Excavations in the City of David

The City of David is located on the Ophel hill, a hill sloping southward from the southeastern side of the Temple Mount. Today the Ophel is an archaeological garden, open to the public for study tours. Extensive excavations in this area, carried out since 1968, cut through about 2,500 years of history and include some 25 layers. Important finds from the First (960 - 587 BCE) and Second Temple periods (515 BCE - 70 CE), Roman times (63 BCE - 324 CE), the Byzantine era (324 - 638) and the early Muslim period (7th C.) show how the city's successive rulers used the remains of their predecessors' structures for their own buildings. Four additional biblical sites are located in this area: the Gihon Spring, Warren's Shaft, Hezekiah's Tunnel, and the Pool of Siloam. [Archaeology] [Images of selected sites in Jerusalem]