmill should come to symbolize the suburbanization of Jerusalem at first no one came to Montefiore ease neighborhoods they dared not live like this exposed to harm and persecution in the wilderness outside the city walls the workers at Montefiore Scott and Factory and windmill proved to be a bickering lazy and divided lot it has been said that some rival Jewish workers at another mill hired a Kabbalist priest to cast the evil eye on Montefiore efforts the windmill broke down replacement parts never arrived and it never ran again it appeared that mati Fiore's projects were destined to fail however a few years after his pioneering effort languished a plague struck inside the gates and residents were forced to look at resettling outside the old city however shortly after Montefiore x' projects began in 1854 a jewish culture that was exclusive unbending and resisted to change establish the Orthodox community a mayor showery mayor Sharia means 100 gates and it is said that when the area was built in 1875 it was fortified with walls and 100 gates to keep the world in its temptations at bay today's gates warn tourists and other worldly influences not to enter the row houses of mayor char iam form a fortress like setting enter these gates and one is inside an ultra-orthodox Eastern European ghetto of the 18th century the predominant language is UT not Hebrew the nation of Israel for the most part is not recognized by the inhabitants of mayor shyaa'n because the Jewish Messiah has not yet come they call themselves Hara Dean which means god-fearing the dress code for men and women is identical to that of their ancestors of the Polish ghetto in 1870 their simple attire includes fur hats black coats beards and long locks of hair for men women's sport shaved heads wigs and scarves with conservative long dresses and high knee socks established in 1870 by rabbi Vilna Gaon of lithuania the community is funded and assisted by like-minded ultra-orthodox communities from all over the world their schools called yeshivas still actively debate the Torah their synagogues are often festive places another center of religious life [Music] special rabbis perform traditional circumcisions young schoolboy schists the Torah for the first time and are rewarded prayer scrolls known as tefillin more phylacteries are bound to the arms and foreheads from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday Shabbat is strictly observed police barriers prohibit vehicle traffic into Meir shaloom stores are closed writing handling of money and the operation of any kind of machinery is strictly forbidden [Music] today automobiles traveling from the new city enter o Jerusalem through an enlarged breach in the wall near the Jaffa Gate the hole was cut in about 1898 by Turkish rulers during this period Jerusalem was still part of Turkey's Ottoman Empire events that were later to plunge the world into the first world war were beginning to play themselves out in the Middle East an uneasy alliance had developed between the Germans and the Turks German Emperor kaiser wilhelm ii and his wife were set to meet with their Turkish allies in Jerusalem however a strange problem of international etiquette developed the Kaiser insisted that he should make a grand entrance into the city to impress the Turkish leaders he planned to enter through the old jaffa gate on horseback accompanied by a large entourage in open carriages this grand idea presented a problem for the Turkish authorities not only did the angled opening of the old gate make a mounted entry difficult if not impossible but according to Muslim tradition only a conqueror could ride his horse through the gates of Jerusalem a solution was finally found the Turks ripped a large hole in the wall near the Jaffa Gate and built a road large enough to accommodate the Kaiser riding in his horse-drawn carriage the Kaiser rode into the city not as a conqueror but as a visiting dignitary the hole is still used for automobile traffic Jerusalem continued to languish under Turkish rule the city became tired dirty and its infrastructure was almost non-existent Christians and Jews suffered under heavy prejudice they weren't allowed to do some of the most basic things ride horses ring bells repair their churches or synagogues [Music] once an intellectual capital the city's cultural life began to disappear by 1890 not a single operating printing press could be found in the old city ironically during this time the ideas that form the modern nation of Israel were first introduced in Europe by a man who became the father of Zionism born in Budapest in 1860 Theodor Herzl was appalled by the anti-semitism he witnessed as a correspondent covering Dreyfus Affair in Paris in the late 1890s he decided that the only solution to the problem would be the creation of a Jewish national state an audacious bluffer he went from nation to nation negotiating for a new homeland but was turned down every time he wrote and published the Jewish state in 1896 a how-to guide for national independence Herzl also founded the World Zionist Congress in 1897 and served as its president until his death in 1904 at the age of 44 thirteen years later during World War one Herzl dream of a Jewish homeland would become reality as the