AC 7:54 When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth
at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw
the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 "Look," he
said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of
God." AC 7:57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of
their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and
began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet
of a young man named Saul. AC 7:59 While they were stoning him, Stephen
prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then he fell on his knees and
cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this,
he fell asleep.
The Lions' Gate (Hebrew:
שער האריות
Sha'ar Ha'Arayot, Arabic:
باب
الأسباط, also
St. Stephen's Gate or Sheep Gate) is located in the Old City Walls
of Jerusalem and is one of seven open Gates in Jerusalem's Old City
Walls.
Located in the east wall, the entrance marks the beginning of the
traditional Christian observance of the last walk of Jesus from
prison to crucifixion, the Via Dolorosa. Near the gate’s crest are
four figures of panthers, often mistaken for lions, two on the left
and two on the right. They were placed there by Sultan Suleiman the
Magnificent to celebrate the Ottoman defeat of the Mamluks in 1517.
Legend has it that Suleiman's predecessor Selim I dreamed of lions
that were going to eat him because of his plans to level the city.
He was spared only after promising to protect the city by building a
wall around it. This led to the lion becoming the heraldic symbol of
Jerusalem. However, Jerusalem already had been, from Biblical times,
the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, whose emblem was a lion
(Genesis 49:9)
source: Wiki
In another version, Suleiman taxed Jerusalem's residents with heavy
taxes which they could not afford to pay. That night Suleiman had a
dream of two lions coming to devour him. When he woke up, he asked
his dream solvers what his dream meant. A wise respected man came
forward and asked Suleiman what was on his mind before drifting to
sleep. Suleiman responded that he was thinking about how to punish
all the men who didn't pay his taxes. The wise man responded that
since Suleiman thought badly about the holy city, God was angry. To
atone, Suleiman built the Lions' Gate to protect Jerusalem from
invaders.
source: Wiki
 |
| street in the Old
City leading to the Lion Gate |
 |
| street outside the
Old City with the Lion Gate in background |
