Views from Mount of Olives.
The 3,000 years old city, established by King David, is located on a low ridge above the Gihon spring, southeast of temple mount. The location of this ancient core of Jerusalem, and the earlier Canaanite city of the Jebusites, was forgotten after three millenniums of the successive constructions and destructions. Recent excavations have revealed sections of the palace, fortifications, water supply and other interesting remains from the Canaanite and Israelite cities.
King David finally captured the city at about 1,000BC. David's soldiers entered into the city of Jebusites through the gutter, probably the tunnel of the Gihon spring.(2 Samuel 5:6-9)
Main entrance with the Harp King David played.
Rest area with olive trees at the entrance.
A jewish kid, selling a drink "Bethel" for 2 NIS(ca. 50cent)
The Large Stone Structure
Excavations is in progress at this site since May 2005 conducted by Eilat Mazar, have revealed the remains of a large building, known as the Large Stone Structure. Finds uncovered in relation to the structure indicate that it was built in the early 10th century BCE during the reign of King David.
In Mazar’s opinion the building can be identified with the royal “House of Cedar,” King David’s Palace. Other scholars contest this view.
The excavation is still underway and many of the City of David's secrets remain hidden in the ground.
The excavation is still underway and many of the City of David's secrets remain hidden in the ground.
“And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar - trees, and carpenters and masons; and they built Daivd a house.” (2 Samuel 5:11)
Stepped Stone Structure and the House of Ahiel, four-room house
Dating from before the 10th century BC, it is believed to have served as a retaining wall for David’s palace or the Canaanite fortress that preceded it.
In the ruins of this house the excavators found a potsherd with the name Ahiel, so this structure was named the "House of Ahiel".
In the ruins of this house the excavators found a potsherd with the name Ahiel, so this structure was named the "House of Ahiel".
The "four-room house" design was a compact house with thick external walls and a single entrance, designed for protection. It supported a roof, or even a second level where additional residential rooms were located. This was a dwelling place for the family, kitchen, storerooms and also a place for the cattle (ox and mules). The standard type was a rectangular design covering a total area of 150-200 square meters. The design was based on a long house with four main spaces - a broad room in the back and three long spaces extending forward from it. The rooms were divided by stone pillars and walls. The central room was a courtyard, which was normally open to let in light since there were no windows in the house.
This model represents the residential structure in the First Temple Period.
Kidron valley
Kidron valley and Mount of Olives is seen from the observation point which Nehemiah’s tower was 2,500 years ago and it is used just like its original function.
Village Silwan
Silwan is a predominantly Palestinianneighborhood on the outskirts of the Old City of Jerusalem and housings are built over ancient tombs, small caves seen in the picture.
Thd central point of reference for the Kidron Valley is its confluence of Jerusalem's richest concentration of rock-hewn tombs. This area was one of the main burial grounds of Jerusalem in the second temple period. Several of these tombs were also used later in time, either as burial or as shelters for hermits and monks of the large monastic communities, which inhabited the Kidron Valley. The ancient tobs in this area atrracted the attention of ancient travelers, most notabley Benjamin of Tudela(Medival Jewish traveler who visited Europa, Asia and Africa in the 12th century).
Thd Gihon Spring
The Gihon spring is located 67 meters below the top of the ridge on which the City of David is built. The spring waters provided drinking water for the city’s residents and its waters were also brought south through the Canaanite Tunnel (referred to as Tunnel 2) to water the agriculture fields in the Kidron River Valley.
King Solomon, the son of Kind David, was anointed King over Israel by this spring : "...and they mounted Solomon upon King David's mule, and led him to the Gihon. Zadok the Kohen had taken the horn of oil from the Tent, and he anointed Solomon; they sonded the shofar, and all the people proclaimed, 'Long live King Solomon'"(1 Kings 1:38-39)
Archaeological exploration of the area began in the nineteenth century, with excavations undertaken by Charles Warren in 1867. Warren was sent by the Palestine Exploration Fund. Warren conducted an excavation of the area south of the Temple Mount and recovered a massive fortification. The finding led him to conduct more excavations at the area south to mount temple.
There he revealed a shaft coming from underground to the surface. He suggested that the shaft was used to supply water to the city. Today this shaft is called after his discoverer "warren's shaft". Warren believed that he is excavating the old biblical city of David. There have been numerous excavations since and several digs are currently underway.
Hezekiah's Tunnel is the 8th century BC tunnel that King Hezekiah of Judah ordered dug in order to both secure Jerusalem's water supply and deny water to the Assyrian king Sennacherib's army that was about to lay siege to Jerusalem. Until Hezekiah's Tunnel was completed, water from the Gihon Spring, Jerusalem's fresh water source, flowed into the Kidron Valley that runs just each of Jerusalem. Hezekiah's Tunnel diverted Gihon Spring's water to the Pool of Siloam inside Jerusalem (the ancient City of David was situated downhill from the later and present "Old Jerusalem") so that it supplies its residents with water while letting none of it flow to the besieging invaders outside the city.Hezekiah's Tunnel is 533 meters long, and a mere 50 centimeter difference in altitude allows the water to flow from the Gihon spring 'down' to the Pool of Siloam.
In the initial stretch of Hezekiah's Tunnel, the water is up to 70 centimeters deep.
Process of excavation
Siloam Inscription
The original Siloam Inscription was discovered during the Ottoman era in 1880, chiseled out and is on display today at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum in Turkey. The inscription in the tunnel is a copy of the original and was inserted in the original location.
(photo copyright@https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siloam_inscription#/media/File:Siloam11.jpg)
The Byzantine pool of Siloam in the 5th century
Until the discovery of the Second Temple pool of Siloam, this pool was wrongly thought to be the pool described in the New Testament and Second Temple sources.
Remains of the Second Temple Pool of Siloam
This pool was discovered in the autumn of 2004 during excavation work for a sewer. Archaeologists uncovered stone steps, and it became obvious that these steps were likely to have been part of the Second Temple period pool. Excavations commenced and confirmed the initial supposition and the find was formally announced on August 9, 2005.
Herodian drainage
Herod rebuilt and enlarged the Second Temple at the end of the 1st Century B.C. In order to drain the runoff rain water, an underground drainage facility was constructed along the course of the Tyropoeon valley. This channel gathered water and drained it from the city of Jerusalem southwards, passing by the Siloam Pool and outside the city. The channel also served as a place of refuge for the Jews who rebelled against Romans.
This channel was recently excavated and cleaned, allowing visitors to walk along its 650m course from the Shiloah pool to the western wall of the Temple mount.
Bottom of the Western Wall
The canal passes on the side of the bottom of the western wall. These fine hewn stones, the first levels of the 27 meters (40 layers) high wall, are dated to the 1st Century B.C.
This is the lowest level of the western wall. This level was under the street level, so they were buried inside the ground since the construction of the second temple.
*texts sources : wikipedia, brochures on site, websites below
http://www.cityofdavid.org.il/
http://www.israeljerusalem.com/gihon-spring.htm
http://www.seetheholyland.net/tag/hezekiahs-tunnel
http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/CityOfDavid.html
http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/DrainageCanal.html
http://www.haeunchurch.com/board_ljxq48/6075