 The Scroll of Ahimaaz , a historical document written in 1050 CE , distinctly describes the Western Wall as a place of prayer for the Jews . In around 1167 CE during the late Crusader Period , Benjamin of Tudela wrote that " In front of this place is the western wall , which is one of the walls of the Holy of Holies . This is called the Gate of Mercy , and hither come all the Jews to pray before the Wall in the open court " . In 1625 " arranged prayers " at the Wall are mentioned for the first time by a scholar whose name has not been preserved . Scrolls of the Law were brought to the Wall on occasions of public distress and calamity , as testified to in a narrative written by Rabbi Gedaliah of Semitizi who went to Jerusalem in 1699 . 
