Valley Gate. In the SW part of the city wall, the Valley Gate led to the Valley of Hinnom. The “gate of the Essenes” mentioned by Josephus may have been located here or nearby. (The Jewish War, V, 145 [iv, 2]) Uzziah, in his city-fortification program, built a tower by this gate. (2Ch 26:9) It was from the Valley Gate that Nehemiah went out for his inspection of the damaged wall, riding eastward through the Valley of Hinnom and then up the Kidron Valley, finally reentering the city by the same gate. (Ne 2:13-15)

Gate of the Ash-heaps. This gate is also known as the Gate of the Potsherds and is called the Dung Gate in many Bibles, based on the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate. (Ne 2:13; 12:31; Jer 19:2) Nehemiah’s description seems to place it 1,000 cubits (445 m; 1,458 ft) E of the Valley Gate. (Ne 3:13, 14)