City of David

• Far older than the Roman water tunnel (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/haas-and-goldman-promenades.html ) is the tunnel Hezekiah had built to divert the Gihon Spring -- back when Rome was a recently-founded Italian town.
• Diversion of the spring denied the invading Assyrians a water source and ensued one for Jerusalem.
• This Jerusalem, The City of David (http://www.cityofdavid.org.il/index.html is a beautiful, but a bit annoying, Website), lies downhill from the current city and outside its walls ((http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/on-walls.html ) and is more than a thousand years older. It predates David, though its claim to fame is the connection with him and his descendents. That his descendents ruled there is clear from the inscription in Hezekiah's tunnel and from bulae -- the impresions of seals. Archaeologists date parts of the city to David's more ancient time, and parts to before that.
• A wood-on-metal-mesh walkway took me over the excavations of Phonecian style walls. Hiram, says the Bible, sent supplies and experts to build for David. Hiram was a Phoenecian -- not proof, but a bit of possibly supporting evidence.
• Down the stairways go, past courtiers' apartments, down to a tunnel the Jebusites used.
• That tunnel leads to Hezekiah's water tunnel (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-09/huoj-dok090903.php ). If you have a flashlight and water shoes, you can go through it to the Siloam Pool.
• The inscription that identified the engineering marvel is now in Istanbul.

Copyright 2006 Jane S. Fox