WALK No. 2      BACK

 

MOSLEM QUARTER AND THE TEMPLE MOUNT, OLD CITY .

This walk covers the Moslem part of the Old City, taking you through the fabled bazaars, past choice examples of Mameluke architecture, past the Western Wall and onto the Temple Mount. (A description of the Western Wall is provided at the tail end of Walk No. 1 because there it is the culminating attraction of a walk through the Jewish Quarter.)

Take a bus - l, 23, 27, 42 or 43 - to Damascus Gate (see ``Places to Visit'').

The Arab name for it is Bab el-Amud (Gate of the Pillar), referring to the pillar from the Roman period from which the distance to Damascus was measured. On the level below the main gate is the Roman Gate, which once led to a square and a column with Hadrian's statue on top there is now a small museum here devoted to the history of the gate. Once inside Damascus Gate, the most ornate of all the Old City gates, you will find yourself enveloped in the world of Arabia.

The steps of Damascus Gate Road lead past shops and cafes crushed together. A thousand and one sights greet you.

 

Pause to watch the Arab men smoking from the hookas, tobacco pipes with long tubes to draw smoke through a jar of water.

Five roads lead off the base of the steps. Continue along El-Wad Road, stopping to scrutinize, admire or purchase from the stalls showing metalware, leatherware, baskets, olivewood carvings and other handicrafts. The stalls peter out along the brief stretch of the winding Via Dolorosa when you pass Stations III, IV and V of the Cross (see Walk No. 3).

Continue straight on, turning right into Takiyeh Street. Walk up until you come to a building on the left, whose facade is distinguished by black basalt, pink marble and white limestone stripes. This was a theological seminary when built in 1540 and contains features of both Mameluke and Ottoman architecture. Known as the Madrasah Resaiya, it is still a school.

Climb the steps to the Takiyeh Convent, a little way up on the left. Once a palace, it is now a Moslem orphanage. It was built in 1398 by the Princess es-Sit Tunshuq, who is buried in the handsome building opposite.

The next building up on the left houses a large carpentry shop. Some authorities believe it was a Moslem soup kitchen established by the wife of Suleiman the Magnificent in the early l6th century. Return to El-Wad Road and cross over into Ala 'Uddin (Aladdin) Street. An arched doorway on the left once led to another Madrasah. The inscription honours the Mameluke Inspector of Buildings who erected the first Saracen buildings after the defeat of the Crusaders.

Further up on the left and right is the African Quarter of the Old City. No one knows with any degree of certainty when or how their forefathers arrived in Jerusalem. Some knowledgeable people hold that these are the descendants of l6th-century pilgrims from Chad and Somalia. Others claim the Africans arrived as slave labourers. Their quarter is dank and squalid. On the left they are housed in the 13th-century Madrasah Hsaniya which the Ottomans later converted into prison cells for condemned men. It has the oldest Mameluke doorway in Jerusalem. On the right they are quartered in the l3th-century hospice.

Continue up, past the marble columns from the Madrasah. Ahead of you is the Bab el-Nadir or Prison Gate, leading onto the Temple Mount. The blue and green tiles are from a l4th-century school. The steps lead up to the offices of the Moslem Supreme Council. Return to El-Wad Road and turn left. Go under the arch and turn left into Bab el-Hadid Road.

You cannot fail to notice the 15th-century Madrasah Muziriya on the right. The decorations above the arch are typical of that period. Go back to El-Wad Road, and stop at the entrance to a long darkened ``tunnel.'' This was the Souq el Qattanin (Cotton Market), built in 1329, after which it was a flourishing cloth market.

Turn left into Bab el-Silsileh Road (Street of the Chain) and proceed until you come to the Gate of the Chain, leading onto the Temple Mount.

With your back to the gate you can see one of the fountains built by Suleiman the Magnificent. Its base is actually a Roman sarcophagus. The flower-shaped relief is from Crusader times. On your left is a court of the Chief Rabbinate, in a l4th-century building formerly housing the Madrasah Tankiziya. The shell-shaped niche and black calligraphic designs date from 1329.

Walk back, cross over El-Wad Road to Chain Road, and, just before the turning left to Western Wall Road. take a peek through the iron bars of the windows on your left. The three tombs inside belong to the 13th-century Emir Turbat Barakat Khan and his sons. Overlooking this sepulchral courtyard is the Khalidiya Library, a collection of ancient and priceless manuscripts held by the Khalidiya family. Continue up Bab el-Silsileh (Chain) Road until you see, on your right, the numbers 0182 above the entrance to a side-street. Turn in here and arrive at the Khan e-Sultan. Erected in the late l4th century as an inn, with stables below, it later housed the Sultan's harem. Alas! the hand of fate . . . where the nymphs once frolicked the donkeys now bray.

Return to the main street and turn right you'll soon find yourself at the busiest intersection in the Old City. Eight market streets merge here, dazzling you with everything you can wish to buy. If you go left, down Souq eI-Hussor, the Straw Market, you will see an ancient arch at the entrance. It is part of the Gate of the Gardens, and was here during Second Temple times.

Push your way back to Bab el-Silsileh Road and walk down, turning right into Western Wall Road.

In a few seconds you will be standing before the Herodian slabs of rock that make up the mighty Western Wall. For a full description see the last part of Walk No. 1 .

Walk diagonally across the plaza and climb the steps above the excavation site to the Moors' Gate.

There are signs here quoting the Chief Rabbinate as saying it is forbidden to enter the Temple Mount. Religious Jews will not enter the Mount as the exact site of the Holy of Holies is unknown, they might inadvertently step on sacred ground.

