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What’s the Truth about … King ’s Tomb? By Ari Z. Zivotofsky Photos: Leibel Reznick

Misconception: King David is ‘buried’ in Grant’s Tomb. The 159-foot until 150 years ago when archaeologi- buried on Mount , in a room that neo-classical structure is a tomb, there- cal evidence suggested, and more bears the inscription “King David’s fore both General Grant and his wife recently has conclusively shown, that Tomb.” is located just out- are ‘entombed’ above ground” and not the city captured by David was on the side and to the south of the Armenian buried.2) Unlike Marx’s joke, however, smaller, lower hill located to the south Quarter and of ’s the question concerning King David’s of the (the modern-day . burial site is not trivial. ). That lower hill was the Fact: Evidence indicates that the Signs direct visitors to Mount site of the city, which then area known today as Mount Zion was Zion through a series of anterooms to became King David’s capital, and con- not part of inhabited Jerusalem in King an interior room housing a cloth-cov- stituted the whole Jerusalem for proba- David’s time (tenth century BCE) and ered granite cenotaph. This site is bly more than 200 years until it gradu- that he was not buried there. Rather, believed by many to be the tomb of ally expanded westward and incorpo- King David was buried in the south- King David.3 rated the area that is today known as eastern area of Jerusalem’s real Old To locate King David’s actual bur- Mount Zion.6 City, which is located to the south of ial site, one need only consult the Bible The erroneous notion that King the Temple Mount and and to discover that King David died and David is buried on Mount Zion devel- is known today as Ir David—the City was buried in Ir David, the City of oped over a period of many centuries. of David. David (1 Kings 2:10).4 The same place, During the middle of the second centu- Background:1 The question City of David, also appears in 2 ry CE, Jerusalem was razed, Jews were regarding King David’s Tomb seems (5:7, 5:9) where the text states that banished from the area, and the knowl- almost as inane as the riddle popularized David captured a fortress named edge concerning the true location of by Groucho Marx on his 1950s game Metzudat Tzion from the and King David’s Tomb was lost. By the show “You Bet Your Life.” In order to renamed it “the City of David.” Thus, mid-fourth century, the tombs of King guarantee that no one left his show in order to find his burial site, one David and his father, Jesse, are described empty-handed, Marx would ask a losing needs to ascertain the location of as being in Beit Lechem.7 The first contestant: “Who is buried in Grant’s Metzudat Tzion, i.e., the City of David. mention of Mount Zion as King Tomb?” (He would usually accept The name “Zion” appears in David’s final resting place was in the “Grant” as a correct answer despite the Tanach in reference to the original, ninth century, and by the eleventh cen- fact that the US National Park Service ancient Jerusalem. In the Middle Ages, tury, this fallacy was so well-established states that “technically, no one is Byzantine pilgrims mistakenly thought that the Crusaders erected a Gothic that the hill located south of today’s Old cenotaph, in this case an empty sar- Rabbi Dr. Zivotofsky is on the faculty of the City’s was part of cophagus, to mark the site, which Brain Science Program at Bar-Ilan University that ancient city and named it “Mount remains until today.8 in . Zion.”5 This error was not recognized Continued on 52

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King David’s Tomb: A Different Perspective By Leibel Reznick

Photos: Leibel Reznick

“Those who trust in the Lord shall be like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.” ( 125:1)

