Yesterday, David and I came up to Jerusalem with Dina, who works here a couple or three days a week. We plan to stay two nights and return with Dina when she comes up on Wednesday. We had booked a tour of the City of David, which includes the chance to go through Hezekiah's tunnel, a must-do on our pre-trip list.
The ancient City of David was built on a small hill well protected by valleys outside the walls of what is now called the Old City. The Old City walls were largely a Byzantine creation, although some of the wall is Herodian. The City of David is an on-going archaeological exploration close under the walls of the Old City near the Dung Gate.
After a kitschy 3-D movie that did, however, give a good sense of the topography, we climbed to a overlook that allowed us to see into the Kidron valley:
and all of the surrounding hills. The Temple Mount (on Mt Moriah):
Don't remember the name of this one:
And the Mount of Olives (with almost no olive trees, but millennia of graves, including the rock-cut tombs used by the wealthier Israelites around the time of Jesus).
We then descended into the archaeological digs to see what some think are remnants of Herod's palace, or at least a very large public building:
And an area that probably housed ministers' offices and/or residences.
A view of Silwan (an Arab village likely covering part of the City of David):
As we prepared to enter the water tunnels, we passed a model that helps you understand what you are about to enter. The left, sloping tunnel, together with the vertical shaft are called Warren's shaft after its (re)discoverer. It was Jebusite (bronze age) in origin and designed to get water from the Gihon spring to a place accessible from within the walls. The overflow originally went to a pool outside the walls via the Siloam channel (not shown). The lower, nearly level tunnel, called Hezekiah's tunnel, was built in the late 8th or early 7th century BCE by King Hezekiah (actually, his minions) in preparation for the Assyrian invasion (the northern Israelite kingdom, Israel had already fallen to Assyria).
After descending Warren's shaft (the non-vertical part), we popped out into an ongoing archaeological dig, where it was apparently lunch break.
And then braced ourselves for the plunge into the cool waters of Hezekiah's tunnel. The water level used to vary periodically (on a scale of hours) from nearly filling the tunnel to nearly dry. Hence the name Gihon ("gushing") spring. Now water flow is regulated for the convenience of the tourists. Nevertheless, the water level starts out well above the knee, drops down to just above the ankle, and then briefly back above the knee at the end. Refreshing! It is pitch dark in the tunnel, so flashlights, as well as water shoes, are required. In fact, it was so dark, the camera's flash would not even fire, so we could only get picture at the entrance and exit.
Note the very low headroom at the entrance (above), and the much higher ceiling at the exits (below). This is because the workers tunneled from both ends and miscalculated slightly about each others' levels. Considering this was some 2700 years ago, though, it was quite a feat of engineering. How they managed it is completely unknown.
The exit led to this pool, which as thought until recently to be the Pool of Siloam, where Second Temple ritual purifications took place, and Jesus is said to have made the blind man see. The Biblical accounts of the creation in Hezekiah's tunnel reported it to be a certain number of cubits long (about half a km), and this pool was off by a handful of cubits. Turns out, this was a Byzantine pool built during the 5th century CE because they couldn't find the original under a great pile of garbage (the dung referenced in the name Dung Gate). Note the height to which my capris got wet to give you an idea is the max depth of the water in Hezekiah's tunnel.
Ironically, it was a sewage problem at an adjoining church that led to the discovery in 2005 of the true Pool of Siloam. While digging up the sewer, the plumber came upon steps that were then identified as part of the pool. A corner of this pool has been excavated, although the major portion is covered by the church and its gardens. The ugly black pipe on the left is the church's new sewer. The stepped structure on the right is the Pool of Siloam.
After the tour, we followed another underground tunnel, which served to carry rainwater in ancient times, but also was used by Jews to hide from the Romans during the second Jewish revolt. They were eventually found and rooted out.
And from that we popped out into yet another dig. You can't go anywhere in this city without stumbling on another bit of archaeology.
We grazed the food stalls in the city and then returned to "The Joint," where Dina works to retrieve our luggage. Miscalculating our route to our hotel, we walked the long way around, but eventually found it. After a restorative nap, we headed back into the old city to see if we could find the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The hordes of tourists had died down, in places replaced by hordes of children playing. But in general, the streets were much quieter.
And, with a little help from merchants along the way, we found the church, note the ladder beneath the second window, this has been there since the early 19th century, when the "status quo" agreement was drawn up by the Ottomans to determine who had control over what parts of the city and, presumably, no one was allowed to change things that someone else might object to.
Note also the mosque that abuts the plaza in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is sacred to so many Christian sects that it is divided into numerous enclaves and chapels controlled by various sects, and one Arab family has been in charge of opening and closing the church for centuries. Apparently there is a huge set of keys involved.
This is one of the stations of the cross, where Jesus is said to have been crucified. This chapel is controlled by the Greek orthodox.
And, lastly, the Stone of Unction, where the body of Jesus is said to have been washed for burial. Pilgrims kiss or embrace the rock, and many rub things on it to bring some of the holiness back home with them.
We did not attempt to enter the rotunda enclosing the Holy Sepulchre, as there was a long line of pilgrims waiting to enter, even at closing time.
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