In part 1 and part 2 of this series, we followed in the footsteps of young David before he became king and while he was on the run from King Saul. In this article, we will follow David to Jerusalem, future site of the Holy Temples and eternal capital of the Jewish people.
Jerusalem
While David originally ruled Judah in Hebron, he was visited by the elders of Israel who made a pact with him and anointed him king over all of Israel1.
King David and his men left Hebron and set out to conquer Jerusalem, which would become the capital of his kingdom.2
Jerusalem Before King David
At the time, Jerusalem was much smaller than the modern city we know. It was a fortified city, only about 12 acres in area, centered around today’s Mount Zion and the Gihon Spring, its main source of water.3
Jerusalem was not entirely conquered when Joshua led the Jews into the Holy Land after Moses’ passing. After Joshua’s death, the tribes of Judah and Simon conquered Jerusalem and set it on fire. Although it was allotted to the tribe of Benjamin, the Benjaminites did not drive out the Jebusites,4 who remained in Jerusalem until King David’s time.5
According to Midrashic tradition, was originally comprised of two cities, upper Jerusalem and lower Jerusalem. Following Joshua’s death, they conquered the upper city and left it desolate, while the lower city was still inhabited by the Jebusites.6
The city was much older than that, of course, and is mentioned in Genesis, as Salem, ruled by Melchizedek.7
In 1995, archeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron discovered the oldest fortification walls in Jerusalem.8 The construction was centered around the Gihon Spring, which must have been the main source of water in early ancient Jerusalem. The thick walls are built from huge unworked stones fitted together in a fluid pattern—a style known as cyclopean masonry. The fortifications consist of a tower, a walled passageway, and a rock-cut pool which must have held water. Archeologists determined that these fortifications remained in use for over a thousand years, right into the times of King David.9
They appear to have been built in the era of Melchizedek. This works perfectly with Seder Hadorot, a Jewish chronology based on traditional sources, which states that Melchizedek built a wall around Jerusalem.10
In the time between Melchizedek and King David, Jerusalem was settled by the Jebusites. The Amarna letters, a collection of cuneiform tablets containing correspondence between the Egyptian pharaohs and the rulers of neighboring countries, include several letters from Abdi-Heba, the ruler of ancient Jerusalem, in which he requests military assistance from Pharaoh.
Abdi-Heba’s letters date to the same time period as Joshua’s conquest of Canaan. Moreover, he names the enemy nation as Habiru, which sounds very similar to “Hebrew.” Unfortunately, the text is not clear,11 but it is possible that the ruler of Jerusalem was requesting Pharaoh’s assistance during Joshua’s conquest of the Land.12
In 2010, the late archeologist Eilat Mazar discovered a cuneiform tablet similar to the Amarna letters while excavating the site of the City of David. The tablet was made from local Jerusalem clay. The inscription is difficult to translate. Dr. Mazar suggested that it might be an archival copy of one of the Amarna letters.
Interestingly, the tablet is blackened by fire, perhaps from the time when the tribes of Judah and Simon conquered Jerusalem after Joshua’s death and set it on fire.13
Building the City of David
After King David conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites,14 he renamed it the City of David15 and embarked on a building campaign. “David built round about from “the mound” [millo in Hebrew] and inward.”16
As the capital of the Jewish kingdom, the City of David is one of the most excavated sites in Israel, drawing archeologists’ attention since the 19th century.
Today, the City of David is a national park and a popular tourist destination, located just outside the Old City, a short walk from the Western Wall through the Dung Gate. It is an active archeological site, with new discoveries being made daily.
The Search for King David’s Palace
Perhaps the most exciting discovery was the 2005 announcement by late archeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar about the discovery of King David’s palace.
“One of the many things I learned from my grandfather [Benjamin Mazar, one of Israel’s pioneering archeologists],” she said, “was how to relate to the Biblical text: Pore over it again and again, for it contains within it descriptions of genuine historical reality.”17
Dr. Mazar did exactly that. On closer examination of Samuel II, chapter 5, as well as a review of prior archeological research, Dr. Mazar came up with a revolutionary idea. While previous attempts to find King David’s palace took place within the site of Jebusite Jerusalem, Dr. Mazar realized that King David likely built his new palace just outside the original city, north of the Jebusite citadel.