r. Ari Zivotofsky’s well-present- only highly improbable, but quite clear- story of Jerusalem archaeology realize ed article “What’s the Truth ly impossible that King David was that Davies is hardly a lone voice. In the Dabout … King David’s Tomb?” buried there. world of academia, his opinion is close addresses the question of the true loca- But what evidence is there that to, if not representative of, the majority tion of King David’s Tomb from a present-day Mount Zion was not inhab- view. And on what basis are the views Biblical as well as an archaeological per- ited during the reign of King David? that there was no Davidic capital of spective. In the article, Dr. Zivotofsky The answer is that since no evidence of Jerusalem and that Kings David and emphatically states that “the area known occupation during the era of King did not exist predicated? The today as Mount Zion was not part of David has been discovered there, that absence of evidence is evidence of inhabited Jerusalem in King David’s proves it was not occupied at that time. absence. As I already stated, this is a time, and it is highly improbable that In other words, the absence of evidence dangerous position to take. he was buried there.” The Bible tells us is evidence of absence! This is a very A tel is a mound that consists of a that “…the City of David is Zion” (1 dangerous stance to take with regard to layer of ruins built upon other layers of Kings 8:1) and that “David slept with the archaeology of Jerusalem. Many ruins. Jerusalem is not a tel in the tradi- his fathers, and was buried in the City archaeologists and historians claim that tional sense of the word; it’s a city of of David” (1 Kings 2:10). If, as Dr. in the general Jerusalem area there is a hills with bedrock a few feet below the Zivotofsky claims, the present-day dearth of artifacts and remains of build- surface. In some places bedrock even Mount Zion was uninhabited during ings from the eras of Kings David and protrudes above the land surface. This is the time of King David, then it is not Solomon, which gives them reason to because when an inhabited area was doubt there ever was such a capital city. destroyed, the conquerors would remove Some take an extreme position, carrying the debris all the way down to the Rabbi Reznick is a maggid shiur in Yeshiva this line of reasoning one step further: bedrock and build anew. (Recently the Shaarei Torah in Monsey, New York. He has “I am not the only scholar who suspects esteemed British scholar and archaeolo- written numerous books and magazine articles that the figure of King David is about as gist Kenneth A. Kitchen quipped about on the topic of Jewish history and archaeology. historical as King Arthur,” asserts Philip Jerusalem, “We are lucky to have any- He is presently a scholar-in-residence for the 2 David Dov Foundation of Lakewood, New R. Davies, professor of Biblical studies thing really old at all!”) 1 Jersey, which is dedicated to the research of at the University of Sheffield, England. Archaeology is the art of interpret- by Orthodox scholars. Those of us who follow the unfolding ing physical finds based on ever-evolv- Continued on 56

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Continued from 50 In the twelfth century, the colorful Jewish traveler should be clear to all that it has been sanctified as a site of Benjamin of Tudela related that during his stay in Jerusalem, Jewish pilgrimage and prayer for centuries and should be he heard a fantastic story regarding the re-discovery of King treated as a Jewish holy place. David’s Tomb. Two Jewish workers employed by the If King David is not buried on Mount Zion, then Christian patriarch to reconstruct a damaged monument on where is he buried? The first clue is from the Bible, which Mount Zion accidentally happened upon a secret passage and states that King David, his son King Solomon and the kings found themselves in a palace made of marble columns. of who followed for the next 150 years13 were buried in Within the palace was a table upon which rested a golden scepter and golden crown, with riches all around. The work- ers decided this was King David’s Tomb. Suddenly, they were The Old City Of Jerusalem struck down by a fierce wind and heard voices that told them to leave immediately. Three days later, the two workmen were N sick in bed and could not be persuaded to return to the site.9 The present building housing the cenotaph was erect- ed in 1335, but it is built on top of what is probably a sec- ond- to fourth-century building. Little was known about the building until a shell exploded there during the War of TEMPLE Independence in 1948, affording an opportunity for archae- MOUNT ological excavations during repair work. In 1951 an Israeli archaeologist and expert in synagogue architecture, Jacob MOUNT Jewish OLIVES Pinkerfeld, who was later killed in a terrorist attack at the Quarter KIDRON 1956 Archaeological Convention at , carried Armenian VALLEY out an archaeological survey. Behind the cenotaph of King Quarter David, Pinkerfeld found a niche that was part of the origi-

Temple GIHON nal structure of the building, and beneath the floor, he SPRING MOUNT