British won control of Palestine from the Turks and lent a sympathetic ear to the calls of the Zionists one of the most triumphant scenes of world war one came in 1917 when British General Sir Edmund Allenby entered the Jaffa Gate to accept the Turkish surrender of Palestine in contrast to the German Kaiser Allenby voluntarily dismounted and walked his horse through the gate ironically Allenby was in fact eligible to ride through as a conqueror but he chose the gesture of humility instead Allenby accepted the Turkish surrender at one of the most dramatic sights in the old city the huge defensive guard tower and fortress known as the Citadel and David's tower the name David's tower can be confusing since the structure was built well after David's reign it is believed early Byzantines mistook the site for the tomb of David thus creating the name the structure was actually built by Herod the Great as part of a three tower system to protect his luxurious Palace it is located on some of the highest ground in the city making it one of the most strategic defensive locations in the city when Titus and the Roman legions conquered Jerusalem in the middle of the first century the Citadel was one of the final buildings to fall in fact it took the Romans almost a month after they had captured the city before they were able to occupy the Citadel following the 1917 Turkish surrender a new group of rulers took over Jerusalem the British prior to the surrender several allied nations had signed a secret agreement to make Palestine and Arab state with control of the region's split between Britain and France as part of the agreement the British ended up with Jerusalem the next 32 years posed numerous problems between both the British and the Jewish people during the short British reign the old city began a program of restoration the railway line to the Jaffa Harbor was repaired holy sites were refurbished and new museums hotels and hospitals were opened buildings sprang up all over the city the British showed an interest in keeping and maintaining the ancient character of the old city British Governor Sir Ronald stores even decreed that any new structures built must use the local pink and beige stone that was so prevalent in the oldest sites around Jerusalem religious pilgrims especially Jewish ones would now freely come and go and they began coming in record numbers however many who came were more than just visitors following World War two Jewish survivors of the Holocaust wanted to return to their homes in Eastern Europe they were shocked to discover that they were still unwelcome from August 1945 to May 1946 64 ships left Europe bringing 73,000 refugees to Palestine who intended to settle in the homeland of their ancestors they were aided by the underground Jewish army the Hagana but the British clung to their 1939 immigration limits because of Arab pressure British forces turned back overcrowded ships or put illegal refugees into overcrowded internment camps as an act of rebellion against the British the Hagana proceeded to blow up nine key bridges in Palestine and one night on July 22nd 1946 an entire wing of Jerusalem's beautiful King David hotel exploded and collapsed the bombing killed 91 people the Ergun a terrorist organization led by the late Menachem bacon claimed responsibility the ongoing tensions and loss of life was too much and the British people began calling for withdrawal in February 1947 Great Britain's cabinet decided to let the United Nations resolve the Palestine problem after nine months of debating the UN produced a plan to partition Palestine between a Jewish and an Arab state on November 29th 1947 the UN General Assembly voted in favor of the plan even as Jews danced in the streets Arab rioting erupted throughout Palestine in the first five months of 1948 every isolated Jewish village was attacked [Music] in less than six months six thousand Jewish soldiers and civilians were killed on May 15th 1948 the British pulled out of Palestine and the Jewish state of Israel was born [Music] no where are the scars of the 1948 war of independence more apparent than at the incredible Zion gate the gate was one of the focal points of the heavy fighting that broke out following the British retreat as soon as the British troops were out of sight the various Arab and Jewish factions of the city began vying for control of strategic sites within the gates some of the lopsided battles did go a long way toward helping build the Jewish armies later reputation for toughness in one brief battle in mid-may a ragtag Jewish force under Colonel Dave chattel briefly took control of the Zion gate but to get the gate they had to nearly destroy it [Music] War of Independence lasted for seven months Israel was victorious except in Jerusalem the Jewish quarter of the old city could not hold out against overwhelming opposition and ultimately fell to Jordanian Legionnaires at first the city sustained only minor damage but after jewish nationalist surrendered to the victorious Jordanians real destruction began to occur Arab militants looted synagogues schools and homes then began dynamiting structures in the Jewish quarter in the end 27 synagogues were destroyed including the historic nakum ahmadiyya synagogue that dated