The gate occupies a highly significant position both topographically and symbolically, facing the Mount of Olives and serving as a focal point in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic eschatological traditions. Architecturally, the current structure dates to the 6th or 7th century CE, likely built during the Byzantine period and later modified under Islamic rule, although it is constructed on the remains of earlier Second Temple period foundations. In addition to its functional role as an entrance, the Golden Gate has been imbued with messianic and liturgical associations, particularly in Christian tradition, where it is linked to the prophetic and liturgical narratives of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Its location, alignment, and historical transformations reflect both the urban development of Jerusalem and the complex layering of religious, cultural, and political significance over time.

In Arabic, it is known as Bab al-Dhahabi, also spelled as Bab al-Zahabi, meaning "Golden Gate"; another Arabic name is the Gate of Eternal Life. Additionally, for Muslims each of the two doors of the double gate has its own name: Bab al-Rahma, "Gate of Mercy", for the southern one, and Bab al-Taubah, the "Gate of Repentance", for the northern one. Similar to Christians, Muslims generally believe this was the gate through which Jesus as Messiah, entered Jerusalem.

The gate is located in the northern third of the Temple Mount's eastern wall. The southern edge of the Golden Gate is at a distace of approx 300 meters from the south-eastern corner of the complex.

circa 1300 CE

Biblical Gate
The existence and identification of an eastern gate in the walls of the Temple Mount during the Biblical period is widely accepted, though its precise form, function, and continuity with the present Golden Gate remain matters of scholarly debate. Biblical and early Jewish sources attest to the presence of an eastern entrance aligned with the sacred topography of Jerusalem, particularly in relation to the Mount of Olives and the Kidron Valley.

In the Book of Ezekiel (chapters 40–44), the prophet Ezekiel describes a visionary temple complex featuring an eastern gate of particular sanctity. This gate is said to remain shut because it had been entered by the God of Israel:

“This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened… because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it.”

This passage became foundational for later Jewish and Christian traditions, which associated the eastern gate with divine presence and eschatological expectation. In Jewish thought, the gate was linked to the anticipated arrival of the Messiah, while in Christian tradition it became associated with the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

Historical reconstructions of the First Temple period (circa 10th century–586 BCE) remain speculative due to the absence of direct archaeological evidence from the Temple Mount. However, the orientation of the temple described in Biblical texts strongly implies the existence of an eastern portal aligned with ritual movement and cosmological symbolism.

During the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem, the First Temple and its associated structures were destroyed. The subsequent Second Temple, rebuilt in the late 6th century BCE and significantly expanded under Herod the Great in the first century BCE, likely retained an eastern gate. This is supported indirectly by later textual sources and by the known layout of the Herodian Temple complex, which emphasized axial alignment from east to west.

Rabbinic literature provides further references to an eastern gate. The Mishnah (particularly Middot) describes a gate on the eastern side of the Temple Mount, often identified as the Shushan Gate. This gate is said to have been aligned with the sanctuary and used for specific ritual purposes, including the procession of the red heifer. Its name may reflect Persian influence, possibly commemorating the Achaemenid period following the return from exile.

Some scholars have proposed that remnants of this earlier gate may lie beneath the present Golden Gate structure. However, the lack of archaeological excavation prevents any firm conclusions. The continuity between the Biblical eastern gate and the later Byzantine or Umayyad constructions remains hypothetical, though the persistence of the location’s sacred significance suggests at least a conceptual continuity, if not a structural one.

The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE) brought an end to the Second Temple and its gates. Whether the eastern gate survived in any form following this event is unknown. Nevertheless, the memory of such a gate endured in religious tradition, shaping both the physical and symbolic development of the site in subsequent centuries.

Present Gate
The date of its construction is disputed as no archaeological work is allowed at the gatehouse due to the sanctity of the space, but opinions are shared between a late Byzantine, an early Umayyad date with some suggesting as late as Ottoman period. It is more likely that the gate complex was not finished as a unified structure in its present form, rather the current building is an amalgamation of various constructions and modifications over the centuries.

