when this entrance was walled up. The gateway bends toward the right, giving access by a gradual incline to the street between the South Wall and the building VI M, as well as to the first terrace of the citadel. A retaining wall (d k m), which borders the passageway on one side, is preserved only at its two ends. It is likely that there was a paved ramp at the corner (m). A wall serving as a doorsili and an erect stone of the door pillars (k) show where probably the door inclosure (i k) must have been. We can infer that the breadth of the opening was something like 2.50 m. A piece of a canal (s) is seen within the passage.
During the time of the VI City the gate must have been completely closed, as a wall between c d and f e indicates. This wall, on account of its masonry, is to be assigned to the period of the VI Stratum; furthermore, we know that the inhabitants of the VII Stratum used the same wall in the construction of their houses. The reason for walling up this entrance may have been that in the war which resulted in the destruction of the city it was found that the fortress could be more easily defended by reducing the number of gates.
The gateway VI U shows somewhat larger measurements than the two gates VI S and VI T; but we can hardly suppose that it formed the chief entrance, since the direction of VI T, as we have shown above, favored its being the principal gate to the citadel.
The Towers
The three towers of the fortress are very similar in their masonry, and were doubtless later additions to
