SECTION II
I
BAB EL KHALIL, THE JAFFA GATE AT JERUSALEM
In Mohammedan eschatology Bab el Khalil figures
as the Gate of Lydda where “Isa ibn Maryam will destroy Antichrist, though some amongst the learned, for instance Abulfeda and Kemél-ed-din, assert that the event will take place near the entrance to the town of Lydda, and, as a matter of fact, a well inside a small domed building situated about hallf- way between Lydda and Ramleh, and called “ Bir es Zeybak ”’ or the Quicksilver Well, is pointed out as the exact spot where the “ Dejjal ” (lit. impostor) or Antichrist will be slain. Just inside the gateway, and on the left-hand side after passing the portal, there are two cenotaphs in an enclosure behind an iron railing. Old jars, and tins, saddles, etc., placed beside the cenotaphs, or piled up in the corners of the open space around them, show that two “ Welis”’ or saints are buried here. As the once existing inscriptions are now quite effaced, no one knows exactly who they were. Some think the tombs are those of the two architect brothers under whose supervision the present city 79
