This is the gate through which Nehemiah exited and re-entered the city on his nighttime journey of investigation (Nehemiah 2:13, Nehemiah 2:15). Though its feature as a gate was recognizable to Nehemiah, the Babylonians had destroyed its ability to function as a gate. Hanun and his men repaired it so that it could again prevent enemies from entering the city freely.
13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.