The eastern facade of the present gate was probably built in the 520s CE, as part of Justinian I's building program in Jerusalem, on top of the ruins of the earlier gate in the wall. An alternative theory holds that it was built in the later part of the 7th century CE (circa 680-710 CE) by Byzantine artisans employed by the Umayyad Caliphs. The current structure dating back to the Umayyad period is more likely, given the extensive building and construction work carried out on the ruined Temple Mount at the time, nearly 600 years after the 70 CE destruction by the Romans.

Some modern sources claim Muslims walled it up around 810 CE; however, even if a closure occurred, the dating is widely disputed and considered inaccurate by most scholars. The historical sources from this early period (circa seventh until eleventh or twelfth centuries CE) of Islam are conspicuously silent on the physical and architectural condition of gate. Conversely, they do discuss the religious and devotional tangent of the gate, as a place where supplications are accepted without alluding to any Messianic relation. It is possible that this 810 CE dating is taken, ex post facto, to explain the obstructed state of the gate mentioned by Rabanus Maurus, who writing circa 830 CE may have observed the gate in a closed condition, thereby prompting later historians to project an earlier-recent date for its sealing (see Note 2).

During the mid-eleventh century CE (Fatimid period: circa 969–1099 CE) the Golden Gate was, however, still accessible and provided passage into the Haram complex as noted by the Persian-Muslim traveler Nasir Khusraw (circa 1047 CE) in his Safarnama. He provides a brief description of the gate-complex;

In the eastern wall of the Haram Area there is a great gateway skilfully built of squared stones, so that one might almost say the whole was carved out of a single block. Its height is fifty ells, and its width thirty; and it is sculptured and ornamented throughout. There are ten beautiful doors (dar) in this gateway (set so close), that between any two of them there is not the space of a foot. These doors are all most skilfully wrought in iron and Damascaii brass work, set in with bolts and rings. They say this gateway was constructed by Solomon, the son of David--peace be upon him!--to please his father. When you enter this gateway facing east, there are on your right-hand two great doors. One of them is called Bab ar Rahmah (the, Gate of Mercy), and the other Bab at Taubah (the Gate of Repentance); and they say of this last that it is the gate where God--be He exalted and glorified!--accepted the repentance of David--upon whom be peace!

According to Khusraw's description the inner part of the gate seems to have been "a paved area surrounded by arched gateways with door panels" instead of an enclosed space as seen today. At this time the double-gateway in the eastern wall still had door panels. Although the physical width of the internal space of the depression where the gate is located seems to be somewhat closer to what Khusraw states, the height however seems to be an exeggeration.

During the brief but turbulent Seljuk period (circa 1073-1098 CE), al-Ghazali is known to have resided in Jerusalem, seclusion and possibly teaching at the haram complex. In his own autobiographical work, al-Munqidh min al-Dalal (Deliverance from Error), he describes his residence while working on 'Ihya 'Ulum al-Din, where he notes, "At length I made my way from Damascus to Jerusalem. There I used to enter into the precinct of the Rock every day and shut myself in." While Ghazali's description does not specifically relates to the Golden Gate, later sources (Mujir al-Din 'Ulymi) describe that al-Ghazali stayed in a chamber above the gatehouse. It is possible that the staircase on the northern side of the current gate is a remnant of this zawiya.

Later on (most likely in late 1098 or early 1099 CE), when the Fatimids wrested control of the holy city of Jerusalem from Seljuks, the outer double-arched gate was walled up along with a number of other gates as a defensive measure against the upcoming Crusader attack on the city.

