The easternmost of the gates of the south wall of the Azara — three according to Middot 1:4, four according to Abba Yossi ben Chanan (Middot 2:6). According to the Jerusalem Talmud (Yoma 1:5), the Lishkat Beit Avtinas is built above it; Yoma 19a places there the first immersion of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur. The tour sets the Lishkat Parhedrin against it to the west. Its gate structure is hollow: twenty steps rise inside it from the terrace of the Cheil up to the level of the Azara.
Dimensions
- 20 amot high × 10 wide
- gate structure 20 amot wide, projecting 12 amot from the wall
- twenty steps within the gate structure, from the Cheil to the Azara
- the easternmost of the south gates
Sources
- Middot 2:6“שְׁעָרִים דְּרוֹמִיִּים סְמוּכִים לַמַּעֲרָב, שַׁעַר הָעֶלְיוֹן, שַׁעַר הַדֶּלֶק, שַׁעַר הַבְּכוֹרוֹת, שַׁעַר הַמָּיִם”
- Middot 1:4“שֶׁבַּדָּרוֹם, שַׁעַר הַדֶּלֶק. שֵׁנִי לוֹ, שַׁעַר הַבְּכוֹרוֹת. שְׁלִישִׁי לוֹ, שַׁעַר הַמָּיִם”
- Shekalim 6:3“שְׁעָרִים דְּרוֹמִיִּים סְמוּכִין לַמַּעֲרָב”
- Yoma 19a“חוּץ מִזּוֹ שֶׁהָיְתָה בַּחוֹל, עַל גַּבֵּי שַׁעַר הַמַּיִם, וּבְצַד לִשְׁכָּתוֹ הָיְתָה”
- Jerusalem Talmud Yoma 1:5“עַל גַּבֵּי שַׁעַר הַמַּיִם הָיְיתָה וְסָמוּךְ לְלִישְׁכָּתוֹ הָיְתָה”
- Rambam, Hilchot Beit HaBechirah 5:4“וּשְׁלֹשָׁה מִן הַדָּרוֹם סְמוּכִין לַמַּעֲרָב”
- Rambam, Hilchot Beit HaBechirah 5:5“כָּל שַׁעַר מֵהֶן הָיָה רָחְבּוֹ עֶשֶׂר אַמּוֹת וְגָבְהוֹ עֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה”
Project decisionTour's choice: the gate structure of 20 × 12 amot and its twenty steps have no source. Its position, the easternmost, follows the order “near the west” of Abba Yossi ben Chanan (Middot 2:6; Shekalim 6:3), taken up by the Rambam (Beit HaBechirah 5:4); placing the Lishkat Parhedrin west of the gate is also a choice.