Damascus Gate

In this picture: Muslim matriarch, and Israeli soldier sitting in the "window."



Visits to the hub of the Old City nearly always travel through Damascus Gate. The largest entrance to the city, and most traversed, it connects to the divide between the Muslim and Christian quarters of the city.


Orientation here is standard European, with North being at the top. (5 faces east, which would be at the top if we were in the mid-east... everything has an eastern orientation to them. So the Damascus gate faces slightly Northwest, if you get it.)

Flanked by fruit stands and falafel shops, shoes, clothes, hats, music, ripped off dvds, fish, sesame butter (which is really sweet and tasty), jewelry, sugar dates and pistachios, and dozens of little boys running around you. The little boys believe they are adults, but with less responsibility and thus more freedom. ATTITUDE. But just the boys--little girls are always with their mothers aunts or grandmas, often all three. I swear the boys have no supervision, though. They scamper everywhere and won't hesitate to bowl you over with their produce carts if you don't get out of their way. They command you to move, in fact. They won't budge out of your way. I'll have to post more pictures of Damascus gate from the inside with all the people and stuff, but for now--just this one of the outside-top.

Follow this link for a virtual-tour of the exterior Damascus Gate. If you do, you'll see the independent boys and carts that I mentioned, as well as groups of women who are (as always) moving in flocks.



1890


To the left side of the bridge


Israeli soldiers monitoring gate activity (No SG-1 jokes, please)


What's inside

Solve the mystery! Based on the cars in this picture, what's the date of the photo? Care to guess a year, Dad?


Friends, last day in town. The dark haired girl with the orange bag is my sweet-awesome hip roomate AMBER, whom I love to death. I love her so much she had to leave Provo when we got back just to escape me. LOVE LOVE LOVE Amber.


Another great old shot. Wish I could've seen it when it looked like this.

Inside the gate today. Need some new socks?

Outside today, from top of the ramparts. Wares are sold along every stairway.