CITY OF DAVID found three earlier floor levels: a Crusader floor, a late ZION Western CityWall Early 1st Roman or early Byzantine floor and the plaster of the origi- SHILOAH nal building’s floor. He noted that the niche was oriented POOL towards the Temple Mount and concluded that the building HINOM VALLEY was originally a synagogue and the niche was the aron.10 City Wall - Current Others have argued with his conclusion, and based on vari- City Wall - End of 1st Temple Period ous reasons, asserted that it was possibly a church or a Approximate Site of King David’s Tomb Judeo-Christian synagogue. Legendary Site of King David’s Tomb In the fifteenth century, following an attempt by the Illustration: Eli Kaufman Jews to purchase the site, the Muslims wrested control from the Franciscans,11 and for the next five centuries all non- Muslims had restricted access to the site. Nonetheless, “Ir David.” This likely refers to a subsection of the modern- Jerusalem’s Jews would make an annual pilgrimage there on day area known as the City of David. Another important Shavuot, King David’s yahrtzeit.12 It was only after the War of source regarding the location of the royal burial site is found Independence, when Mount Zion came under Israeli control, in Nechemiah (chap. 3), which describes the teams set up to that free access to the site was granted to people of all reli- repair the . The text describes the groups of gions. Since 1948, Israel’s Department of Religious Affairs has workers and the region of the wall they repaired in an orderly administered both King David’s Tomb, which is used as a fashion, circumnavigating the city wall. It states that Shallun, synagogue, and the upper room, which is left open for the son of Colhozeh, built, among other things, the “wall of Christian visitors. The site was one of the few “holy sites” the Pool of Shelah [Shiloah]” until the stairs that go down under Israeli control from 1948 to 1967. Currently, the from the City of David. It further states that Nechemiah, the Diaspora Yeshiva oversees the entire complex. The building son of Azbuk, repaired the wall “as far as opposite the tombs also includes the Room, right above King David’s of the [the house of] David” (15-16). From this description it Tomb, and other sites of significance to Christians. Because of is clear that 500 years after King David was buried, the loca- this, there have been repeated discussions over the years, tion of his tomb was still well known and that it was located including during Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s recent visit to near the southeast corner of the city, inside the walls, near the the Vatican, about transferring it to the Church, despite the Siloam, otherwise known as the Shiloah (Shiloach) Pool.14 fact that the Diaspora Yeshiva permits free access to all. Even Rabbi Akiva, 600 years later, was also familiar with the though the site does not contain King David’s Tomb, it site.15 He was once asked why the graves of the Davidic

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dynasty were allowed to be within the 1924. He designated these caves T1 Today, the City of David is part of city walls despite his opinion that all through T9 and proclaimed that the a national park and is administered by graves should be re-interred outside the most monumental, T1, was King the non-profit organization called El-Al. city boundaries due to reasons of tumah David’s Tomb. T1 is a long tunnel, with For more information on this area (ritual impurity). He responded that the some features of an ancient burial cave. located at the heart of Jerusalem, visit impurity of King David’s grave was Unfortunately, the caves were used as a www.cityofdavid.org.il/index.html. JA diverted out of the city to the Kidron quarry during the Roman period, mak- Valley via a rock channel (Tosefta, Bava ing it difficult to restore them. Notes Batra 1:11 [p. 399, Zuckermandel ed.]; Weill’s conclusion was initially 1. For material on this subject, see: Yerushalmi, Nazir 9:3). Because the accepted by the archaeological commu- Doron Bar, “Kever David b’Har Tzion B’Shnotehah Harishonot shel Hamedinah,” Kidron Valley is located on the eastern nity, but today many archaeologists dis- Al Atar 11 (5763): 85-95; Yoel Elitzur, side of the City of David, Rabbi Akiva’s agree with him. They claim that the “Achen! Kivrei