Dung-gate

The Dung Gate (Hebrew shaʿar hāʾashpōt, literally the gate of the refuse heap) was one of the gates of ancient Jerusalem, situated on the south wall of the city near the Valley of Hinnom. It is mentioned in Nehemiah 2:13 as one of the landmarks in Nehemiah's nighttime inspection of the broken walls, and was assigned as a section of the wall to be rebuilt under the supervision of Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of Beth-hakkerem (Neh. 3:14). Nehemiah 12:31 includes it in the procession route at the dedication of the rebuilt walls.

The gate served as the exit through which refuse and waste were carried out of the city into the Hinnom Valley, giving it both its name and its function as the city's sanitation outlet. The Hinnom Valley below it was the city's refuse dump and the location of the infamous Topheth, associated with child sacrifice under apostate Israelite kings. The modern Dung Gate on the south side of the Old City of Jerusalem, leading to the Western Wall plaza, is near the location of the ancient gate.