CHAMBER OF THE HOLOCAUST. Nowhere near the scale of the Yad Va-Shem
museum in West Jerusalem, this small, simple memorial museum was the first of
its kind in Israel and is at least as moving as the newer, more modern ones. The
museum's few rooms contain haunting photographs, memorabilia, and newspaper
clippings from the Holocaust, as well as memorial plaques covering the walls.
(Across the street from the back entrance of David's Tomb; can also be reached by bearing left at
the Franciscan convent. Open Su-Th 8am-5pm, F8am-2pm. NIS10, students NIS5, seniors NIS6.)
SCHINDLER'S GRAVE. Visitors pay homage to Oskar Schindler, the man credited
with saving more than 1300 Jews from Nazi persecution, by placing stones on his
grave. (In the Christian Cemetery across the main mad, downhill from the other Mount Zion
sights. The gate is open at erratic hours. Once inside, go down two flights of stairs.)
THE CITY OF DAVID
As far as the archaeologists working to uncover this massive site are concerned, any
exploration of Old Jerusalem must begin outside its walls, right here in the most
ancient part of the city. The City of David housed the throne of the biblical Kings of
Israel and was included within the walls during the First Temple period, while
today's walled city dates from the mostly Hellenic period of the Second Temple. The
earliest origins of biblical Jerusalem are still shrouded in mystery, but archaeolo-
gists have confirmed that the Ophel ridge, just south of the Old City walls, is the site
of Jebus, the original Canaanite city King David captured and made his capital.
Excavations of the site indicate that the Jebusites were confined to an area of
about eight acres. The city's location above the Kidron Valley was selected for its
proximity to the Gihon Spring and its defensibility on the ridge. In times of peace,
townspeople passed through a "water gate" to bring water into the city. For con-
tinued supply during times of siege, an underground tunnel provided access to a
large reservoir. David's strategy for taking Jebus relied on finding the water
source; his soldier Joab succeeded when he found a natural shaft that led up to the
tunnel and therefore into the city. In 1867, Warren confirmed this biblical account
when he discovered the long, sleek shaft that now bears his name. For many years,
archaeologists believed that water was drawn up through this shaft, but recent
excavations found the continuation of the tunnel that led to the reservoir; the cur-
rent theory is that the natural shaft was covered or ignored by the Jebusites and
never used for drawing water. In the 1960s, Kathleen Kenyon located the Jebusite
city walls, which date from 1800 ВСЕ and lie just above the Gihon Spring.
Later, King Hezekiah devised a system to prevent David's strategy from being
turned against the Israelites; he built a 500m long tunnel to bring the Gihon waters
into the city walls and hid the entrance of the spring, preventing invaders from
finding water when they camped outside the wall. In 1880, a few years after the
tunnel was excavated, a local boy discovered an inscription carved by Hezekiah's
engineers describing the jubilant moment when the north and south construction
crews met underground. The original inscription is in Istanbul, but a copy is on
display at the Israel Museum (see 45).