The Gates of Jerusalem Then and Now, Part I Zion Gate

Updating first posting in Israel Daily Picture in preparation for Book 3, Jews and Holy Sites in the Holy Land, Revealed in Early Photographs.

The walls of Jerusalem's Old City that we see today were built in 1540 during the days of the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent.  

The location and name "Zion Gate" appear on maps dating back to the 12th century.  It is one of eight gates in the Old City Wall.  

Zion Gate, picture by Bergheim, circa 1867.  Today, the walls are pock-marked from

bullets and artillery shells fired during the1948 war in the Jews' attempt to resupply and 

relieve the Jewish Quarter besieged by the Jordanian Legion.

Zion Gate (circa 1898)  The photo was captioned "Jerusalem" 

with no further detail. While the American Colony photographic

 department was established in 1898, its founder, Elijah

 Meyer, was an active photographer prior to that date.

Zion Gate circa 1900



Camels leaving "David's Portal" (circa 1910)

Expulsion of Jews from the Jewish Quarter in the 1948 War
through the Zion Gate (John Philips for Life Magazine)

Located between Mt. Zion and the Jewish and Armenian Quarters, the gate was the setting for fierce fighting during the 1948 war.  A small Palmach force, commanded by David "Dado" Elazar (later IDF chief of staff in 1973), attempted to break through the gate on May 1948 to relieve the besieged Jewish Quarter.  They were met with stiff resistance by the Jordanian Legion and were forced to withdraw.

On May 28, 1948 the Jewish Quarter surrendered.  Jews were expelled through Zion Gate and didn't return until the city of Jerusalem was reunited 19 years later in the June 1967 war.