Beit David,” Al Atar 11 statement is further evidence that the caves he found are not identical to other (5763): 15-27; Gabriel Barkay, “L’ba’ayat sought-after grave is located in the City First Temple period tombs, and further- Makom Kivrehem shel Malchei Beit David 16 of David. more, they argue, it is not certain that Ha’achronim,” Bein Chermon L’Sinai: Yad Given that the City of David is so these structures are from King David’s l’Amnon (1977): 75-92; Bargil Pixner, small17 and that there are very specific period (tenth century BCE). They sug- Biblical Archaeological Review (May/June descriptions in Tanach and by Chazal gest instead that these clearly well- 1990); Hershel Shanks, “The Tombs of David and Other Kings of ,” regarding the location of the burial site, planned structures were water cisterns Jerusalem: An Archaeological Biography (New French archaeologist-Egyptologist or cellars from the peri- York: 1995), 35-43 and Ora Limor, “King Raymond Weill went searching for the od. Those who continue to support David’s Tomb on Mount Zion: The Origins tomb in 1913. This was the first archae- Weill’s contention argue that no other of a Tradition,” in D. Jacoby & Y. Tsafrir cisterns like those have ever been found (eds.), Jews, and Christians in and that their structure is not ideally Byzantine Palestine (Jerusalem, 1988), 11-23 suited for that purpose. Weill’s support- [Hebrew]. ers concede that there are indeed no 2. See http://www.nps.gov/gegr. 3. King David actually has another other tenth-century BCE tombs known “tomb” as well. There is an area in Jerusalem in Jerusalem and that Weill’s findings just north of the Old City known as “The are not identical with the many known Tombs of the Kings” that is today owned by Jerusalem eighth-century tombs. the French government. A sign hanging However, an exact similarity cannot be there says “Tombs of the House of David.” expected; firstly, the known eighth-cen- These burial caves, which were excavated in tury tombs were not those of kings or 1863, are most likely from the Hellenistic royalty and secondly, the tombs in ques- period and are those of Queen Helene of Adiabene, her son Munbaz and their fami- tion were built 200 years later. Finally, lies (see Doton Goren, “Parshat Kivrei they argue, there is really no way to King David’s Tomb, according to French Hamelachim,” HaTzofeh, 5 January 2005, know what Weill’s caves looked like archaeologist-Egyptologist Raymond Weill. 12, 14). Weill discovered nine caves in the 1920s in before they were destroyed by the exten- 4. This was unusual because in the the City of David and designated the largest sive quarrying. early First Temple period, people were gen- one, T1, as King David’s Tomb. In summary, the known facts, erally not buried within the city limits. based on Biblical texts and nearly uni- 5. It has always been common to ological expedition conducted by a Jew, versally accepted archaeological find- name structures (and texts) after long- deceased, important persons. For example, with funding from a Jewish sponsor ings, are the following: King David is Solomon’s Stables are located on a section of (the mission was funded by Baron buried in the southeastern section of the Temple Mount that was added by Edmond de Rothschild) and at a clearly the City of David and not on Mount Herod 900 years after King Solomon “Jewish” site in the . Zion; one would expect his tomb to be reigned. Thus, associating the Tower of Weill, whose complete report was well planned and unique; and a well- David near with King David is not published until 1947, was successful designed, large man-made cave has just as absurd as associating Solomon’s in finding important artifacts, and pos- been found in the likely area. Logic Stables or Solomon’s Pools with King sibly the kings’ graves themselves. suggests, although it cannot be proven Solomon, or Yad Avshalom with King David’s rebellious son Avshalom. Weill discovered eight man-made with certainty, that the T1 cave is 6. When used in the Bible, the phrase cave-like structures that he described as indeed the burial place of the Kings of “Mount Zion” often refers to the Temple tombs, as well as a ninth cave in a sec- Judea, beginning with Kings David Mount. There are indeed some people who ond expedition between 1923 and and Solomon.18 erroneously cling to the notion that Mount

