The City of David

This morning I went with Max and Brooke to the City of David--the historical area located south of the Temple Mount and just outside the city walls. This is the original site of the Jebusite city which was conquered by the Israelites as they moved into the region. It is also the location of David's palace. We drove to the city by taxi, where they were selling these amazing bread rings. The City of David is actually a National Park, and we signed up for the "three hour tour" (yes, just like Gilligan's Island). We saw a 3d film depicting the history of the City of David, then went to observation points where we could watch the archaeological work going forward, and also see the exposed walls of the ancient Jebusite stronghold as well as of the walls and other structures of David's time. We also had spectacular views of the Kidron Brook far below, of the ancient Moslem neighborhood on the opposite side of the ravine, of the many graves and tombs in the valley and a spectacular view of the city south of the Old City. We also were able to descend deep into the earth to see Hezekiah's tunnel and other tunnels associated with the amazing underground water system of ancient times, and ended up at the south end of the City of David where they have recently uncovered the upper part of the Pool of Siloam, mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments. This is the place where Jesus healed a blind man by anointing his eyes with mud and then instructing him to watch in the Pool of Siloam. We also saw a Byzantine structure nearby which was for centuries identified as the Biblical Pool of Siloam, but which is actually a later structure. Finally, we walked all the way back up nearly to the Temple Mount to catch a taxi back to Hebrew University.

We had a very outspoken tour guide, "Helen," who passed up no opportunity to belittle and denigrate the Muslims who live in the area. The historical presentation was interesting and enlightening, but blatantly one-sided. For example, the period from 600 B.C. to the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. was literally explained in a single sentence in the introductory film. From "Helen's" viewpoint, the historical events surrounding the lives of Jesus and Mohammed and their followers is insignificant.

We were also quite amused how "Helen" seemed to get in confrontations with other tour guides conducting tours in other languages--Hebrew, German, Portuguese, etc.