Bab Kisan ( ar, بَابُ كِيسَانَ, Bāb Kīsān, meaning "Kisan Gate") is one of the seven ancient city-gates of Damascus, Syria. The gate, which is now located in the southeastern part of the Old City, was named in memory of a slave who became famous during a conquest by the

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

Mu'awiya Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...

. The wall was built during the Roman era and was dedicated to Saturn. Bab Kisan may have been the escape route of St Paul. According to the Bible, Paul settled in Damascus after having claimed (''Acts 9:1–9'') to have witnessed a vision where

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

was on a road to the city. After staying three years in Damascus, he went to live in the

Nabataean kingdom The Nabataean Kingdom ( Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 ''Nabāṭū''), also named Nabatea (), was a political state of the Arab Nabataeans during classical antiquity. The Nabataean Kingdom controlled many of the trade routes of the region, ...

(which he called "

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

") for an unknown period, then came back to Damascus, which by this time was under Nabatean rule. After three more years (''Gal. 1:17;20''), he was forced to flee the city under the cover of night (Acts ''9:23;25; 2 Cor. 11:32ff'') after explosive reactions from Jews who opposed his teachings. He was lowered down from a window in the wall, down into a basket, and with the help of his Christian disciples, he made his escape at night and fled towards

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Paul recounts in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

that it was through a window that he escaped from a certain death (''2 Cor 11,32-33''). That is said to be the one in the Chapel of Saint Paul.

References

Gates of Damascus New Testament places {{Syria-struct-stub