This morning we started with an early fast breakfast from Aroma Coffee, and then a quick departure to the Old City. We began our tour with a walk around the perimeter of the walls to the south. Dr. Ilan showed us the different levels of the walls from the bedrock up. He showed us where the walls were at different places in different time periods. They were not as they appear today.
In the picture above bedrock can be seen below the walls (above the grass). There are tombs chiseled into the soft chalk bedrock, showing that at one time this area was outside of the city. There are rocks above the tombs from the Roman Period (130-443 AD). Above those rocks, and slightly inside, are walls built by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1535 AD).
While we were standing by the wall, we looked across the Hinnom Valley. At the bottom of the valley is Sultan’s Pool, perhaps the Serpent Pool of Jesus’ time. This was part of the irrigation system for farms which lay below the city. Just above the pool is the old aqueduct which snakes around and into the city. Above that are homes built in 1860 - in a sense, Jerusalem’s first suburb.
We then walked south to the Zion Gate. This was on the Green Line in 1948 and several fierce battles were fought here. The walls are pocketed with the bullet holes from shelling and battle.
Continuing on the south wall, we passed a dig being done by UNCC (University of North Carolina Charlotte).
Further along our walk we saw this dig. Dr. Ilan told us this was originally a parking area which was to be developed as a five story parking garage. Israeli law requires that an archeological survey must be done before anything new can be built in Israel. When the survey was done, ruins were discovered from the Turkish period, then by digging, the Roman, Greek, Hasmonean, and earlier. This is not surprising because this area is near the Tyropoeon Valley or Cheesemaker’s Valley, which runs through the center of the city. Four years into the dig, the garage was cancelled and the archeological find was placed along a walking path which leads to the Temple.
Further along the walls we saw more tombs cut into the bedrock. During the time of King David this area was inside the city, so the tombs must have come later. Jewish law forbids burial (except for kings) inside the city walls where people live. As the city walls move in and out and people necessarily come to live near the tombs, the Rabbis developed ways of ritually cleansing the tombs. Bones are removed and blessings are spoken so people can build on top of the tombs. That is what happened with these tombs, and they were refitted as cisterns with plaster on top, and houses above the plaster. The wall above the tombs is late period Ottoman.
Along the way we saw these concrete road barriers (like are being installed on I-77). I wonder why we can’t make them look this good in America?
We came to the Old City of David (currently outside the walls of the city) where the Gihon spring is located. One objective of the day was to descend to the spring and see the ancient fortifications.
We walked through the upper ruins, where the excavator thinks King David’s palace is located.
This is Silwan, a neighborhood across the Kidron Valley from the City of David. In Biblical times Jerusalem looked much like this with the palace at the top (which is why David could look down and see Bathsheba on the rooftop).
Today the hillside looks like this, with remains of structures at the bottom. Some of the residents at the bottom of the hill are listed in the book of Jeremiah. The houses on this hillside go back to the time of King David, so people lived on this hillside for 500 years. Dr. Ilan talked about how difficult archeology and dating become when people can live in peace in an area for so long, without destruction levels to help date the civilization.
This blurred picture is what the city of David probably looked like. The Temple is at the top of the hill, the palace (Solomon’s) at the mid-section. The path to the Temple can be seen winding up the hill. The Gihon Spring can be seen just below the shine on the bottom left of the picture. This spring was fortified behind strong walls in order to protect the city’s water source. We walked down to Gihon Spring.
Here is one wall protecting the spring as it appears today. The wall extends to the second floor and beyond. It is wide and built of large stones. The group continued through Hezekiah’s Tunnel. Because Sarah was there last week but had not traveled through the Canaanite Tunnel, the three of us traveled that path. We saw the Canaanite wall (when Melchizedek was king) and other ruins. We walked down to Siloam Spring.
As we returned we saw an area the Romans used to quarry stone. They removed a lot of rock, so no archaeological work can be done. There appears to be two large tombs (behind me) on the hill. This could be the tomb of King David.
Following the tour we saw the Skirball Museum, Hebrew Union’s archeological museum. They have displays from Dan (where they are currently digging), Gezer (a past dig), and other sites. They have models of different gates at Dan, pictures from their digs, pottery, and other finds. We ate a Syrian hummus lunch with Dr. Ilan after seeing the Museum.
On the way home we visited the Jerusalem YMCA, a beautiful art deco building. We also saw a Herodian Tomb. We ate a dinner of Potato Kreplach and Spinach Tarte.
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