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Zion was part of the ancient City of David Mount Zion, he never implied that King The usual practice was to have family burial and that King David is buried there. See David’s Tomb was located there. That caves; however, this complex seems to have Leibel Reznick, “Moving Mount Zion,” notion only took root 800 years later. It is been dynastic and reserved for those who Jewish Action, (summer 2001): 38-43; not unusual for places and meanings of actually sat on the throne. http://www.ou.org/publications/ja/5761sum words to be forgotten over time. For exam- 14. The recently uncovered Shiloah is mer/. Rabbi Y.M. Tukitchinsky devoted an ple, while no one discussed Kever Dan ben a large reservoir fed by the robust Gihon entire chapter of his Ir Hakodesh Yaakov for centuries, it suddenly “appeared” Spring that was unquestionably the water v’Hamikdash (vol. 2, chap. 4) to “proving” not far from less than 100 source for the early city of Jerusalem, before that Mount Zion was within the Jerusalem years ago. See Avi Shoshan, “Kever Dan,” any cisterns were dug and any complex of Kings David and Solomon. Many of Mechkarei Yehudah veShomron, 10 (5761): aqueducts were constructed. See Hershel their arguments compress the more than 207-218. In fact, in the 600 years between Shanks, Biblical Archaeology Review 400 years of the First Temple into one uni- the Talmud and and Tosafot, the fied period. There is little doubt that at the meaning of words such as tzvi, netz, nesher (September/October 2005): 17-23. That the time of the Churban (Destruction of the and all changed (Rashi, Chullin 59a, late Second Temple period water system, First Temple) in 586 BCE, Jerusalem includ- s.v. v’harei tzvi; Tosafot, Chullin 63a, s.v. which includes Solomon’s Pools and the ed most of today’s Jewish Quarter, possibly netz). Traditions are delicate and need to be Mamila Pool, supplied water to the city 800 extending as far as the modern Jaffa Gate preserved accurately; what’s more, seemingly years earlier, as Rabbi Leibel Reznick sug- and including Mount Zion. Evidence erroneous “traditions” need to be reexam- gests in his original Jewish Action article (see derived from walls or other artifacts from ined. Keep in mind that when was note 6), is highly improbable. It is inconsis- that period in those regions reveals nothing writing, Mount Zion had indeed been part tent to rely on archaeological tools to date about what Jerusalem looked like at the start of Jerusalem for over 700 years, and it is not certain structures and then ignore the same of the period. No one denies that over the unreasonable that he should have mistaken- science in dating others. It should be noted course of the First Temple period Jerusalem ly thought it had always been. There is no that many authorities such as the Radak and greatly expanded and eventually did include evidence or reason to suspect that he had Targum Yonatan assume that the Gihon Mount Zion, but the question here con- some form of tradition regarding this mun- Spring and the Shiloah are two names for cerns the boundaries of Jerusalem at the dane matter. the same water source, or two aspects of time of King David’s death (ca., 965 BCE). 9. In a fascinating twist, 700 years it—not two separate entities. The overwhelming evidence is that during later, in the mid-nineteenth century, the 15. There is continuous evidence of the reigns of Kings David and Solomon, Turkish city engineer of Jerusalem, knowing familiarity with the site. Josephus records Jerusalem was the small area known today as nothing about Benjamin of Tudela, also that opened one of the the City of David and did not encompass reported finding an extensive labyrinth of tombs of the Davidic line and looted it, and Mount Zion. This is the unanimous opin- caves directly underneath the believed site of ion today among archaeologists and Biblical King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion. 150 years later Herod opened a second scholars, as clearly shown in the articles According to a theory by archaeologist Dr. tomb and attempted to loot it as well cited in note 1. As Jane Cahill stated in her Gabriel Barkay, if these caves do indeed (Josephus, Antiquities 16:7:1). Feeling November/December 2004 article in exist, it is possible that they are the second remorseful, Herod later built a monument Biblical Archaeology Review: “One thing on royal burial site of the House of David men- on top of the tombs. Thus, according to which all scholars agree: In the time of tioned in the Bible in the period after the Josephus, the location of the tombs was David, Jerusalem was confined to what is expansion of Jerusalem. Menashe was the known in the first and second centuries BCE still called the City of David…” (20). The first king to be buried at the site known as (although he does not give the location), list of scholars includes Rabbi Zalman the Garden of Uzza. and they were said to contain much riches. Koren, who was the consultant to Rabbi 10. If this is correct, it is an addition- 16. Even if one were to argue that Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and remains the al proof that it is not Kever David; it is Mount Zion was inhabited in King David’s consultant to the Israeli Chief Rabbinate on unusual to build a synagogue over a grave, time, based on this statement there is simply matters relating to archaeology and Old thereby barring Kohanim from entering. no way that King David’s Tomb is on City issues. Although lack of evidence is not 11. This Muslim backlash against the Mount Zion, and it must be on the south- evidence of lack, credence must be given to Franciscans led to a Christian retaliation ern ridge known today as the City of David. the total absence of artifacts in the most against the Jews that included a papal edict 17. The whole City of David is only excavated site on earth. Absolutely nothing by Martin V forbidding Christians to trans- about forty dunams (ten acres). has been found on Mount Zion dating back port Jews by boat. 18. No other reasonable suggestion to earlier than the eighth century BCE, while 12. See Yerushalmi, Beitzah 2:4. has been tendered. However, Dio Cassius, a down below, in the City of David, a pletho- 13. Regarding King Solomon, see 1 ra of material dating back to pre-history has Kings 11:43. For later kings, see 1 Kings late second-century Roman historian, been uncovered. Among the findings were 14:31, 15:8, 24, 22:51 and 2 Kings 12:22, reports that the tomb of Solomon had col- segments of the Canaanite Wall on the west- 14:20, 15:7, 38, 16:20. Of the twenty-one lapsed in his period. It is possible that the ern side, thus demarcating the city limits, kings of Judea, the Bible uses similar phrase- Davidic tombs are indeed in the general which were below Mount Zion. ology regarding the burial of the first fifteen area excavated by Weill but were destroyed 7. See Limor, “King David’s Tomb.” kings, indicating that they were all buried in by the extensive quarrying in the Roman 8. It should be noted that although the same complex. Similar language is used period. This is the opinion of leading Josephus (first century CE) erroneously sug- again in Chronicles for Yehoyada the High archaeologist Dr. Barkay (lecture in gested that the City of David included Priest, who was an acting king for a time. Jerusalem, November 27, 2006).

