The Five Transformations of Dung Gate – Bab al-Maghariba in Jerusalem
Author: 
Jean-Michel de Tarragon
Digital Section: 
Photos
Special Feature: 
Subaltern Archaeology (Part 2)
Keyword: 
Dung Gate
Mughrabi Gate
photographs
architecture
towers
Old City of Jerusalem
Download
Abstract: 

Bab al-Maghariba or Dung Gate is one of the least photographed gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. Also known as Mughrabi Gate – and not to be confused with its namesake, one of the internal gates allowing entrance into al-Aqsa Mosque from inside the Old City walls – the history of this southern gate can be examined from the few old photographs and maps that are available. The gate’s changing appearance is partly documented, partly deciphered in this photo essay by Jean-Michel de Tarragon, photo archivist for École Biblique.

Author biography: 

Fr. Jean-Michel de Tarragon, O.P., is a French Dominican priest from the École Biblique who has been in the Holy Land for forty-five years. He received his PhD in Paris IV Sorbonne (1978) in ancient history and cuneiform Canaanite language. He is in charge of the École Biblique’s photo archive, which he began to scan in 2001; with the addition of other photo archives, the collection now includes over thirty thousand photos of Palestine.