The Islamic Museum is on the right of Moors' Gate. You can buy tickets here to the Dome of the Rock and the Mosque of El-Aksa. Visitors of both sexes must be modestly dressed no cameras or large bags allowed in the mosques.

The next site on your right is a small domed building known as Qubat Yusef or the Dome of Joseph, built in 1191 by Saladin. Further along is the Women's Mosque, access to which is permitted only to Moslem women.

The grey-domed El-Aksa Mosque was built at the beginning of the 8th century by Caliph al-Waleed, son of the builder of the more imposing Dome of the Rock. However, earthquakes damaged it often and much of what you see dates from 1034 when it was restored by Caliph al-Zahir. He was responsible for building the dome and seven northern doors of the present rectangular house of worship, but Saladin decorated the dome with the mosaics. The mosque can hold 5,000 people. It gets its name from a passage in the Koran where Mohammed is described as being transported by night from the Sacred Temple in Mecca to the Distant Temple (in Jerusalem). Aksa is Arabic for distant (see ``Places to Visit'').

King Abdullah of Jordan, grandfather of King Hussein, was assassinated at the entrance to this mosque by an Arab extremist in 1951.

As you leave the mosque, take a look at the far corner on your right. Christians claim this site is the Pinnacle of the Temple, where Satan tempted Jesus. The small building here is the entrance to Solomon's Stables, where the Crusaders stabled their horses. However, unless you can get someone from the Supreme Moslem Council to open it, you will not be able to enter.

Between the EI-Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock is a fountain known as El-Kas (The Cup). Moslems sit on the stone seats and wash themselves before entering the mosques to pray.

The stone coverings on the esplanade to your right conceal huge underground halls, networks of tunnels and passages, as well as intricate systems for storing water which probably date back to First and Second Temple days.

Ascend the steps under the arches, also known as Mawazin (scales). It is said they will balance the souls of men on the Day of Judgement. On the left of the top step is a summer pulpit, intricately designed in 1456.

The Dome of the Rock was erected by Caliph Abd el-Malik in 691 around the rock upon which Abraham is believed to have intended sacrificing Isaac. Both Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple stood here (see ``Places to Visit'').

When Caliph al-Ma'moon renovated the Mosque in 813 he altered the plaque, trying to show that he had built it. But his workmen neglected to change the date!

The golden dome rises 36m. and is 26m. in diameter. It is made of aluminium from Italy.

This mosque was also damaged by earthquakes and substantially restored and improved by successive generations. Suleiman the Magnificent replaced the windows in the dome with stained glass of floral design painted in gold. He also placed the Persian tiles on the outside walls. The exterior is also decorated with verses from the Koran.

Inside you will see the sacred Rock enclosed by a fence. It owes its origins to the iron gate of the Crusaders who had to put an end to the pilgrims' practice of chipping bits off and taking them home as souvenirs. On the right-hand corner is a small enclosure in which is the legendary footprint of Mohammed, left when he ascended from here to heaven. It also contains some hairs from his beard. Another mark on the scarred rock is said to be the handprint of the Archangel Gabriel, who held the rock down during Mohammed's ascent. If you walk around the rock you will come to some steps leading down to a cave where the souls of the dead are said to meet in prayer.

Exit from the mosque and look to your right. The larger domed structure is the Dome of the Ascension, and the other is the Dome of the Prophet. Walking further to your right you see the Dome of the Chain, dating from the 8th century.

Cross the stairway ahead of you towards the Mt. of Olives and follow the path to the blocked-up arches of the Golden Gate. Tradition holds that the Messiah will come through the Golden Gate. The Moslem cemetery, located on the other side of the gate, was probably put there to prevent his entry, since in Jewish law a priest is not allowed to walk through a cemetery.

Ascend the steps leading to the ramparts for a marvel-lous view of the Mt. of Olives opposite and the Kidron Valley below. The northeastern corner of the Temple Mount has a Herodian tower near the Gate of the Tribes, leading through to Lions' Gate. Return now to the entrance of the Dome of the Rock and walk towards the steps facing the entrance.

 

Beside the steps is the Dome of the Spirit where Moslems claim Mohammed will call the faithful on the Day of Judgement.

On the left of the steps is the Dome of St. George. On your right, at the bottom, is another domed structure known as the Throne of Jesus. Towering over the northwest corner, to the left, is the minaret of el-Ghawanimeh. A gate of the same name leads to the Via Dolorosa.

The cloisters on your left have a number of gates leading to the Moslem quarter. You have seen the other side of several of them at the beginning of this walk. All the gates are clearly signposted. Next to the Iron Gate you can look through the barred window and see the huge tomb of King Hussein ibn Ali, great-grandfather of King Hussein.

Walk south to the Cotton Gate, at the end of the ``tunnel'' you could not enter earlier. Once more you can see the marvellous colouring of the Mameluke structures.

The Ablution Gate is opposite the ornate Sabeel Qait Bey, a fountain built in 1455.

Before you reach the Gate of the Chain you pass by the square Madrasah Sultaniya and the Madrasah Ashrafiya. By now you should recognise their distinctive styles.

Opposite the Gate of the Chain is an early l3th-century building on a raised platform. It is the Qubat en-Nahawiya, where Arabic literature was studied.

Continue to Moors' Gate and leave the way you came in.

If you wish to take a bus back to town you may catch a No. 1 outside Dung Gate. Alternatively, you can walk back to Damascus Gate and catch one of the following buses: 1, 23, 27.