This week is part 1 of a 3 part series on the City of David. This site was so incredible that I lost my mind approximately 6 times. I can't wait to go back when it's warmer and get a full tour, complete with Hezekiah's tunnel (spoiler alert).
I have tried to get to the City of David for a while now, but it was hard with my schedule whenever I was in Jerusalem over the weekends (because the different sabbaths for the different faiths mean not everything is open). Even this time, I wasn't fully sure what we were going to see. That's why this was such an incredible surprise!
We left the Western wall, exited onto the main road, and turned left towards the Mount of Olives. On the way in, you can see more excavations in progress!
no big deal, just the Mount of Olives straight ahead!
My friends and I opted not to get a tour this time (I hope to when I return), and not to do the wet tunnel because it was February and cold outside. So you understand why I HAVE to return! But that didn't stop us from having an incredible time and learning a lot.
The City of David is exactly what it sounds like: the Jerusalem from David's time. It's location so close to the Temple Mount gives us an incredible picture of what Jerusalem was like back in his day (the city walls you see in this picture surround what we know of now as the "Old City", but it these walls were built in the 1500s AD over where Herod's walls were). The city of David in this picture is to the right, not behind the "new" walls.
First, we went up to see the view:
That is the Mount of Olives and an Arab village directly across from ancient Jerusalem.
In fact, I was so focused on DAVID'S PALACE that when I saw a tour group ahead, I got close to listen to the guide. I didn't pay attention to any of the people around me. It turned out that they were American NFL players, haha. But, DAVID'S PALACE!!!!!!!!!
These remains were discovered in 2005, and have been excavated since then. It would have been the palace for David and all of his descendants, down to King Zedekiah, the final king before the Babylonian destruction in 586 BC. In fact, 2 bullae, clay impressions found with the king's seal were found... and they had the names of scribes of the final king of Judah, Jehucal and Gedalyahu. Both of these men were antagonists of the prophet Jeremiah and were mentioned in Jeremiah 38!
Right below the palace was a stepped stone structure that supported the palace. Directly below was the royal quarter, the highest family in society under the king.
They would have been incredibly wealthy to live here, right next to the king. And further proof of that is the rectangular stone with a hole in it in the middle of this picture: an ancient toilet! It's placed over a pit, and is something only the very wealthy would have had then.
There were many other important finds in these excavations—too many to name. Also, at the top right of this structure (possibly not in the photos) are the remains of a small portion of Nehemiah's wall! There I go again, losing my mind!
Directly across this home is the view I showed previously. Did you see the ancient tombs in the stone below the village?
Then, we left the outside portion of the City of David and started descending down stairs into the rock, until we came to where I'm going to leave this blog for the day... because I lost it again here: The Gihon Spring, where Solomon was crowned king!!!!
In fact, I was so stunned that I forgot I had a polarizing filter on my lens the whole time we were inside. All the pics I took with my camera came out super blurry (another reason I need to go back!). Can you really blame me, though?
The spring is down below. This is where Solomon was crowned king!!!!!!!
Continuing on from there (SO HARD!) were the remains of spring tower, which led to the ancient Canaanite Pool (which received water from the Gihon spring). This was so cool, because there was a simulation superimposed over the ruins so that we could see what it would have looked like (above ground) back in the day. And on the opposite wall was a simulation of what the outside of the city would have looked like—the entire area around the pool, the spring, the tower, and the city walls.
That's it for now! Was your mind blown too? What was your favorite part?
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