The Dung Gate is known as “Sha’ar Ha’ashpot” (Hebrew "שער האשפות") and Gate of Silwan in Arabic, was constructed between the years 1538-1540 by the Ottoman ruler Suleiman.

Historians conjecture that The Dung Gate and its direct translation in Hebrew is so named because it was the exit used to get rid of the city's rubbish, as the wind there blew away and carried the odors away from the city.  The first time the Dung Gate is mentioned in the bible is in the book of Nehemia, where the gate is mentioned in connection with the sacrifices brought at the Temple. The biblical text restates the sacred law that instructs taking out the parts of sacrificed animals not burned at the alter, to be discarded and burnt outside the camp.

The Arabs named this gate Silwan, as the road from it leads downhill to the Arab neighborhood in the Silwan valley. In ancient times, Silwan was encompassed within the walls of Jerusalem, but when the walls were rebuilt, Silwan was left outside the circumference, but the Dung Gate was constructed and provided easy for the residents of Silwan with easy access to the city.

For hundreds of years the Dung gate was but a small entry way in the wall, large enough for pedestrian traffic. In 1952 the Jordanians enlarged to opening, to allow buses and automobiles. After Israel regained control of the Old City in 1967, Sha'ar HaAshpot was renovated once more.

The Dung Gate is located in the southeast corner of the Old City.  It is the closest gate to the holiest of Jewish sites, the Kotel (Western Wall).

Click the following for the list of all of Old Jerusalem's Eight Gates: The Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem
 

Mazor Guide to Yom Yerushalayim brings you much more about the holiday, its meaning and its traditions... See the links below.

• Yom Yerushalayim:The Reunification of Israel's Eternal Capital - Basic Information
• Yom Yerushalayim - A Time Line: Jerusalem, the Eternal Capital of Israel
• Yom Yerushalayim - How is this holiday celebrated?
• The Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem

MazorGuide Recommended Reading

  - A House of Prayer for All Nations: The Holy Temple of Jerusalem ~ by Chaim Richman
  - Letters from Jerusalem 1947-1948 (Paperback)  ~ by Zipporah Porath
  - The Story of Israel - Special Edition: From Theodor Herzl to the Roadmap for Peace ~ by Martin Gilbert
  - Tales Out of Jerusalem: Seven Gates to the City  ~ by Rabbi Emanuel Feldman