UNESCO to assess Mughrabi work

"UNESCO to assess Mughrabi work" is most welcome, and it is a shame the world's media did not ascertain that the excavations are not taking place on the Temple Mount or adjacent to the Aksa Mosque by referring to the historic Ordnance Survey Maps of Jerusalem 1864-65 by Captain Charles W. Wilson R.E. They would have found not only that the ramp leading to the Mughrabi Gate was in existence over 140 years ago, but that the gate was in the house of Abu Seud outside the walls of the Temple Mount.

Furthermore, an enormous lintel was discovered below the gate, covering a closed doorway measuring 20ft x 6ft 10ins and almost 29 ft. in height, at a distance of 275 ft. from the southwest corner of the Temple Mount, but obscured by the ramp. This gate, known as Barclay's Gate, found by James Turner Barclay in the mid-19th century and most likely to be the Kiphonos Gate, one of the entrances to the Temple Mount, is mentioned in the Mishna (Middot 1:3). Regrettably, government spokesmen and the Israel Antiquities Authority fail to publicize this.

A fact never alluded to is that beyond the gate is the underground mosque of Al-Burak, described by Wilson in detail, at a distance of 23 ft. below the level of the Temple Mount and accessed by a flight of stairs from the eastern cloisters. Within the mosque is shown the ring to which "Mahomet fastened his steed Al Burak during his famous night journey" - dispelling all claims that the steed was tethered to the Western Wall, or to any supporting wall of the Temple Mount.

Guest-Comment

COLIN L LECI