Weekly Picture from Israel 171220

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Historical Sites in Israel –Tower of David

The Tower of David, also known as the Jerusalem Citadel is home to the Museum of the History of Jerusalem. The tower is an ancient citadel located near the Jaffa Gate entrance at the western edge of the Old City of Jerusalem. This citadel dates back to the Mamluk and Ottoman periods. It was built on the site of an earlier ancient fortification of the Hasmonean, Herodian-era, Byzantine and Early Muslim periods, after being destroyed repeatedly during the last decades of Crusader presence in the Holy Land by Ayyubid and Mamluk rulers. King Hezekiah was the first to specifically fortify this area.

It contains important archaeological finds dating back over 2,000 years including a quarry, dated to the First Temple period, and is a popular venue for benefit events, craft shows, concerts, and especially its highly attended ‘Light and Sound Show Spectacular’. The walls of the Citadel, about 150 metres wide, are used as the backdrop screen—very impressive. Amidst the archaeological remains in the Citadel’s courtyard and to the sound of original music, the story of Jerusalem unfolds through giant breathtaking, virtual reality images, which is the first of its kind in the world.

The name Tower of David is due to Byzantine Christians who believed the site to be the palace of King David. They borrowed the name “Tower of David” from the Song of Songs, attributed to Solomon, King David’s son, who wrote: “Thy neck is like the Tower of David built with turrets, whereon there hang a thousand shields, all the armour of the mighty men.” (Song of Songs, 4:4).

When the empire adopted Christianity as its favoured religion in the 4th century, a community of monks established itself in the citadel. It was during the Byzantine period that the remaining Herodian tower, and by extension the Citadel , acquired its alternative name – the Tower of David – after the Byzantines, mistakenly identifying the hill as Mount Zion, presumed it to be David’s palace, cited in 2 Samuel 5:11, 11:1-27, 16:22.

“David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for forty years”. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.” … “So, David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Milo and inward”. (2 Sam 5:4-5,9)

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Weekly Picture from Israel 171213

Pictures from Israel

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+Israel © MEA 20171213 (C79) Historical Sites in Israel -City of David

Historical Sites in Israel – City of David, Jerusalem

About three thousand years ago, King David left Hebron for Jerusalem, in his vision, a large central and important goal – the unification of Israel around one capital city. David`s son, Solomon, established the first Temple on Mount Moriah, which rises slightly north of the City of David. Here in fact, was created the first deep connection to Jerusalem by King David, which is embedded deeply into the history of Israel.

Jerusalem is situated on an eastern hill, towering to a height of 743 meters above sea level. The hill lies on the southern slopes of Mount Moriah, surrounded by mountains (as written in Psalms – Jerusalem surrounded by mountains), Temple Mount to the North, Mount of Olives to the East, Mount Zion to the West and to the South – Armon Hanatsiv (High Commissioner’s Palace) ridge. It had fresh water from the Gihon Spring gushing at its foot. Besides David and his son Solomon, this would have been the stamping ground of kings Hezekiah and Josiah and the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah.

With the death of King Solomon, the kingdom was split into the Kingdom of Judah and Israel, and Jerusalem remained only the capital of the Kingdom of Judah. After the Assyrian conquest of the Kingdom of Israel and the exile of the ten tribes, a large flow of refugees came to Jerusalem.

The city expanded and encompassed the entire western hill, apparently including the areas today known as the Jewish Quarter, the Armenian Quarter and Mount Zion outside the walls of the Old City of today. During the reign of Hezekiah, the city was surrounded by a wall, and the Gihon Spring was directed into and under the city.

The City of David is actually the ancient core of Jerusalem, from which the city grew and developed throughout history. A collection of archaeological finds is a testimony and to a lifetime of activities that took place here before, during the first Temple era around 1000 BCE.

Today the City of David is a small magical hill located near the Western Wall. It covers an area of about 60 acres, from where one can enjoy a variety of tours and activities that take visitors to a fascinating historical journey, to the days of the First Temple, a period of ancient Jerusalem.

Copyright exists in all the material on this website and is owned by Messianic Education Australia Ltd. unless otherwise explicitly stated. This copyright extends to the images, logos, layout and presentation styles as well as the text material.