The Iron Gate was built during the Mamluk period in the 14th century. It leads to the Temple Mount via the Western Wall, but entry through it is only for Muslims. Today the gate is a wooden gate. It might be that in the past it was the only gate of the Temple Mount’s gates that was made of iron, hence its name.
This street, the Iron Gate Street was also built during the Mamluk period. See the building on the south side of the Iron Gate. It was built at the initiative of Emir Ar’un al-Kamili in the 14th century. Ar’un was a governor of Damascus and Haleb in Syria. Above the entrance door, we can see the rank, which is his personal symbol. To the right, a very impressive building built at the end of the 15th century. The combination of colors on the facade is impressive, especially the placement of the stalactites above the windows. The combination of colors here is relatively rare in Jerusalem’s Mamluk architecture.
Shaar HaBarzel, meaning the Iron Gate, is located 180 meters from the northern corner of the Temple Mount.
Little Western Wall – We are facing, an exposed small area of the western wall of the Temple Mount. The expanse around me is small, squeezed between the houses. This section of the wall is called the “Little Western Wall”, yet other names are used as well such as the “Little Wall”, “the Little Kotel”, the “Small Wailing Wall” and others; it was also where Jews used to pray in the days when it was possible to walk through the alleys of the Muslim Quarter in relative safety. The square consists of two small courtyards, between which is a small structure adjacent to the Western Wall. In the past, the Muslim residents living around the square objected to Jews coming to pray here and built toilets for the residents of the courtyard in order to prevent them from praying here. This is the small structure which is now sealed. This is similar in a small way to what happened at the prayer square at the Western Wall in the 1920s, when the Muslims opened the Mughrabi Gate to allow Muslim movement in the narrow square that was once used as the prayer square. I highly recommend watching the video “Mughrabi Gate”.
To me, the power of this place is inversely proportional to its area. If we look at the map, the distance from the Little Western Wall to the Holy of Holies is shorter than the distance between the prayer area at the Western Wall to the Holy of Holies, and therefore the importance of this location and its sanctity.
Note the wall low height, there are two reasons for that: 1st – the rock of the mountain is higher as we move north along the Western Wall, meaning that we are standing here on a higher bedrock compared to places south of here. 2nd – most of its height is covered with dirt, and I will explain – After the Romans destroyed the Temple and tried to destroy as much of the walls as possible (and some of the stones they broke and dropped can be seen near Robinson’s Arch), a very high layer of rubble was created. After the place was conquered by the Muslims, they built on top of the rubble layer so that in many places most of the wall that remained is underground, as can be seen on the Western Wall tunnel tours.
A bird’s eye view will help explain where we are – the Little Western Wall is located about 170 meters north of the prayer plaza. The Western Wall, which is the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount, is the longest of the walls. It is 488 meters long. Also, among the other walls surrounding the Temple Mount, the Western Wall is the closest to the Holy of Holies. It exists to this day in its entirety, extending from the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount to the northwest corner, along the archaeological garden, the prayer square, adjacent to private homes in the Muslim Quarter, and along the Western Wall tunnels. The most recognizable visible part of the Western Wall is the prayer plaza, where the Wall rises to a height of 15 meters, out of which, 8 meters consist of 7 original courses, and the last 7 meters were added at various times after they were destroyed in the Great Revolt and in later periods. Beneath the floor of the Western Wall Plaza are another 17 courses, all of them original Herodian from the late Second Temple period. The exposed part of the Western Wall is most of the area between its southern corner and Wilson’s Arch, from there we have buildings along 170 meters towards the north until we reach an exposed area again, which is here at the Little Western Wall.
In the Little Western Wall, the stones are not Herodian but from the Muslim period or a later period, but here on the other hand, we are closer to the Holy of Holies. Not far south of us and below us, adjacent to Warren Gate, and I invite you to watch the interesting video about Warren Gate, is the approximate nearest location to the Holy of Holies.
What is the Holy of Holies? It was the most important and sacred room in the Temple. Only on Yom Kippur was the High Priest alone permitted to enter the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was located (only during the 1st Temple period), and there he performed the duties required of him as described in the Book of Leviticus.
In the past, the elders of Jerusalem used to come to the Western Little Wall for Midnight Rectification or “Tikun Chatzot” in Hebrew. Also today, people come here for that. Midnight Rectification is a combination of prayers and laments for the destruction of the Temple Mount that are said at midnight. Being here, in a place close to the Holy of Holies is important, while reminding ourselves for the responsibility of our ancestors for the destruction of the Temple, and to remember the destruction of the Second Temple, which was all about brotherly hatred. I suggest coming here with something that has a different and not the same opinion as you on important issues, with a true intention to listen and not just hear, to try to understand and not just speak your opinions.
On a note of hope, we reached the end of the video, and as usual, I have a question for you. According to the Mishnah, how many gates were there at the Western Wall during the Second Temple period? The answer, as usual, at the end of the video.
