Archeological Record of Jerusalem’s History

It’s difficult to imagine how an ancient city developed into a modern metropolis especially when archaeological records are confounded by population settlements spanning many cultures over more than 4000 years. However, Jerusalem has an almost perfect record, the origin of which remained untouched and was only recently discovered. From the site of its origin, the city obtained its holy reputation, on the mountain known as Mount Moriah, but one major event in the life of King David left its mark on our modern retrospective.

Photo Credit: Noam Chen [License]

The City of David, the original Ancient City of Jerusalem exists outside of the walls people know as the Old City of Jerusalem. The walls of this higher elevation Old City, built 500 years ago, during the Ottoman period purposely cut off the Ancient City, disposing it, relegating its lower elevation, to the garbage dump that The City of David became. The Old City walls enclose today’s Temple Mount, Jewish, Armenian, Christian and Muslim quarters.

Discovering traces of the first people that lived in the area required a combination of archaeological science, anthropology, cultural narratives and tradition. Each piece had to objectively fit in order that a theory spanning close to 5000 years of occupation could prevail. Remarkably the intact archaeology and narrative of Biblical forefathers seemed to weave into the perfect tale. Its a story of sporadic dwelling, holy attraction, ancestral honor punctuated by invasion, reclamation, growth, unrest, conquest, defeat, occupation, exile and return. However, without understanding the nationally inspired authority to act, we can’t contextualize the archaeological “bread crumbs”.

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