Ir David | MyIsraeliGuide

Time for another catch-up trip this time with the group from the university of Haifa. It was an important day as we explored the remains of the 2nd temple period in and around the Old City of Jerusalem.

The 2nd temple period was saw the peak of the monumental buildings in the land of Israel and the greatest of these was the Jewish temple and the temple mount which was the most impressive building in the Roman empire at that time. The historian Josephus gives us an account of the history of the Jews in this period which most historians consider reliable (except for when he exaggerates on numbers) so in many cases we were citing him on this field trip.

We began the day in the City of David, where we had previously been on the 1st Temple period trip, but this time were filling in a few gaps for the later period. We descended to the Shiloah pool (also known as the Pool of Siloam) which was used for drinking and also for ritual purification at the time. It was also site of a miracle where Jesus cured a blind man in the New Testament. We then went to sit on an original Herodian stepped street where we listened to an audio presentation about Jewish resistance fighters in the Great Revolt fighting against the Romans (and ultimately losing).

Walking up the Roman drainage channel in the Tyropoeon valley

We then ascended up the route of the Tyropoeon valley through a drainage channel which the Romans had dug underneath this paved road. As we walked through the passage, passing through an ancient cistern and mikve, we learned about some of the archaeological findings in it including a Roman sword preserved in its sheath, which is very unusual.

We exited the tunnels at the excavations by the south point of the Western Wall and went to the nearby Davidson Centre. The centre is a nice museum explaining a bit about the history of the construction of the temple and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. We participated in a ‘virtual tour’ where they use a 3D computer model to take you around a reconstruction of the 2nd temple highlighting modern day archaeological finds and explaining the experience of a pilgrim. It was very interesting indeed but sadly is only available for groups on the whole, and not individual visitors.

Capital possibly from the second temple

We moved up to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. We first visited a column found in excavations from the Nea Church with a capital that based on its unusual features and dating may well have formed part of the Second Temple structure.

The Burnt House of the Katros family, Jerusalem

We continued to the Burnt House museum, the site of a home from the Second Temple period. Of great interest is the fact that are signs of burning/destructing dating to the time of the destruction of the Second Temple. Furthermore they have found vessels that would be appropriate for Cohanim (priestly families) and an inscription referring to the House of Katros; we know from ancient Jewish sources that Katros was indeed one of the priestly families. The site is accompanied by a video where actors attempt to reconstruct the lead up to the temple’s destruction portrayed through the lives of those in the house.

The oldest mosaic in Israel in the Wohl Museum of Archaeology, Jerusalem

We then moved to the Wohl Museum of Archaeology, also known as the Herodian Quarter. This is another excavation site which has unearthed a great deal of remarkable finds; one of the oldest mosaics in Israel; a huge private home with very impressive wall frescos; a great deal of private mikvaot (ritual baths) indicating that in addition to clearly being an area for the wealthy families of Jerusalem, this may have been an area of priestly families. Of particular interest is a wall design showing a menorah. Given that it may have been commissioned by a priestly family who would have seen the menorah in the temple on a daily basis, it could well be the most accurate representation we have of the menorah; it notably differs in its base from the design on Titus’s Arch in Rome.

The museum is really well done and definitely worth a visit; it’s easy to pass by but really gives a great insight into life in the second temple period for the Jerusalem elites.

Mikve from the second temple period in the western wall excavations

To conclude the day we returned to the excavations by the outer walls of the temple mount to be able to enjoy them when it was slightly cooler and more shaded. We began by the western wall, walking along the original Herodian street and imagining the shops either side which would have sold animals for the temple sacrifice or other things to meet the needs of pilgrims. Looking at their ruins around us I imagined the thousands of people ascending to the temple mount on the foot festivals; tried to picture the chaos among the throngs, the noise of the animals, the shouting of the traders. We could also see the mikvaot where pilgrims would have purified themselves before ascending to the temple; the steps were divided so that the impure would descend on one side, the pure on the other, to avoid post-immersion contamination.

Herodian street from the second temple period

We noted where the Romans had destroyed the temple and sent huge stones crashing onto the paving slaps below, leaving indentations that were still visible today. You could also see the signs of the fire on the blackened rocks.

We moved around to the southern part of the wall. We walked up the 15 steps, each of which was probably representative of one of the 15 Psalms of Ascent; a theory exists that they would have recited the psalms as they ascended. We imagined where the gates would have been (all is now blocked up) as this was probably the main entrance to the temple mount. It really is remarkable to see how much is left of this 2000 year old structure, to think about how much it is played a role in the prayers and thoughts of the Jewish people since, and to consider the fact that today it is so accessible. It is a great privilege.