Once she expanded her search outside the Jebusite fortifications, Dr. Mazar revisited the 1962 discovery of “a very important building, which could well have been defensive, and which was subsequently added to, either in the late Jebusite or early Israelite period,”18 by British archeologist Kathleen Kenyon.
Dr. Mazar wrote:
In short, Kenyon did not consider the possibility that David’s palace would have lain beyond the fortification line outside the city … To my mind, however, choosing a site for his palace adjacent to the northern side of the Jebusite fortress would have been a very logical step for someone who was already planning a northern expansion of the city—an expansion for the Temple on what was to become the Temple Mount … In peaceful times, the palace inhabitants would not be exposed to danger, and in the unlikely event of a threatening military assault, such as a Philistine offensive, the palace could be abandoned and the occupants could descend to the stronghold within the barricaded city. And in fact, that is what II Samuel 5:17 … refers to when it says that David went down to the fortress to protect himself against the Philistines, who attacked after he had been crowned king of all Israel.19
When Dr. Mazar shared her idea with her grandfather, he excitedly reminded her of the hewn ashlar stones and an elegant capital—a column top—that Kenyon had found at that location.
Dr. Mazar’s grandfather passed away before she had the opportunity to test her theory. It took years to gather the necessary support and funding for the research. Finally, in February 2005, the excavation began.
Dr. Mazar recalled:
Almost from the start, ancient remains, preserved beyond all expectations, were unearthed. Surprisingly, I felt very much at ease throughout the entire excavation. Perhaps what helped me most was the recognition of the importance of what we were doing. I decided I would be silent about the palace theory. I would let the stones speak for themselves. Either they would corroborate the palace theory or refute it.20
The archeologists found remains from the Byzantine period and from the Second Temple period. As they dug deeper, they discovered “some quite large stones from an even earlier structure… [T]he Second Temple period remains sat on an earlier structure characterized by large, impressive stones. Some of these large stones had even been re-used in the construction of the still-later Byzantine house.”
The Large Stone Structure, as the archeologists called their discovery, had giant walls, 6-8 feet wide, and stood on a 20-foot-high man-made cliff.
Dr. Mazar wrote:
The Large Stone Structure, now seen as a massive structure built on a high scarp, was not just any public building, but a structure that was clearly the product of inspiration, imagination and considerable economic investment. This is clear not only from the large, impressive stones from which it was constructed but also from the 5-foot-long proto-Aeolic capital that must have once been part of the building. This exemplar is the most beautiful and elegant proto-Aeolic capital ever found in Israel, surpassing those from Samaria and Megiddo. Imagine the column that supported this capital. Then imagine the building in which such columns stood.21
In her article, Dr. Mazar described pottery sherds and bullas with name inscriptions found at the site. Then she concluded:
The Biblical narrative, I submit, better explains the archaeology we have uncovered than any other hypothesis that has been put forward. Indeed, the archaeological remains square perfectly with the Biblical description that tells us David went down from there to the citadel. So you decide whether or not we have found King David’s palace.22
Stepped Stone Structure
Other archeologists immediately accepted the challenge and questioned Dr. Mazar’s conclusions, but she continued her work and made further discoveries. In 2007, she discovered that the Large Stone Structure was interlocked with the Stepped Stone Structure23.
First excavated in the 1920s, the Stepped Stone Structure had been considered of Jebusite origin. Dr. Mazar, however, now suggested that, just like the Large Stone Structure, the Stepped Stone Structure was built by King David as part of a massive royal complex.
Back in the 1950s, Kathleen Kenyon had suggested that the Stepped Stone Structure was the millo mentioned in the verse quoted above. The Hebrew word “millo” comes from the same root as “filled,” and the Stepped Stone Structure is filled with stones. To Dr. Mazar, the discovery of the connection between the possible millo and the Large Stone Structure was another piece of evidence supporting her theory about King David’s palace.
More evidence of royal presence at this location includes ornate ivory utensils, remains of exotic foods, and seals of royal individuals.24
Other archeologists dispute Dr. Mazar’s conclusions and offer various alternative theories. To this day, the matter continues to be the topic of debate.
King David’s Burial Place
For 33 years, King David ruled over his people from Jerusalem.25 Upon his death, at the age of 70, he was buried in the City of David.26
To this day, the tomb of King David is a popular place for prayer, visited by locals and tourists from all over the world. It is located on Mount Zion, just a short walk from today’s City of David National Park.
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