from 1267 for nearly 19 years the area around the Zion gate became a no-man's land between Israelis and the Jordanians to wander into the area was to invite sniper fire from the Jordanian troops Manning the ramparts of the old city wall concrete barriers were erected to protect pedestrians not until after the six-day war in 1967 could the Jewish people rebuild and restore the Jewish quarter it is now one of the most modern and attractive parts of the old city even today one of the first things a visitor to the Zion gate notices is the bullet holes that dot the wall around the old entryway the fighting during the 1948 war of independence wasn't the first conflict this old gate had seen it was even designed to provide a defense for the city during the frequent Wars and battles it had to live through over the centuries the Zion gate like the Jaffa Gate makes a turn as it passes through the city wall the idea was to make it difficult for a mounted soldier especially one carrying a lance to maneuver through the gate the result today is that the gate frequently provides a dangerous passage for modern automobiles many a vehicle has lost a headlight or sustained the crumpled fender making the sharp turn after gaining control of the old city of Jordan closed off the Jewish quarter and denied access to the Jewish holy sites including the Western Wall unable to pray at the holy wall Israelis found that the only place where they could catch a glimpse of the sacred wall was Mount Zion just outside the Zion gate not Zion was a quiet land between the warring forces and it provided a place to congregate for prayer the Jewish people frequently gathered together to pray that the holy war would again be open to the nation but even after a 1949 ceasefire the western wall remained off-limits so the spiritual significance of Mount Zion continued to grow the small Mountain which gave the Zion gate its name became a holy site for all three of the major religious groups of Jerusalem the Jewish the Christians and the Muslims all built shrines near the top in earlier times when the city's walls protected a much larger area the Mount was actually inside the city gates but when Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the walls in the 16th century the Mount was left outside [Music] one of the holy sites on Mount Zion is the tomb of David often identified as the last resting place of the Jewish King many historians say the tomb is an old enough to hold David's remains but it continues to be a popular site for pilgrims Mount Zion is also the location of the Cenacle which is said to be one possible site of Christ's Last Supper or Passover ceder many historians doubt the authenticity of this location but nearly all agree that the Last Supper probably took place somewhere on Mount Zion today there are a number of religious institutions on Mount Zion there is a rabbinical Seminary where a young Jewish men study for a life steeped in the Mishnah and the Gomorrah which makes up the Talmud the codified oral law of Judaism there are Christian institutions including a seminary where young Greeks study for the priesthood Mount Zion affords a wonderful view to the west into the modern city of Jerusalem and to the east the Mount of Olives today the beautiful out of Olives and the surrounding Kidron Valley are dotted with Muslim and Jewish cemeteries on the Mount of Olives the Jews buried their dead by the tens of thousands today the vast burial ground here is the largest cemetery in the world to be buried here is to be in the Jewish tradition the first to awaken upon the coming of the new Messiah the price for a burial on this highly strategic ground is over fifty thousand dollars per plot the dead in Jerusalem have always according to Jewish law been buried outside the confines of the city thus we can always know the city limits by the location of Jewish cemeteries at any given time in history because of the desire not to build or live on or near a cemetery the old city has remained hemmed in by graves on all sides and is expanded very little except in the last century Jerusalem abounds with underground tombs as well as above-ground cemeteries the cool haunting interiors of these crypts can be explored by the more adventurous pilgrim the very rich could afford magnificent burial sites like the tomb of Absalom a tomb of Zechariah and the tomb of the Pharaoh's daughter in the Kidron Valley many date to the seventh century BC nearly 2,000 years ago the Mount Zion region was also home to a devout group of Jewish clerics the Essenes in fact many believed a gate named after the Essenes once existed in the general area where the Zion gate is now located the Essenes supported themselves by preparing Torah scrolls writing the five books of Moses on thin sheepskin parchments the Essenes are believed to have authored the famous Dead Sea Scrolls which were found purely by accident in 1947 the scrolls were stored in ancient pottery jars in a desert cave near the monastery of the Essenes at Qumran the well-preserved old scrolls which date back to about 200 years before Christ are believed to be the earliest manuscripts of the Old Testament sacred to both Jews and Christians [Music] the scrolls now rest in a dramatic Museum known as