Sheep Gate

The Sheep Gate was one of the gates of Jerusalem rebuilt under Nehemiah's direction following the return from Babylon. It is mentioned first in the list of gate restorations (Nehemiah 3:1), rebuilt by Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests, and stands as the starting and ending point of Nehemiah's circuit of the wall (Nehemiah 12:39). The gate was dedicated first and was the only one whose builders are said to have consecrated it, reflecting its priestly associations.

The Sheep Gate's location on the northern side of the temple mount area made it the natural entry point for sheep brought into the city for sacrifice. In the New Testament, John 5:2 places a pool called Bethesda (in Hebrew) near the Sheep Gate, surrounded by five porches — the site where Jesus healed a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. Archaeological investigations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries identified a large double pool complex north of the temple mount as the probable location of this pool.