The Damascus Gate

It is amazing what sights escape us when we don’t know what is right in front of our eyes. At the Damascus Gate there is a gate below the gate. I have walked through his gate many times when visiting Jerusalem, but until i studied for new book Israel: Stories for Your Journey, I totally missed the interesting Roman period entry which was literally right in front of me as I entered Jerusalem through this northernmost portal.

A look north from the Ramparts Walk above the Damascus Gate.
Do you see what is right in front of your eyes?

The Damascus gate is the grand northern entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem. It is on the main road leading out of Jerusalem northward, in the direction of Nablus (Shechem), Galilee and Damascus. It is the main entry into the Muslim Quarter, with its markets both inside the gate and a bazaar on the entry plaza on Thursday night. This major gate was the northern entry to the cardo, the main street of Jerusalem from the Roman period to our present time, which is the starting point of telling about the gate below the gate.

A look at the Damascus Gate, The Roman entry
can be seen below the walkway to the left.

After Jerusalem was subdued by both general Titus and by Hadrian, the emperor decided to rebuild and rename the city in order to demean the Jewish population. The new city was called Aelia Capitolina. Aelia was the emperor’s family name and celebrates the greatness of Hadrian. Capitolina praises a triad of Roman gods: Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. The city was built in the shape of a square with the main roads entering near today's Damascus Gate, Jaffa Gate, Zion Gate and the Stephen Gates. The second century Roman style entry consisted of a grand victory arch set between two smaller arches, a victory symbol which sometimes stood in an area which was in front of the city gates. Beyond the entrance stood a pillar with the bust of the Roman Emperor.

The Thursday Night Bazaar at the Damascus Gate

As a person enters the Damascus gate today, the small Roman arches can be seen to the south and below the current gate reconstructed by Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century. The name Aelia Capitolina is emblazoned in Latin above the entrance and the original Roman pavers lead to a plaza with the remains of Hadrian’s pillar. From there a twenty-six foot wide cardo flanked by rows of columns and five foot wide raised sidewalks used to lead into the city.

Our travel brochure available at www.KosherCopy.com

If you would like to see the Damascus Gate, and many other sights in Jerusalem and Israel, take a look at my May adventure in the Holy Land (link). If you can’t make it on the trip, please order my book, Israel: Stories for Your Journey and take a look at my blog during the month of May.

Israel: Stories for Your Journey

The creation of my latest book is an outgrowth of my first trip to Israel in 2012. Through the years i had always put off a journey to Israel for many reasons: 1) The trip would cost too much; 2) The trip would require too many days off work; 3) I did not know anyone to go with; 4) I could do that later in life; 5) It was too dangerous, 6) and many more reasons.In 2004 a teacher in my church started talking about going to Israel, I started looking into the matter. In 2011, a second man in the church came up to me and said I ought to consider going with John DeLancey, director of Biblical Israel Ministries & Tours. I called John and the trip was arranged.

Join us on the trip - www.KosherCopy.com

I received a date, an agenda and three books from John which told about Israel. I looked through the agenda and began reading the books. I realized that although I have attended seminary and prepared Bible classes for my church for many years, I needed to know more to get the most out of my trip.  Some of the place names in John’s brochure were unfamiliar (archeological sites) and others I barely knew.

Our arrival in Israel

I created a document with the trip agenda and sites listed day by day and in order. I placed into this document things from John’s books (reading and then typing help place facts into my brain). I added to my document any scripture reference to a place we were visiting. Then I went to the internet and researched the sites on the agenda, and added those facts (sometimes through cut and paste) to my document. I uploaded my creation to my Kindle, read it twice, and took it on my trip to Israel. It helped.

Tourists on the steps at Yafo

On my first tour, as John and our guide Shlomo took us to each site, they would give a lesson on why the place was important. The lesson took most of the time. But as I listened, I realized I already knew (from my reading) much of what they were saying. They spoke, so we could hear, over radio hearing aids, which enabled me to hear them as I walked around (most of the group stood with them and listened). I, in a sense, was unleashed from the lectures and because of my study, I was able to walk about, look at, and take in, with some familiarity, each place we visited.I learned more by walking around and examining each site.

Shlomo shows us a carob tree at Azekah

On my second tour, two years later, John and Shlomo took us to more and different sites in Israel. I rearranged and added to my document. Again, I was able to be unleashed and walk around each site in order to examine the remains and the geography of the place. I learned, and began to take in how our Bible was shaped by the land and its people. On my first two trips to Israel I learned many things about the land, the people and the Bible which I had not understood before my pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Old concepts and myths were broken, and details I had seen, but not understood, fit into place.

Ayalon Institute Underground Munitions Factory

I returned to Israel in 2016, and visited the land with my daughters, who were participating in separate archeological digs. We rented a car, and spent time on that trip seeing things which were not on typical trip agendas. My third trip to Israel contains many memories which I enjoy sharing with others

I am about to go to Israel again, with a fourth group, this time with some leadership responsibilities. As I put the trip together (I am going with John and Shlomo again), I wanted to share the preparation I made for my first two trips so those going with me would be better able to understand and take in the land itself. I did not want to give my group a plagiarized document, so I decided I needed, to write a new book which would follow our tour.

Book available at Amazon.com

The new book began as a guide book and ended up as a book of stories, I will write about how that happened in my next blog.  My new book, Israel: Stories for Your Journey is available on Kindle for the affordable price of $1.99, and I would recommend it to anyone who is traveling to Israel.