Editing Temple Mount (section)

=== Gates ===
{{Main|Gates of the Temple Mount}}
[[File:Hulda gates.jpg|thumb|The eastern set of Hulda gates]]
[[File:RobinsonsArchMay2009.jpg|thumb|[[Robinson's Arch]], situated on the southwestern flank, once supported a staircase that led to the Mount.]]
:'''Sealed gates'''
The retaining walls of the platform contain several gateways, all now blocked. In the eastern wall is [[Golden Gate (Jerusalem)|the Golden Gate]], through which legend states the [[Jewish Messiah]] would enter Jerusalem. On the southern face are the [[Hulda Gates]] – the ''triple gate'' (which has three arches) and the ''double gate'' (which has two arches and is partly obscured by a Crusader building); these were the entrance and exit (respectively) to the Temple Mount from [[Ophel]] (the oldest part of Jerusalem), and the main access to the Mount for ordinary Jews. In the western face, near the southern corner, is the Barclay's Gate – only half visible due to a building (the "house of Abu Sa'ud") on the northern side. Also in the western face, hidden by later construction but visible via the recent [[Western Wall Tunnels]], and only rediscovered by Warren, is [[Warren's Gate]]; the function of these western gates is obscure, but many Jews view Warren's Gate as particularly holy, due to its location due west of the Dome of the Rock. The current location of the Dome of the Rock is considered one of the possible locations where the [[Holy of Holies]] was placed; numerous alternative opinions exist, based on study and calculations, such as those of Tuvia Sagiv.

Warren was able to investigate the inside of these gates. Warren's Gate and the Golden Gate simply head toward the centre of the Mount, giving access to the surface by steps.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://campsci.com/museum/images/38g.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020719154856/http://campsci.com/museum/images/38g.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-07-19 |title=Photograph of the inside of the Golden Gate |access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref> Barclay's Gate is similar, but abruptly turns south as it does so; the reason for this is unknown. The double and triple gates (the ''Huldah Gates'') are more substantial; heading into the Mount for some distance they each finally have steps rising to the surface just north of al-Aqsa Mosque.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://campsci.com/museum/images/45o.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020719013944/http://campsci.com/museum/images/45o.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-07-19 |title=image of the double gate passage |access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref> The passageway for each is vaulted, and has two aisles (in the case of the triple gate, a third aisle exists for a brief distance beyond the gate); the eastern aisle of the double gates and western aisle of the triple gates reach the surface, the other aisles terminating some way before the steps. Warren believed that one aisle of each original passage was extended when al-Aqsa Mosque blocked the original surface exits.

In the process of investigating Cistern 10, Warren discovered tunnels that lay ''under'' the Triple Gate passageway.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://campsci.com/museum/images/47a.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020719033733/http://campsci.com/museum/images/47a.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-07-19 |title=Photograph of one of the chambers ''under'' the Triple Gate passageway |access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref> These passages lead in erratic directions, some leading beyond the southern edge of the Temple Mount (they are at a depth below the base of the walls); their purpose is unknown – as is whether they predate the Temple Mount – a situation not helped by the fact that apart from Warren's expedition no one else is known to have visited them.

Altogether, there are six major sealed gates and a postern, listed here counterclockwise, dating from either the Roman/Herodian, Byzantine, or Early Muslim periods:
* Bab al-Jana'iz/al-Buraq (Gate of the Funerals/of al-Buraq); eastern wall; a hardly noticeable [[postern]], or maybe an improvised gate, a short distance south of the Golden Gate
* Golden Gate (Bab al-Zahabi); eastern wall (northern third), a double gate:
::Bab al-Rahma (Door of Mercy) is the southern opening,
::Bab al-Tauba (Door of Repentance) is the northern opening
* Warren's Gate; western wall, now only visible from the Western Wall Tunnel
* Bab an-Nabi (Gate of the Prophet) or Barclay's Gate; western wall, visible from al-Buraq Mosque inside the Haram, and from the Western Wall plaza (women's section) and the adjacent building (the so-called house of Abu Sa'ud)
* Double Gate (Bab al-Thulathe; possibly one of the Huldah Gates); southern wall, underneath al-Aqsa Mosque
* Triple Gate; southern wall, outside Solomon's Stables/Marwani Mosque
* Single Gate; southern wall, outside Solomon's Stables/Marwani Mosque

:'''Open gates of the Haram'''
{{Main|Gates of the Temple Mount}}
There are now eleven open gates offering access to the Muslim Haram al-Sharif.
* Bab al-Asbat (Gate of the Tribes); north-east corner
* Bab al-Hitta/Huttah (Gate of Remission, Pardon, or Absolution); northern wall
* Bab al-Atim/'Atm/Attim (Gate of Darkness); northern wall
* Bab al-Ghawanima (Gate of Bani Ghanim); north-west corner
* Bab al-Majlis / an-Nazir/Nadhir (Council Gate / Inspector's Gate); western wall (northern third)
* Bab al-Hadid (Iron Gate); western wall (central part)
* Bab al-Qattanin (Gate of the Cotton Merchants); western wall (central part)
* Bab al-Matarah/Mathara (Ablution Gate); western wall (central part)
Two twin gates follow south of the Ablution Gate, the Tranquility Gate and the Gate of the Chain:
* Bab as-Salam / al-Sakina (Tranquility Gate / Gate of the Dwelling), the northern one of the two; western wall (central part)
* Bab as-Silsileh (Gate of the Chain), the southern one of the two; western wall (central part)
* Bab al-Magharbeh/Maghariba (Moroccans' Gate/Gate of the Moors); western wall (southern third); the only entrance for non-Muslims
A twelfth gate still open during Ottoman rule is now closed to the public:
* Bab as-Sarai (Gate of the Seraglio); a small gate to the former residence of the Pasha of Jerusalem; western wall, northern part (between the Bani Ghanim and Council gates).