“If I forget thee, o Jerusalem…”

So reads the famous psalm, but you might think that we had forgotten Jerusalem, given that here we were over three months into the course and yet to visit the country’s capital; holy city for three of the world’s largest religions; a place which apparently 3.5 billion people (I imagine the figure has been extrapolated from a statistically appropriate sample) would like to visit at least once in their lifetime.

Finally, however, the day was here, and it was with a certain amount of excitement that we ascended route 1 into the Judean mountains and entered the city limits. This is a city with so much historical and religious significance that I think around 13 of our 80 field trips will be spent here. It is certainly a place which we will have to become very familiar with in our future lives as tour guides. And here it all begins.

View north over Jerusalem from the Haas Promenade

This excitement was supplemented by a certain amount of nostalgia as we began the day looking over the city from the Haas Promenade viewpoint in East Talpiot. Many years ago, I spent four months living next to this promenade in a place called Kiriat Moriah (I was excited to note that our guide even pointed it out!) while a participant on the Jewish Agency’s leadership training programme for youth leaders from the Diaspora. I have many fond memories of philosophical conversations shared on this promenade while gazing over the tranquil landscape of Jerusalem. Indeed, from this vantage point, the city is extremely calm, belying the many religious, political and economic tensions that are ever-present here.

With our guide’s assistance we surveyed the view before us and identified key points of interest; some we would visit today, many we would visit in the future.

View from the top of the City of David over South and East Jerusalem

From the promenade we journeyed to the limits of the Old City and circled the walls before descending into the City of David. This site (Ir David, in Hebrew) showcases the archaeological remains of the city of Jerusalem at the time of the First Temple, which mostly was outside what are now the Old City walls. The ruins are on a slope running down from the Temple Mount which was the ritual and probably also governmental centre.

Our guide had assured us that this would be the most complex field trip of the course and he fulfilled his promise by taking us through the historiography of the many archaeological digs on the site; with each new dig more was uncovered, shattering previous theories and establishing new ones.

After a short break with a rather cheesy but cute and certainly informative 3D film about the site we continued down past various sites of significance (and their historiography). We noted signs of the Babylonian destruction and heard the story of the discovery of around 50 bullae in one of the digs. These bullae are clay seals for documents; two of them contained names of senior officials mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. It was one of the most significant finds in the whole of the country; corroborating some of the biblical narrative.

Inside the water tunnels in the City of David

We continued into a tunnel in the rock leading to an ancient reservoir watched over by a large guard tower. The current thinking is that these structures are from the pre-Judean rule over Jerusalem and were used to channel water from a nearby spring closer to the city where it could be protected and used for its inhabitants. We wandered through a further tunnel which was probably used to take the water to irrigate crops before heading out of the site. As this field trip was focused only on the First Temple period, we left some of the site for a return visit.

“The Broad Wall”: remains of Hezekiah’s 7 meter wide northern defensive wall in Jerusalem

After a lunch stop in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City we continued our exploration of the First Temple period, stopping to see part of the large 7 metre wide ‘broad wall‘ that was built (according to the bible, by the King Hezekiah) to fortify the city against eastern imperial advances. It was at this time that the city walls expanded to include areas which are now the Jewish and Armenian quarters; prior to this archaeologists believe this area was inhabited by refugees from the northern Kingdom of Israel which had been laid waste by the Babylonians and indeed one can see remains of buildings which lie outside the wall.

Remains of the gate tower from Hezekiah’s wall around Jerusalem

We continued, entering a building which contains in its basement the unearthed remains of a gate tower from this northern wall; this was the cities most vulnerable point and indeed it seems that it may have been where the Babylonian’s made their eventual breach as Babylonian arrow heads were found in the excavations.

Model of Jerusalem in First Temple times at the Ariel Center

From this Israelite gate tower we popped across the street to the Ariel Centre which has a few small exhibits related to the First Temple period together with an engaging film giving an overall summary and a model envisaging what the city looked like in this early time. The visit to the centre takes about an hour, is guided by its in house team and I think provides a very good overview of the period, for those interested.

With the First Temple era now witnessed in the flesh (or rather, the stone), and delightfully summarised, we returned home, with many more visits to Jerusalem to look forward to in the future.

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Tag: Ir David

Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period

Jerusalem in the First Temple Period