It has been suggested that the gate was reopened in 1102 CE (roughly three years after they conquered Jerusalem) by the Crusaders, this may have been the opening of the Fatimid period closure. Crusader army opened it to mark their conquest and used it for specific ceremonial purposes, aligning with their belief that it was the site of Jesus's triumphal entry. During this period there was no evidence of Christians ascribing any blame to Muslims for sealing up the gate, instead the closure was ascribed to the gate's sanctity and divine motion.

al-Idrisi writing in mid-12th century CE notes that Crusaders called it the Porta Aurea , converted it in to a church and only opened it twice a year (Palm Sunday and the Exaltation of the Cross), which explains why it transitioned from a public thoroughfare (Khusraw's time) to a restricted ceremonial gate. Around the same time Christian pilgrims John of Würzburg (circa 1160s CE) and Theodoric of Würzburg (circa 1172 CE) repeat more or less the same structural description. While Theodoric provides additional details as to how the gate was walled up with stone from the outside, even while having iron doors on the inside.

During the first Kingdom of Jerusalem (circa 1099-1187 CE) a number of notable Latin people were buried outside the Golden Gate, where today the Muslim cemetery lies. These tombs were destroyed when after the reconquest by Salah al-Din. This cemetery is also mentioned by John of Würzburg around the Golden Gate, referring to the "cemetery before the door of the Temple" (ante ostium Templi) in which the killers of Thomas Becket (died circa 1170 CE), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, an English cleric and statesman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162 CE, were said to have been buried.

While dates of the travels described in his travelogue are uncertain, Petachiah of Regensburg described the gate at a point during or before 1187 CE,

At Jerusalem there is a gate, its name is, Gate of Mercy. The gate is full of stone and lime. No Jew, and still less a Gentile, is permitted to go there. One day the Gentiles wished to remove the rubbish and open the gate, but the whole land of Israel shook, and there was a tumult in the city until they left off. There is a tradition amongst the Jews that the divine glory appeared through this gate, and that through it, it would return. It is exactly opposite Mount Olivet. Mount Olivet is lower than it. Nevertheless, whoever stands on that mountain may see it.

It is possible that the gate may have been damaged during the later years of the Frankish occupation, though the details of how it happened are scant. The gate was rebuilt by Saladin after regaining control of Jerusalem in 1187 CE. This reconstruction seems to have been a crude but permanent. Subsequently, his son al-Malik al-Afzal again reconstrcuted the gate sometime around 1190 CE.

In the first half of the thirteenth century CE the walls of Jerusalem (possibly the gate as well) were preventatively destroyed by the Ayyubid Sultan al-Muazzam Isa (circa 1219-1227 CE). Even though pilgrim Ricold of Monte Croce (circa 1288-91 CE) visited the city from outside, he does not mention the physical state of the gate. In 1331 CE Antony of Cremona (in his book Itinerarium ad Sepulcrum Domini) reported that the gate was still closed and "no one dared open it for fear of the judgment of God". However, he too does not provide details about the architectural state of the gate it self.

Mujir al-Din, writing around the turn of the sixteenth century (circa 1496-7 CE) provides futher details that the Muslim scholar al-Ghazali stayed in a zawiya over (or beside) Bab al-Rahmah and was called al-Ghazaliyya after him. By this time the structures in this area were in ruined state.

Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt it together with the city walls, but walled it up in 1541 CE, and it stayed that way. The Ottoman Turks transformed the walled-up gate into a watchtower, overlooking the Kidron Valley.

circa 1300 CE

Judaism
According to Jewish tradition, the Shekhinah (שכינה) (Divine Presence) used to appear through the eastern Gate, and will appear again when the Anointed One (Messiah) comes (Ezekiel 44:1–3) and a new gate replaces the present one; that might be why Jews used to pray in medieval times for mercy at the former gate at this location, another possible reason being that in the Crusader period, when this habit was first documented, they were not allowed into the city where the Western Wall is located. Hence the name "Gate of Mercy".

