The Dung Gate was originally known as the Maghrebi Gate. This name alludes to the
Mughrabi Quarter, a neighborhood of North Africans, which was historically situated just inside the gate. The same name also refers to
a different gate which overlooks the old Mughrabi Quarter site and allows entrance into the
Temple Mount above. The Maghrebi Muslims were renowned for their valour in fighting alongside
Salah al-Din, who resettled them on the western side of
Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to
re-Islamize the city. His son,
al-Afdal Ali, later founded the Mughrabi quarter (Harat al-Maghariba) along with the Preferred School. The entire neighborhood was razed by Israel in the aftermath of the
Six-Day War in order to make way for the
Western Wall Plaza. In the 19th century,
Zionists began to refer to the gate as Dung Gate ( ''Sha'ar Ha'ashpot''). This was done in commemoration of an ancient gate in the Jerusalem wall from the
Hebrew Bible ( which was located near the
Pool of Siloam in the days of the Second Temple. It was probably named after the residue that was taken from the
Jewish Temple into the
Valley of Hinnom, where it was burned. The name was transferred to this small gate - at first, a small rectangular postern in the tower of the wall - in the 19th century. The name Silwan Gate refers to the village of
Silwan, that lies outside the gate, broadly southeast of it. ==History==