City of David

“For three thousand years, Jerusalem has been the center of Jewish hope and longing. No other city has played such a dominant role in the history, culture, religion and consciousness of a people as has Jerusalem in the life of Jewry and Judaism. Throughout centuries of exile, Jerusalem remained alive in the hearts of Jews everywhere as the focal point of Jewish history, the symbol of ancient glory, spiritual fulfillment and modern renewal. This heart and soul of the Jewish people engenders the thought that if you want one simple word to symbolize all of Jewish history, that word would be ‘Jerusalem.’”  — Teddy Kollek

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On Thursday morning, my school took mini-field trips around Jerusalem. We had the option of visiting the Old City, the City of David, or the Israel Museum. I chose the City of David. It was the site that I knew the least about, and the tour description said that we would be walking through water tunnels. Yes, please!

The City of David is the archaeological site of the original city of Jerusalem, built just a short 3,000 years ago. According to tradition, it is where King David built his palace and established Jerusalem as the unified capital of the tribes of Israel.

We were able to explore the area, see some of the archaeological findings, and walk on the original stones from thousands of years ago. We also took a 30 minute walk through the underground water tunnels that were carved out about 2,700 years ago. Whoa.


We talked about the complexity of the area. The City of David is located next to East Jerusalem, specifically the Arab city of Silwan. There is quite a bit of conflict in the area over the control of the archaeological and residential aspects of the city. Jerusalem is a very, very complicated place, with many people and groups claiming rights to the land. Just within our group there was a whole range of opinions as to what should happen in this area.

Overall, it was a great day, and a nice change of pace for the week! Here are some pictures:

City of David, here we come!

This is my roomie, Laura! We both enjoy Chaco sandals, eating mangoes, and occasionally (accidentally) dressing like twins.

New friends on the bus!

Andrew and Jordan on the way to the City of David.

A view of the Old City of Jerusalem.  

View of Silwan in East Jerusalem

Me and my handle-bar mustached friend.

Part of King David's palace.

Touring...

Touring...

Rocks....

Some more rocks...

Andrew and Laura ready to walk through tunnels! Nice headgear.

A water drain from the Second Temple period.

Andrew walking on what is believed to be the "pool" that was the main water-drawing source in biblical times. This is also where many people met their significant others. Sha-sha. 

Group discussion about the complexity of the City of David today.

This field-trip (and the other two that were offered) were mainly to learn about the Jewish connection to Jerusalem. I was excited to hear that we will be taking a field trip later on in the year to learn about the connections that other religions and cultures have to this beautiful city.