Christianity
In Christian apocryphal texts, the gate was the scene of the meeting between the parents of Mary, so that the gate became the symbol of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and Joachim and Anne Meeting at the Golden Gate became a standard subject in cycles depicting the Life of the Virgin. It is also said that Jesus, riding on a donkey, passed through this gate on Palm Sunday, in fulfillment of the Jewish prophecy concerning the Messiah. The Synoptic Gospels appear to support this belief by indicating Jesus came down from the direction of the Mount of Olives and immediately arrived at the Temple Mount. The Gospel of John alternatively suggests the Pharisees were watching the arrival, possibly from the Temple Mount. Some equate it with the Beautiful Gate mentioned in Acts 3.

Islam
Since the early times of Muslim rule over the holy region Bayt al-Maqdis, some Muslims, such as ‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit, linked the eastern wall of the enclave with the Last Day. According to Ibn Kathir, this wall is not the wall mentioned in the Quranic verse “so a wall will be put up betwixt them, with a gate therein” [57:13], but it was mentioned by some commentators as an example for the clarification of the meaning of the verse. Since that time, this example probably encouraged Muslims to bury their dead immediately outside the eastern wall of the al-Aqsa enclave. In any case, if the name “al-Rahmah” (Mercy) truly exists since the construction of the gate, this suggests that the gate is part of an overall concept based on the idea related to the place, specifically the Rock, as that of the Last Day. Then it can be argued that Bab al-Rahmah symbolises a gate in paradise or an entry to Mercy (Ratrout, 2004, p. 293). Whatever the construction motive of Bab al-Rahmah might have been, it was built during the early Islamic period, and it is the most significant gate of the Haram as-Sharif enclave.

circa 1300 CE

Facade
The gate represents a rectangular stonework structure with two decorated facades. Unlike other gates in the al-Aqsa enclave, the eastern facade was not built as part of the wall of the enclave, but was shifted 2.00 metres out off the wall. The gate is not aligned with the Holy of Holies of the temple.

Bab al-Rahmah is a double gate. The two bays are reflected in its plan and main elevations; two doorways are followed by a double passage covered by three pairs of domes. Originally, the eastern facade of Bab al-Rahmah has two large doorways, separated by a column. Each doorway measures 3.90 metres in width, supporting a semicircular arch with a decorated frieze.

circa 1300 CE

Gatehouse
The gate-house, which is accessed from the Temple Mount by descending a wide flight of stairs leading into it, and where the current ground floor is built in the shape of a rectangle measuring 24 metres (79 feet) x 17 metres (56 feet) (exterior wall measurements), is surrounded by walls, the length of which space being divided by a row of columns forming two equal divisions. At the ground level can be seen the top of an ancient arch (the lower stones still buried underground), the existence of which leads to the conclusion that the original ground level was much lower than what it is today.

circa 1300 CE

Interior
On the ground floor level a vaulted hall is divided by four columns into two aisles, which lead to the Door of Mercy, Bab al-Rahma, and the Door of Repentance, Bab al-Taubah. The interior of the gate is suprisingly similar to that of Double Huldah Gate in the southern wall of Temple Mount.

The rectangular domed vestibule, measuring 20.37 metres (66.8 feet) in length and 10.50 metres (34.4 feet) in width (interior wall measurements). At that time, the hall consisted of six shallow domes, which have elliptical shape, two of which were changed later. These domes are separated by arches of an elliptical shape springing from two pilasters at the entrances and two central columns. Each dome in Bab al-Rahmah is constructed over a square plan, so special stones are required to form the successive stone circles that form the dome.

circa 1300 CE

Model of the Eastern gate or the possible Shushan Gate in the Holyland Model of Jerusalem. Evidently the name of this gate was the "Eastern Gate", and that it had on it a shape signifying Shushan (Susa). If the Golden Gate does preserve the location of the Shushan Gate, which is only a presumption with no archaeological proof, this would make it the oldest of the current gates in Jerusalem's Old City Walls.

circa

2009
Very recently (February 2019) the gate was opened for Muslim worshipers, which was previously sealed in 2003. This reopening was in response to the government allowing Jewish prayer to be held in the Muslim graveyard (Bab al-Rahma cemetery) situated along the east wall of the Temple Mount complex and also abutting the exterior of the Golden Gate.