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Continued from 51 ing scientific principles. The interpretation of the archaeolo- structed wall was moved a bit closer to the center of town, gist is subject to his or her prejudices; therefore scholars who slicing through several homes. The stones removed from the doubt the veracity of the Bible will interpret the finds in a demolished homes were used to build the new wall. The certain way. Those who believe in the accuracy of Biblical his- Isaiah stated as much, “You [Chezekiah] have seen tory will interpret them quite differently. Leaving the inaccu- also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many … racy of archaeological “evidence” aside, I would like to address and the houses that you have broken down to fortify the wall” the issue of the location of King David’s Tomb from a Biblical (Isaiah 22:9-11). A section of Chezekiah’s wall was found by and a historical perspective. Professor Nahman Avigad shortly after the Six Day War of Ancient Jerusalem consisted primarily of two large hills, 1967. The dating of the wall can be determined by an analy- the Eastern Hill and the Western Hill. (See map on page 57.) sis of the method with which the wall was constructed and by The northern part of the Eastern Hill is occupied by the the pottery shards that were found inside the wall. And, Temple Mount and the long, southern slope stretching down- indeed, the wall passes right through some ancient homes. ward is an area referred to as the archaeological City of David. Avigad’s discovery has been dubbed the Broad Wall, named The Western Hill consists of the Armenian and Jewish after a wall mentioned in the book of Nechemiah. The wall is quarters of the Old City as well as the area adjacent to the located in the Jewish Quarter on the Western Hill. According south of the Armenian Quarter, commonly called Mount to Isaiah, Chezekiah’s wall was part of the wall of the City of Zion. Historically, the City of David, Mount Zion and King David. Therefore, it follows that the City of David must have David’s Tomb were all located on the Western Hill. During been on the Western Hill and not the Eastern Hill as archae- the course of the twentieth century, archaeologists “moved” ologists claim. the City of David and Mount Zion over to the southern slope Some people erroneously believe that ill-informed of the Eastern Hill. (Despite the move, people still commonly Christian pilgrims during the Middle Ages mistakenly named refer to the Western Hill as Mount Zion.) The question is: Is the Western Hill Mount Zion and the City of David. Not so. King David’s Tomb located on the Western Hill, where tradi- According to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus tion has always placed it, or is it located on the Eastern Hill as Flavius, the Western Hill was the site of the City of David the archaeologists claim? (Wars of the Jews, Book V, chap. 4). Josephus, a resident of The Bible tells us that King Chezekiah repaired gaps in Jerusalem and a Kohen who served in the Second Temple, the city wall adjacent to the City of David. The newly con- was intimately familiar with the geography of Jerusalem and its environs. His writings are the primary source for the histo- ry of the late Second Temple period and have served as an ADVERTORIAL invaluable tool in the field of archaeology. Josephus’ knowl- Mana Hama Soup Kitchen edge of the City of David was also based on a tradition that can be traced all the way back to the Davidic Dynasty. If he It all started when Avi Amsalem and his friends began delivering food packages to poverty-stricken homes in claims that the Western Hill is the site of the City of David, I Ashdod and the recipents began asking for Shabbat meals. am inclined to agree with him rather than take the word of a “When someone asks for food, you can’t say ‘no’,” Avi few modern-day revisionist historians. explains. So Avi opened up Mana Hama, which now feeds Could it have been that the location of King David’s 350 Ashdod residents every day. Tomb was forgotten during the years of the Babylonian exile? No. Nechemiah mentions that during the Post-Exilic period, You, too, can be a part of this tremendous project. You may the walls of the city were repaired “to a place opposite the sep- designate your donation for something specific, such as in ulcher of David” (Nechemiah 3:16). Josephus refers to the celebration of a Simcha or as a memorial for a loved one. sepulcher of David several times. Similarly, in writing about Expenses of the soup kitchen: the early years of the Bar Kochba rebellion, the Roman histo- Meals for 26 people: $52 rian Dio Cassius (ca., 200 CE) mentions King David’s Tomb Meals for 100 people: $180 (Roman History 69:14). Throughout the generations, Jews and non-Jews have referred to Mount Zion and to King David’s Food and maintenance for a full day: $700 Tomb. Despite the tradition dating from Josephus’ time until Provisions basket for one family: $126 1914 placing King David’s Tomb, the City of David and Passover provisions for one family: $126 Mount Zion on the Western Hill, archeologists claimed that all of these sites were really on the Eastern Hill. Were one to You are welcome to visit, and to see for yourselves our subscribe to the predominate archaeological view, one would important work. have to believe the highly unlikely scenario that one morning www.manahama.org.il • [email protected] every Jerusalemite awoke and could no longer remember 972.8.856.4373 • POB 8450 • Ashdod, Israel where Mount Zion was located. The residents of Jerusalem then took a wild guess and assumed that it must have been on