the shrine of the book which was designed to resemble the tops of the jars in which the scrolls were found many Jewish and Christians point to the similarity between some of the ancient preserved writings and the current Old Testament they see this as evidence for the historical accuracy of the biblical texts through the centuries the Essenes were people of extreme faith they toiled for countless hours to make sure holy texts would be available to future generations even though they believed the world would soon end one fascinating parallel in the Muslim Jewish and Christian faiths is that the three groups traced their spiritual lineage back to the patriarch Abraham Islam's most sacred book the Quran calls Abraham one who turned away from idolatry and came to his Lord with an undivided heart the Quran calls Islam the religion of Abraham Jewish and Christians alike claim Abraham is the ultimate ancestor of both their faiths many even trace the heavily Muslim Arab people to Abraham's son Ishmael and trace the Jewish people to Isaac Ishmael stepbrother yet this common lineage hasn't enabled the three groups to live together peacefully the centuries of fighting between the Jewish people in the Muslims and the bloody Christian Crusades indicate the history of misunderstandings that have historically overshadowed the shared background however despite their differences Muslims Jews and Christians made one significant contribution to world history together they held to the idea of one God [Music] a peaceful reverence of Jerusalem's holy sites never seems to last long always war or terrorism or religious conflict comes along to disturb the worship for instance following the 1948 war of independence the next major battle came in 1967 a sudden and violent upheaval called the six-day war the six-day war began on June 5th when the Israelis became concerned about an Egyptian naval blockade in the Suez Canal and the Red Sea under the Jewish commander Moshe Dayan Israeli forces liberated Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula as well as the West Bank and the Golan Heights in Jerusalem the Jewish army struck Jordanian positions in the old city attacking through the Lions gate there was fierce house-to-house fighting in the tiny alleyways and twisting streets of the old city but within hours Jerusalem was under Jewish control for the first time in thousands of years the Jewish nation possessed the western wall and the other holy sites the years to follow have been eventful and often bloody in the old city but the Jewish faithful still pray freely at the western wall Muslims still control the Dome of the rock on the Temple Mount and Christian pilgrims still openly trace Christ's footsteps around the 14 Stations of the Cross but the mystery is what does the future hold for old Jerusalem perhaps the future can be seen through the old cities only sealed gate the spectacular golden gate the gate of destiny believers from all the faiths in Jerusalem instinctively realized that the future holds big things for the ancient Golden Gate the Golden Gate is actually a huge double entrance the only gate to cut directly through the city wall into the sacred temple mount area Arabs refer to the southernmost of the two openings as the gate of mercy and the northernmost as the gate of repentance this reflects their belief that the gate will someday be part of the Last Judgement of man at the end of history the original gate was apparently constructed in the 7th century by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius legend has it that the gate was built to allow Emperor Heraclius to return a sacred relic believed to be from Christ's cross to the Holy Sepulchre in the city it is said that the emperor built the gate to allow his army to make a triumphant entrance into the city proudly burying the sacred prize later when the city came under Muslim control the gate was completely walled in the Muslim sealed the gate in an attempt to Fort Jewish prophecy that a returning Messiah or Savior would enter the city through the golden gate for good measure they placed a cemetery just outside the gate in the belief that the Jewish Messiah would be a high priest and therefore forbidden by Jewish law to enter a cemetery as he would become defiled and unable to perform his priestly duties some Orthodox Jewish leaders dispute this claiming the Messiah will be a descendant of King David and not a high priest the Messiah could therefore travel through a cemetery without violating any laws many Christians join in this prophecy about the importance of the gate agreeing that it will be an entrance for a messiah however they believe that the true Messiah came nearly 2,000 years ago in the form of an itinerant Jewish preacher named Jesus of Nazareth they now expect their Christ or Messiah Jesus to return to Jerusalem as a final act re-entering the city through the golden gate all three religious groups expect dramatic and spectacular occurrences during these endtime events Jewish people and Muslims alike expect these final happenings to concentrate on the nearby Mount of Olives and in the Kidron Valley that spreads out in front of the Golden Gate Christian's find in the New Testament Book of Luke that Jesus Christ fulfills