City of David

 

Uncovering Ancient Jerusalem

The Key to David’s City:

Eilat Mazar has resumed excavations in the (so-called) Ophel, and her partners at Armstrong College plan to provide regular updates. They begin with an on-location interview of Mazar.

Source


 

An Archaeologist Defends the Bible

HT

 

Archaeologists Discover High Priest’s Bell?

Archaeologists have discovered a rare gold bell during an excavation in the City of David National Park in Jerusalem.

Arutz Sheva, Israel National News, has the report:

Archaeologists have discovered a rare gold bell with a small loop at its end. The finding was made during an archaeological excavation in the City of David National Park (near the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem) by the Israel Antiquities Authority in cooperation with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Ir David Foundation.

The directors of the excavation on behalf of the Antiquities Authority, archaeologists Eli Shukron and Professor Ronny Reich of Haifa University, said after the finding, “The bell looked as if it was sewn on the garment worn by a man of high authority in Jerusalem at the end of the Second Temple period.

“The bell was exposed in the city’s main drainage channel of that period, between the layers of dirt that had been piled on the floor of the channel,” they continued. “This drainage channel was built and hewn west to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount and drained the rainfall in the different parts of the city, through the City of David and the Shiloah Pool to the Kidron valley.”

The excavation area, above the drain, is located in the main street of Jerusalem which rose from the Shiloah Pool in the City of David. In this street an interchange was built through which people entered the Temple Mount. The remains of this interchange are what is known today as Robinson’s Arch. Archaeologists believe that the eminent man walked the streets of Jerusalem in the area of Robinson’s Arch and lost the golden bell which fell off his outfit into the drain beneath the street.

Jewish sources say that the high priests who served in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem used to hang golden bells on the edges of their coats. The book of Exodus (Shemot), for example, contains a description of the coat of Aaron the high priest in which it is said that coat contains, “bells of gold.”

While it is unknown if the bell belonged to one of the high priests, archaeologists have not ruled out the possibility.

HT

And now you can listen to the sound of the bell:

Israel Finkelstein: In the Eye of Jerusalem’s Archaeological Storm

The City of David, Beyond the Politics and Propaganda:

Archaeological activity in Jerusalem has been sucked into a whirlwind of conflicting political agendas, and the site commonly referred to as “the City of David” is in the eye of the storm. At issue is a place of seminal importance for the Jewish people and indeed for anyone who cherishes the heritage of Western civilization.

When dealing with archaeology in Jerusalem, one must first know the facts. Otherwise it is easy to be led astray by unfounded historical interpretations or to succumb to misinformation from those pursuing their own political agendas…

Read the rest here.

And from the conclusion:

The City of David’s monuments and antiquities — some yet to be discovered — are too important to be allowed to fall victim to politics or neglect. Whatever our political views, we need to be vigilant in maintaining this place as a tangible link to a rich past and as a site of honest historical inquiry…

Water in the City of David

Piece by piece, the ancient water system leading to Jerusalem is being revealed in the City of David.

 

Here in Israel, we are well-versed in the need to protect our scarce water sources from contamination, and we’ve built the National Water Carrier in order to ensure that all of the country’s citizens have running water at all times. But what about ancient times? How did the denizens of biblical Jerusalem retain access to water throughout the year — and especially in wartime situations — when their main water source lay outside the walls of the city?

As Danny Herman explains in the video, the Bible tells us that when King David conquered the city of Jebus and made it into his capital, he exploited the city’s only weakness — a mysterious “pipe” that led water from the valley, under the walls and into the city…

More in the Jerusalem Post here.

Archaeology in the Shadow of the Conflict

The Mound of Ancient Jerusalem (City of David) in Silwan.

It’s by Emek Shaveh:

The subject of this booklet is archaeology in the heart of Jerusalem, one of the most complex cities in the world. We will focus primarily on the mound of ancient Jerusalem, also known as the City of David, located on a ridge south of the Temple Mount, presently part of Palestinian Silwan, and will examine the relationship between archaeological research and the various interest groups active in the village and the site.

Ancient Jerusalem is a unique archaeological site of global importance for three main reasons: It is identified with the beginning of habitation in Jerusalem and was the capital of ancient Israelite kingdoms; it is located in a Palestinian village; and it is close to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif – one of the most politically and religiously sensitive places in the Middle East. All of these characteristics present great challenges to any research undertaken in the area, both from an archaeological perspective and in terms of the social and political implications of the work. In recent years, archaeology has been playing an increasingly crucial role in the political struggle in East Jerusalem in general and the site of ancient Jerusalem/the village of Silwan in particular.

In our work we have identified a number of important areas of concern arising from the relationship between archaeological research and the various groups active in and around site…

Read on here.

The booklet can be:

• Read online here.
• Downloaded (pdf.) here.
• Or ordered here.