Cf. Warren, C. (1876). Underground Jerusalem: An Account of Some of the Principal Difficulties Encountered in its Exploration and the Results Obtained. London: Richard Bentley and Son. p. 68. OCLC931310929., where Sir Charles Warren counted the gates in the western wall from left to right, by calling the first gate "the most northern," i.e. as one faces the western wall on its outside, the northernmost gate being on one's left-hand side. This way of counting, however, contradicts the practice in the Land of Israel. The Mishnah (Middot1:4) counts the southern gates of the Inner Temple Court, naming those closest to the western side of the Temple Mount. Whether one counts at the right of exit (with the western section bearing to his right), or counts at the left of the entrance (with the western section bearing to his left), the Kindling Gate (שער הדלק) comes before the Water Gate (2:6), with the Water Gate being the farthest removed from the western side.
Recent archaeological excavations (2001) by Israeli archaeologists at the south end of the Citadel of David have uncovered what is believed to have been Herod's Palace, or what was called by Josephus the "king's palace," which was later used by his son and grandson, Agrippa I, as also his son, Agrippa II (the last king of Judea). This means that the Kiponus Gate was, indeed, the first gate, as one counts from right to left, and that the gate adjoined the bridge as mentioned, and which bridge, according to Josephus (Wars of the Jews, book ii, chapter xvi, section 3), joined the gallery (Gymnasium) over which towered the "house of the Hasmoneans", at the passage that led to the upper city (Aramaic: מדינתא עלויתא).
Drory, Joseph[in Hebrew]; Sapir, Baruch (1980). "Chain Gate (Sha'ar ha-shalshelet)". In Chaim Rubenstein (ed.). Israel Guide – Jerusalem (A useful encyclopedia for the knowledge of the country) (in Hebrew). Vol. 10. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, in affiliation with the Israel Ministry of Defence. pp. 71–72. OCLC745203905.
Schiller, Eli[in Hebrew], ed. (1989). The Temple Mount and its Sites (הר הבית ואתריו) (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Ariel. p. 134 (Cisterns on the Temple Mount). OCLC741174009. (Reproduced from Ariel: A Journal for the Knowledge of the Land of Israel, vol. 64–65)
Cf. Warren, C. (1876). Underground Jerusalem: An Account of Some of the Principal Difficulties Encountered in its Exploration and the Results Obtained. London: Richard Bentley and Son. p. 68. OCLC931310929., where Sir Charles Warren counted the gates in the western wall from left to right, by calling the first gate "the most northern," i.e. as one faces the western wall on its outside, the northernmost gate being on one's left-hand side. This way of counting, however, contradicts the practice in the Land of Israel. The Mishnah (Middot1:4) counts the southern gates of the Inner Temple Court, naming those closest to the western side of the Temple Mount. Whether one counts at the right of exit (with the western section bearing to his right), or counts at the left of the entrance (with the western section bearing to his left), the Kindling Gate (שער הדלק) comes before the Water Gate (2:6), with the Water Gate being the farthest removed from the western side.
Drory, Joseph[in Hebrew]; Sapir, Baruch (1980). "Chain Gate (Sha'ar ha-shalshelet)". In Chaim Rubenstein (ed.). Israel Guide – Jerusalem (A useful encyclopedia for the knowledge of the country) (in Hebrew). Vol. 10. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, in affiliation with the Israel Ministry of Defence. pp. 71–72. OCLC745203905.
Schiller, Eli[in Hebrew], ed. (1989). The Temple Mount and its Sites (הר הבית ואתריו) (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Ariel. p. 134 (Cisterns on the Temple Mount). OCLC741174009. (Reproduced from Ariel: A Journal for the Knowledge of the Land of Israel, vol. 64–65)
