Mt. Zion/ City of David

On this day, we look back to before the first temple to gain an understanding of the very small role Jerusalem played in this time when it was the land of Jebus, not even on the main highway through the region. The bible mentions that in the times before the Kings of Israel, there was lawlessness amongst the tribes, none looking out for one another. When King David reunited the tribes he decided to place the capital near its center, on the next mountain over from Zion, what is now known as the city of David. The archeological digging in this site has uncovered what some believe to be the Palace of David, overlooking an Arab village across the valley that would have been there in those days.

This idea lends itself to the story of David watching the beautiful women bathing on the roof, eventually having her husband killed so she can be his wife. For this David is challenged by a commoner and chooses to repent for his sin. The story is lovingly retold in the lyrics of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah:"

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah


Beneath the city of David is the Gihon spring, which was the source of water for the its inhabitants. A hand carved tunnel was made through the Gihon, and now tourists may travel its windy passageway. The journey through the dark tunnel was much longer than I expected, at least half an hour. While most of the time we moved fairly quickly, when things became congested I began to get claustrophobic.

After coming out of the tunnel, we saw a roped off area where they are continuing excavation of the site. We came out of the area in the Arab village of Silwan, which sits right on top of the archeological project. immediately it looked like a different Israel. While Palestinian Israelis pay the same taxes, they do not recieve the same municipal dollars to build their schools, parks and infrastructure. We talked to a Palestinian here against the digging project as he says it has caused damage to no fewer than 40 homes in the area. There are also very apparent signs of settlers in this village, their barbed wire compounds and Israeli flags waving contrast starkly against the rest of the landscape of Silwan. He tells us that the settlers are extremely aggressive, and have recently attacked the Palestinians here at a non-violent protest that had been organized. The most shocking thing for me about this experience is how drastically sense of place changes in physically in such a small area, right next to this revered Jewish historical site. This experience adds layer upon layer of past and present, historical cleavage and social complexity.