St. Stephen's Gate Jerusalem circa 1870

This is an original vintage Albumen print on a thin sheet of paper with sepia color and slightly glossy surface, depicting the gate known as St Stephen's in the eastern wall surrounding the old city of Jerusalem. This gate is also known as the Lions gate because of the decorations to the right and left of the gate. These are actually panthers which were the symbols of Baibars (1223 –1277 CE). Baibars was the first Mamluk Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He defeated the crusaders who came to defend their Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 8th and 9th crusades. Saint Stephen was an early follower of Jesus. He was stoned to death in the mid 4th century CE and is considered the first martyr. Tradition puts the act of stoning outside this eastern gate, hence its name. In this picture we see that the path to the gate is slightly barred by earth. This was cleared around 1880. Inside the gate are Ottoman soldiers. This is an unsigned picture in relatively good condition with only minute foxing. there are some tears to the top and top right sides.