most of the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament the Old Testament speaks of two appearances of the Messiah the first is a lamb and the second as a lion when he returns as the lion in that day he will wrap up history as we know it in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew Jesus is quoted as saying that the Messiah's return will be as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west so shall the coming of the Son of man be Matthew's portrayal of the last days is strangely similar to the predictions of the end time in the Old Testament book of Zechariah that prophecy calls for the Jewish Messiah to stand on the Mount of Olives which is in front of Jerusalem on the east and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south one of the most marvelous events in the endtime prophecies of the Old Testament calls for the pious dead of the earth to rise from their graves when the Jewish Messiah returns Orthodox Jewish believers expect their Messiah to blow a ram's horn to call forth the dead the Jewish faithful who are waiting for their Messiah believe that when he comes he will lead the reconstruction of a Jewish Empire and will initiate the building of the third temple on the old Temple Mount there is argument about the promised Jewish Empire with some Israelis believing the current nation of Israel fulfills that promise others think there is an even more glorious state to come all these endtime events would provide a spectacular closing scene for Earth's human drama but all the ancient prophecies could put the diverse religious believers of Jerusalem on a spiritual collision course any of the most strongly held beliefs and prejudices of the Old City's faithful would obviously come into direct conflict during the events leading up to the day of judgment the biggest clash of these final days could actually begin at the most sacred of Jerusalem's holy sites the Temple Mount in 1967 when Israel captured the old city and the Temple Mount it tried to preserve peace by allowing Muslims to administer the sacred site Muslim leaders reacted strongly forbidding any Jew or Christian from praying openly on the holy ground they also refused to permit the building of any synagogues or churches anywhere inside the temple complex any hint of rebuilding the old Jewish temple is considered an outrage by Muslims and many of the more zealous have sworn to defend the Dome of the rock and the al-aqsa mosque to the last drop of their blood yet Jewish tradition holds that God has irrevocably commanded that a new temple be built a Jerusalem Talbert says Jews may even build a temporary temple before the Messianic era begins in fact a group of Jerusalem residents are working out plans for the Third Temple even today each day Jewish faithful at the western wall pray the popular prayer may it be thy will that the temple be speedily rebuilt in our days and each day Muslim faithful become more and more dedicated to keeping their holy sites on the Temple Mount intact [Music] of the eight gates surrounding old Jerusalem the golden gate is being watched continuously by Christians Muslims and the Jewish faithful for the Jewish faithful the golden gate symbolizes the entry for the Messiah and the beginning of a messianic age for the Christians this gate promises the second coming of Jesus their Savior the Muslims the golden gate will someday be part of the Last Judgement at the end of history and so like strands of rope which intertwine without ever really joining this is a city inter woven with the dreams hopes and the desires of the three great Western religions here the very act of living is a sacrament the feat of surviving against all odds for thousands of years is the miracle and the stones and gates provide mute testimony to the difficulty of just keeping one's faith alive in this holiest of lands when these gates are open they represent reception tolerance and inclusion they are the meeting point of men of different races religions and beliefs when the gates are or have been closed they represent exclusion intolerance and fear men of different races religions and beliefs are censored exiled or slaughtered the lesson to be learned is a difficult one like the human mind the eight gates of Jerusalem are strongest as they are today when they are open if there is hope to be found in these gates it is that they will always remain open to those who come seeking peace these are the doorways to the one city on earth which celebrates our relationship with God all have come from the same creator and all will return the same way they have built this house together the challenge is to enter it with grace respect and tolerance and then to leave it undamaged for those who follow then and only then will the gates of time be the gates to the city of peace [Music] thank you for joining me for our journey through the gates of time the story of the eight gates of Jerusalem from the Zion gate I'm Richard Kiley [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Missionario Fabiano Nicodemo

Views: 612,032

Rating: 4.7137027 out of 5

Keywords: gates, jerusalem, holy, city, history, israel

Id: r7HYh1Ihi2k

Length: 122min 10sec (7330 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 19 2018