=7. City Gates.=--The city gate was in Palestine an important part of the town. Gateways were constructed in different ways at different times. At Gezer the northern gate consisted of a protruding tower, into which one entered at the side, then turned a right angle to gain entrance to the city; (see Fig. 58). Gates of this type are still common in the East. The passageway in this gate at Gezer was 40 feet wide.[152] The southern gate of Gezer consisted simply of a straight passageway, 42 feet long and 9 feet wide, between two brick towers; (see Fig. 61). Often, as in the case of the gate found at Bethshemesh (Fig. 59), there were rooms on each side of the passageway through the tower. One with still more space within its tower was uncovered at Megiddo; (Fig. 57). The city gates usually remained at the same points in the wall through the successive reconstructions of the city. Thus at Samaria the remains of round Herodian towers which flanked the gateway were found resting on larger square bases of the Seleucid period, beneath which the outline of the earlier Israelitish towers was still visible; (see Figs. 65, 66). The form of these gates illuminates many Biblical passages. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom (Gen. 19:1). Joab took Abner aside in the gate to speak to him (2 Sam. 3:27). The gate was the place of conference for the elders of a city (Gen. 34:20). To be praised in the “gates,” where the city’s affairs were settled (Prov. 31:31), was to have desired fame. =8. Water Supply.= (1) _Springs._--The water supply of Palestinian cities came in part from the never-failing springs near which they were built. This supply was, however, seldom sufficient, so that from the early days cisterns were built to catch the water of the rainy season and conserve it for use during the summer months. These cisterns were often excavated in the solid rock, but sometimes were simple pits in the earth, over the bottom of which a coating of lime or cement had been spread.