jerusalem | Unimpressive at first glance, David’s City gives some fascinating insights into ancient life
From any vantage point in Jerusalem, the City of David is a pretty unimpressive sight. Indeed, it is hard to believe that this neglected patch of land, a tiny triangle located outside the Old City walls and south of the Temple Mount, was once the splendid capital of the mighty kingdom of Judah.
But don’t be deceived by appearances: Underneath the stones, weeds and rubble, the City of David is actually a work in progress where ongoing excavations seem to confirm many a biblical narrative.
Begin at Jeremiah’s Pit, just inside the entrance to the City of David National Park. The largest of the cisterns uncovered here, it is located in what was probably the courtyard of the contemporary Israelite king.
The sixth-century BCE prophet Jeremiah predicted that Jerusalem would be lost and her people exiled to Babylon. When King Zedekiah couldn’t stand hearing so much doom and gloom, he ordered Jeremiah lowered into a cistern, which “had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud” (Jeremiah 38:6). Both its size and its location indicate that this could be the famous pit.
Climb to the roof of the Judy Steinberg Exhibition Hall, situated at the top of ancient Jerusalem. Look down and you will be surprised to find that the original Holy City was very small. In fact, says tour guide Donna Goldberg, at its widest point it was barely 300 feet wide, and, from north to south, a mere 750 feet to 900 feet long. There weren’t that many people here either: All told, in David’s time Jerusalem probably held less than 2,000 inhabitants.
David probably chose this site in an effort to unify his subjects. A Jebusite (Canaanite) city as yet unconquered by the Israelites and therefore still neutral, it lay on the border between the territories allotted to Benjamin and Judah. It was also situated further north than Hebron, closer to the center of the Promised Land, and flanked by deep valleys that provided strategic protection on two of its three sides.
Besides, notes Goldberg, as it was off all the main routes, there was a good chance that future conquering armies would pass it by.
Just as important was the presence of the Gihon Spring, also known as the Shiloah. The only natural water source in the entire area, the bountiful Gihon originates in rain that falls on the Judean Hills and seeps through the region’s porous limestone. Although the water appears to flow continuously, it actually gushes out at regular intervals several times a day.
Directly before you lies the Kidron Valley, much deeper in David’s time than it is today. The Arab village on the other side is Silwan, named for the Shiloah (Silwan) nearby.
Until the late 19th century this entire slope was almost unpopulated.
Almost, but not quite, because the hill was just outside David’s City and therefore handy as a First Temple-period burial site. Look carefully at the houses and see that they either incorporate or are built on top of typical First Temple period burial caves.
In 1882 a large group of Yemenite Jews walked across the desert to the Land of Israel. The penniless Yemenites were not welcomed into the overcrowded Old City, where almost all of the Jews lived at the time. Instead, they built simple Yemenite-style housing on the empty slope outside the city walls in what is present-day Silwan.
But in 1929, when Arabs rioted all over the country, the Yemenites here fled for their lives. Those who returned were forced to leave their homes again — this time for good — in 1936, when Arabs once again rioted. Little by little, local Arabs began constructing homes on the slope.
Walking toward the excavations you’ll see a huge stone wall called the “stepped-stone structure.” At least 3,000 years old, sturdy and stable, it probably served as a retaining wall for the royal palace on top of the hill.
The ruins you are about to see were burned to a crisp by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE when he conquered the city. Look for a two-story dwelling whose rooms were divided by four pillars and a typical First Temple period “four-space” home. Archeologists named it the House of Ahiel, based on an inscription found in its ruins.
Just to its right stands a large rectangular rock with a hole in the middle. Believe it or not, this was a First Temple period privy, placed on its side so it can be seen by visitors. Chemical analysis of the matter directly beneath the hole revealed remains from a diet chock-full of meat — consistent with what you would find in a besieged population. During Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem, people were unable to gather produce from the fields. And, lacking extra provisions for their animals, they slaughtered their beasts and ate them in quantity. In the 2,500-year-old matter, scientists also found a particular intestinal parasite that was consistent with this kind of diet.
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