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the Western Hill. Fortunately, in 1913, the contour indicates that both hills the in the 12th and 11th cen- French archaeologist Raymond Weill were occupied concurrently. turies BCE.4 came along and informed everyone they (Because of editorial constraints, I Speaking of water sources, there had guessed wrong and it was really on do not wish to address the issue of the are two sources of water that are associ- the Eastern Hill. Archaeologists may Tosefta quoted in Dr. Zivotofsky’s article ated with ancient Jerusalem. One is subscribe to Weill’s theory, but I don’t concerning Rabbi Akiva. But suffice it mentioned a few times in Tanach, the buy it. to say that the reading of the same Gihon (Gichon), and the other, men- Gemara text as printed tioned in the Talmud, is the Shiloah in the Yerushalmi is (Shiloach). Archaeologists have been quite different. In addi- puzzled by these two sources since there tion, the Kidron Valley is only one known underground stream is not only east of the in Jerusalem. That 1,750-foot under- Eastern Hill, it also ground stream begins its course at the goes southward and eastern slope of the Eastern Hill, runs turns west of the under the hill and flows into a small Western Hill.) pool at the southern base of the hill. One reason Archaeologists solved the two water- archaeologists are reluc- source problem by calling the beginning tant to place the of the stream Gihon and the terminus Biblical Mount Zion Shiloah. However, there are a number on the Western Hill is of problems with this universally accept- because there is no nat- ed solution. ural water source there. 1. It’s highly unusual for a small The city inhabitants 1,750-foot-long stream to have two would have required names, one for each end. many large cisterns in 2. The Talmud (Sukkah 48a) order to survive. Even relates that for the Temple Water if the cisterns had cut Drawing ceremony on Sukkot, messen- into the bedrock, they gers were sent down to the Shiloah to would not have been draw water and bring it back up to the adequate because most Temple Courtyard through one of the bedrock is porous. southern gateways, called the Water Without waterproof Gate. If Gihon and Shiloah are the An aerial view of the Biblical City of David plaster, the water would same stream, why did the Temple mes- seep through the rock sengers bypass Gihon and travel an One way archaeologists determine to a lower level. Many scholars believed additional 1,750 feet further south to the extent of an ancient inhabited area that waterproof plaster was not invented the Shiloah? is by studying the contour of the sur- until well into the Iron Age, long after 3. The underground stream is on rounding burial grounds. Since burials the era of the Jebusites and King David. the eastern slope of the Eastern Hill. were rarely conducted within the city Without plaster, there are no cisterns. The Gihon was, in fact, on the western limits, the assumption is that the city And yet, in the late 1950s, Yigael Yadin side of the City of David. As it states in extended to the area of the cemeteries. was excavating a Late Bronze Age level Chronicles 2 (32:30), “Chezekiah also Numerous First Temple period (corresponding to the pre-Davidic time blocked the upper watercourse of gravesites have been found in of the Jebusites) at Hazor. He writes: Gihon, and diverted it straight down to Jerusalem. The overall contour begins The most exciting aspect of the exca- the west side of the City of David.” east of the Eastern Hill and follows a vations in this area was the many bottle 4. The verse above refers to the southern course along the Kidron shaped, rock-cut cisterns …. In one cis- “upper watercourse of the Gihon.” Valley, around the southern edges of tern, the upper, more porous parts of the That qualification certainly implies the Eastern and Western Hills and rock were even plastered! This one [cistern] that there was a lower watercourse. The northwards, west of the Western Hill.3 went out of use for water storage as early archaeological Gihon is a single source Had only the Eastern Hill been inhab- as the Late Bronze period. It is one of the for the underground stream. How do ited, then we would expect to find the earliest examples of its kind known in the the archaeologists explain the existence contour of the burial grounds to sur- country and disproves the allegation that of an upper and lower watercourse? round the Eastern Hill only. However, plastered cisterns were first introduced by They can’t.

