Destruction of antiquities 1995-2001

The Double Gate passageway is an underground passage built during the Second Temple period that served as an entranceway into the Temple Mount compound from the south. The antechamber leading to the gate contains unique ornamentations from the Second Temple period, which remained in situ, especially the four domes that cover it from above, which are covered with magnificent carvings in the stone. The superior quality of the carvings and the richness of the designs on original Second Temple period domes found in situ are a unique phenomenon. Additionally, one of the capitals of a column in the gate’s antechamber is decorated with a typical Herodian ornamentation of extraordinary beauty.

The Herodian gate passageway consisted of two long corridors separated by a colonnade. The double passageway’s original Herodian vaulting did not survive. Today, one can see the Herodian stones mainly in the lower layers of the gate’s passageway.

In addition to the Herodian structure of the antechamber and the double passageway, architectural ornamentations from later periods can also be seen.

Depiction of the Double Gate passageway. Drawing by Balage Balogh. All rights reserved to Dr. Eilat Mazar

Depiction of the facade of the Double Gate passageway. Drawing by Balage Balogh. All rights reserved to Dr. Eilat Mazar

The Double Gate passageway is underground and located beneath the eastern part of the al-Aqsa mosque. During the Umayyad period, the building was renovated. Caliph al-Malik repaired the gate passageway and redecorated its facade. It was apparently at this stage that the column bases that currently separate the two corridors of the Gate passageway were built (the original columns are in situ) along with the vaulting above. When the new wall was built during the Fatimid period, the masons sealed part of the gate and attached a watchtower to it, today known as Hatuniya.

Over the years, the Waqf carried out renovation work on the gate and damaged the ancient relics. Thus, for example, the Waqf plastered over the gate passageway walls, hiding the original Second Temple period masonry and its ornamentations typical of the Herodian period. Similarly, the Waqf built walls that closed off the row of arches that crosses the length of the Double Gate passageway and covered the gate’s central column with concrete, obscuring the unique Herodian capital at the top of the Herodian column.

The Herodian column obscured by the concrete

The Herodian column with its unique capital before being obscured

Up until 1996, the Gate passageway served as a dumpsite for junk and garbage.

Wooden planks hundreds of years old and pieces of ancient furniture piled up haphazardly in the Double Gate passageway

Destruction of Antiquities

From March 1998 to December 1999, illegal works were carried out in the structure of the Double Gate, including excavation, the construction of concrete and plasterboard walls, the renovation and “cleaning” of the walls by sandblasting, which destroyed the stones’ ancient patina. The structure was converted into a mosque given the name “al-Aqsa al-Qadima’ [the early al-Aqsa,] notwithstanding the fact that it had never at any earlier time in the history of the Temple Mount compound ever served as a mosque.

With the completion of the works, a second illegal mosque was inaugurated, built in the ancient subterranean chambers of the Temple Mount compound. The Muslims’ purpose was obvious – to expropriate all the buildings located in the Temple Mount compound and turn the entire Temple Mount, both above and underground, into a single, huge constructed mosque.

The Double Gate passageway during the works

The Double Gate passageway today

The fact that the ancient structure’s purpose has been altered to enable it to serve as a mosque severely undermines its status. Following the illegal conversion of the structure into a mosque, the Waqf closed it to the public, notwithstanding the fact that it is a unique historical Second Temple structure. Furthermore, the ancient structure of the Double Gate itself was damaged.

The construction work on the mosque was carried out without any building permit or supervision. The Waqf refused to allow Israel Antiquities Authority inspectors to enter the site. The Waqf works caused considerable damage to the site. The removal of the earth that had filled the crater from the site caused irreversible archeological damage. That earth, which was in fact layers that had accumulated in the ancient cavities of the mountain throughout the history of the Temple Mount, was permanently damaged when it was removed from the site without undergoing proper archeological excavation.

A new mihrab (niche in the wall of a mosque indicating the direction of prayer) built at the Double Gate

Like in Solomon’s Stables, here too the Muslims sandblasted in order to clean the walls, thereby destroying the stones’ patina. It cannot be ruled out that in doing so, they also obliterated inscriptions and ornamental carvings of enormous value to history, archeology and paleography, the study of ancient writing systems and inscriptions. Especially striking is the damage caused to the magnificent Herodian domes covering the antechamber. Instead of preserving the domes with their unique ornamental carvings, the original designs and ornamentations were plastered and painted over.

The appearance of Herodian domes today after sandblasting and plastering

Sketch showing the appearance of the Herodian domes in the past. All rights reserved to Eilat Mazar