Surprising: Who Placed the Lions at the Lion's Gate?

We all know the "Lion's Gate" in Jerusalem. To the right and left of the gate are large lion engravings. How did the lions end up at the gate? Did King Solomon place them there? Certainly not. The wall is later, from the days of Sultan Suleiman, but this gate is older. It was built by the Mamluk Sultan Baybars after he defeated the Mongols in 1260 and became the ruler of the area. He later won many battles and ruled a vast empire. His symbol was a lion. He stamped this symbol on gold coins, wax seals on all the letters he sent, and also on the eastern entrance to Jerusalem.

Baybars was a Mamluk ruler. The Mamluks belonged to Islam but were not Arabs by origin. Baybars personally was Circassian, from a pagan tribe that wandered the steppes of Eastern Russia. The Khan of Crimea raided the tribe and took all the young people for the purpose of the slave trade. Baybars arrived at the slave markets of Syria at age 14. Although he was healthy and strong, he was considered damaged goods due to a spot on his eye, giving him a frightening appearance. A trader bought him cheaply and then regretted it (within 14 days...) and returned him to the market, and eventually, he was bought by Emir Aladdin Idekin. Shortly thereafter, Sultan Salih Ayub confiscated all the Emir's property, and thus the frightening Baybars came to the Sultan's court.

Baybars was a hero, and the Sultan included him in the guard. In 1250, Baybars participated in the Battle of Mansura (in the Cairo area of Egypt) against the French Crusaders, as part of the Seventh Crusade. The battle was tough, and the Mamluk commander was killed by Crusader fire. Baybars spontaneously took command, led the soldiers bravely, and they eventually managed to capture the French king. Baybars' status rose.

By divine providence, Baybars kept becoming the right man in the right place at the right time. Sultan Salih Ayub died, but no one succeeded him. Everyone who tried to seize power met a strange death from another competitor. Then came the Battle of Ain Jalut, led by Baybars, where he managed to defeat the invincible Mongols for the first time. There, in the valley of springs, between the Kibbutzim stream and Ein Moda, Baybars became the famous man in the empire. He initially demanded control over Syria and quickly conquered the whole empire, piece by piece.

The Muslims raised their heads and turned to avenge the Jews and Christians. The Mongols mainly hated the Muslims and slaughtered them by the thousands, while Jews and Christians were shown mercy. Under Mongol protection, all mosques in Israel and Egypt were destroyed. Now came the time for revenge. In 1265, fires broke out in Fustat and Cairo. An "objective" search immediately found the culprits: the Jews and Christians together. They wanted to burn all the Muslims. "Convincing evidence" was even found: socks stuffed with sawdust and soaked in naphtha. The incited crowd began to riot against the Jews and Christians, who were a minority in Egypt, and they spontaneously fled into the Cairo Citadel, thinking the police would protect them. But the Muslim police locked the doors...

In the meantime, hundreds of rioters prepared for a great revenge, they dug a huge pit in front of the Cairo Citadel, filled it with tree trunks, and set them aflame. A great furnace arose in the middle of the city, and they waited only for the sultan's signal. The Sultan, after "listening attentively" to the accusations against the Jews and Christians, and "carefully examining" the evidence, nodded his head. The crowd roared with joy and ran to the citadel to throw all the Jews and Christians into the burning fire.

By the grace of Hashem, like Harbona in his time, suddenly one of Baybars' close associates, Emir Fares Ad-Din Aktai, whispered in Baybars' ear: "How does it benefit you to kill these unfortunates? Instead, you could ask them for a large ransom that would finance you for all the wars for the next ten years." Baybars nodded his head in the other direction, and the crowd growled in disappointment... The Coptic Patriarch pledged to raise 500,000 dinars, a sum equivalent to an annual state budget. Even the Jews were not asked for money, as it was known they did not have resources like the Christian world. They were released to their homes after signing a commitment "not to burn Muslim houses anymore"... and for the Jews, there was light and gladness, joy and honor.