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The solution to these problems is as follows. To the west of the Western Hill are two tremendously large cisterns. One is located at the western base of the Western Hill and its modern name is the Sultan’s Pool, referring to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, who had the walls of the old city constructed. The other cistern is located in Independence Park, behind the Sheraton Plaza Hotel, and is called the Mamila Pool. Before archaeologist Raymond Weill came along, the Sultan’s Pool was known as the Lower Gichon and the Mamila Pool as the Upper Gichon. In ancient times, these two cisterns were supplied with water by means of an aqueduct system, traces of which can still be seen. Thus, the author of Chronicles knew what he was writing. The City of David and Mount Zion were clearly located on the Western Hill.5 Additionally, the Shiloah was the underground stream located on the Eastern Hill. Both ends of the stream had a single name—Shiloah. Where is King David’s Tomb located? Tradition, dating all the way back to the time of King David, says that it is on present-day Mount Zion. I have presented here a number of arguments supporting this long-held tradition. Archaeologists have recently “moved” Mount Zion to the Eastern Hill and have called the area City of David. Our Sages said, “Kol ha’meshaneh, yado al ha’tachtonah, The burden of proof is on the one who seeks to change.” This is true with regard to tra- dition and also with regard to moving mountains.6 JA

Notes 1. Biblical Archaeology Review 20:4, (July/Aug. 1994). ADVERTORIAL 2. Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the (Grand Rapids, MI, 2003), 151. 3. Ephraim Stern, ed., The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological C ARMEI H A ’ IR Excavations in the Holy Land (New York, 1993), 713. 4. Yigael Yadin, Hazor: The Rediscovery of a Great Citadel of Carmei Ha’ir, a “restaurant” in Jerusalem, serves nourishing, the Bible (New York, 1975), 123. tasty food to six hundred hungry people each day. The two- 5. For an analysis of the derivation of the name Gihon, see and-a-half-year-old establishment is even more elegant than my article: “Moving Mount Zion,” Jewish Action (summer 2001): some of the neighboring restaurants. The only noticeable 38-43. difference is that at Carmei Ha’ir there is no bill; instead, a 6. After completing this article, I found the following quote wooden box by the entrance is for those who are able slip in from Meir Ben Dov, a Jerusalem archaeologist of some note, con- a coin, and for those who can’t, a note of gratitude. cerning the location of King David’s Tomb. A number of scholars engaged in research on Jerusalem have Founders Rabbi Yehuda Azrad and Itzik Levitan, two busi- reverted to the mediaeval theory suggesting the upper city (Western nessmen, wanted to make a difference. Hill)—today’s [Mount] Zion—as the tomb’s location. These propositions can now be accepted since recent archaeological discoveries have shown “Today, tens of people who can’t put food on the table are that the city rose to the upper hills already during the reign of the . Hence, one should not reject out of hand the location of the well-dressed and well-educated and have simply fallen on graves (of the Davidic Monarchy) in the upper city (Western Hill) of hard times,” says Levitan. Donors feel that money given to which [Mount] Zion is an integral part (Jerusalem: Man and Stone Carmei Ha’ir is money well-spent. “I know I am giving a [Tel Aviv, 1990], 237). poor man two helpings–one of food and one of dignity,” As an interesting aside, I read recently that Dame Kathleen says one donor. Kenyon, the famed archaeologist who excavated for a number of years in Jerusalem in the 1960s, found a goodly number of early Want to be part of the action? Visit Carmei Ha’ir at 72 First Temple shards on present-day Mount Zion but threw them Agrippas Street in Jerusalem, behind the shuk, between away. Since Kenyon was a minimalist, she firmly believed that 11:45-2:30 daily, except Fridays. Or, contact the founders at Mount Zion was not inhabited during the First Temple period, and [email protected], or 972-2-500-4222. that it was only inhabited in the second century BCE. She therefore Web site: www.carmeihair.org.il concluded that the shards did not belong on Mount Zion, and she tossed them out.

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