Jerusalem: City of David

I drove down to the old city (amazingly I actually can maneuver around Jerusalem, like a trained maze mouse, I learned from trial and error) to take a three hour guided tour of the new excavations called City of David. They have uncovered the actual city walls and interior of the Jebusite city King David conquered.  Just last February they uncovered what they believe are the foundation stones of King David’s actual palace. The guide brought a bible and read passages that are described in the site and how much of the bible was written in the confined of King David’s city: David, Soloman, Jeremiah, and others wrote from within a few square miles. He read passages in Hebrew and translated in English stories and located them for us. So where Solomon was crowned king is mentioned in the bible as the springs of Gerhon and we saw the spot. David Ilan had told us that at Tel Dan there was an inscription found referring to King David. It was the only known written mention of David outside Jerusalem. Seeing the foundation stones of King David’s Palace walls brought the Tel Dan inscription alive for me. They predate Hadrians’s Western Wall by almost a thousand years.  What has been found in the City of David clarifies our understanding of the Jebusite city before the conquest by David.   We saw the way David conquered the city by entering through the tunnel chiseled by Jebusite workers to divert the Gihon spring into a large pool within the city walls. The highlight of the tour is a 40 minute walk in the spring water through the tunnel illuminated only by our flashlights. The 3000 year old chisel etchings are still visible. The tunnel is about 3 feet in width and from 5-8 feet in height. It was completed by two groups of workers chiseling from opposite directions who met in the middle, and an inscription commemorating their meeting has been found and is on display at a museum.   The dig at David’s City is ongoing and there are continuing discoveries. It is one of the most exciting archeological finds in Israel. With a 3 D Cinemax introduction, the tour of the excavations, and the flashlight walk through the tunnel, the City of David provides an experience that beats anything Disney has to fire up your imagination.   Before leaving for the airport, I toured with my host Avi Weiss views of Jerusalem from Mount Scopus and other overlook points to get visual perspectives of the city. He showed me the view of the City of David where Jerusalem began and one can see its outlines even with all the centuries of construction by different peoples around it.   While the layers of ancient structures and civilizations make Jerusalem so special, the intermingling of Jewish and Arab neighborhoods with expansion plans to increase Jewish settlement around the city make Jerusalem one of the most difficult points of contention. Seeing Maale Adumim and the land planned for development with the Arab neighborhoods they will enfold, I cannot imagine how this city could ever be divided into two capitals for two countries. Conflict has been part of Jerusalem’s history since David conquered the city from the Jebusites.  Along with the religious legacy, the conflict for sovereignty will likely go on as part of the city’s distinction.   Seeing the views of Jerusalem at dusk, eating my last Israeli meal with my gracious host Avi, I wanted to linger over my last moments in Jerusalem. I now look at the red thread I have worn on my wrist since I received it from a beggar in Jerusalem when I first went to the Western Wall with my cousin Susan, and she tied it on. Fulfilling the tradition, I distributed the money my friends put in my trust to distribute to the beggars in Jerusalem and wore this red thread for good luck on my journey. It has fulfilled its promise.