Note Note XXIX — NOTES TO CHAPTER III.

It seems that the use of the two gates may be attributed to their being situated in the most frequented part of the city; they served for the passage, the one of persons going out, the other of persons coming in, so as to avoid all crowding, and the stoppages which might result from it. Indeed, on the eastern side of the temple, where a great part of the Court of the Gentiles was, there must always have been a great multitude of people. The real ground for its being closed (though so many ridiculous causes are alleged) is that the Turks consider the temple enclosure sacred in all its parts. Therefore, they do not allow any trade to be carried on there, nor any buying or selling, or transaction of business, or even walking for pleasure: accordingly, the gate on that side becomes entirely useless, the more so, that there is in its neighbourhood the gate of S. Mary.