The Jaffa Gate

Jaffa Gate
Jaffa Gate
Location in Old Jerusalem
General information
Town or city	Old City (Jerusalem)
Coordinates	31°46′35.5″N 35°13′39.7″E / 31.776528°N 35.227694°E / 31.776528; 35.227694

Jaffa Gate (Hebrew: שער יפו‎‎, Sha'ar Yafo; Arabic: باب الخليل‎‎, Bab al-Khalil, "Hebron Gate"; also Arabic, Bab Mihrab Dawud, "Gate of the Prayer Niche of David"; also David's Gate) is a stone portal in the historic walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is one of eight gates in Jerusalem's Old City walls.

Jaffa Gate is the only one of the Old City gates positioned at a right angle to the wall. This could have been done as a defensive measure to slow down oncoming attackers, or to orient it in the direction of Jaffa Road, from which pilgrims arrived at the end of their journey from the port of Jaffa.

Both the Jaffa Gate and Jaffa Road are named after the port of Jaffa, from which the Prophet Jonah embarked on his sea journey and pilgrims debarked on their trip to the Holy City. The modern-day Highway 1, which starts from the western end of Jaffa Road, completes the same route to Tel Aviv-Jaffa.

The Arabic name for the gate, Bab el-Khalil (Gate of the Friend), refers to Abraham, the beloved of God who is buried in Hebron. Since Abraham lived in Hebron, another name for the Jaffa Gate is "Hebron Gate". The Arabs also called this gate Bab Mihrab Daud (Gate of the Prayer Niche of David), since King David is considered a prophet by Islam. The Crusaders, who rebuilt the citadel to the south of Jaffa Gate, also built a gate behind the present location of Jaffa Gate, calling it "David's Gate".