Archaeology

The Valley of Hinnom

The Valley of Hinnom is located outside of Jerusalem to the southwest of the city walls. This valley, along with the Kidron Valley, was in ancient times one of the major defenses guarding the Holy city. Kendra Howard [Archaeology] [Images of selected sites in Jerusalem]...

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Yad Vashem - Valley of Destroyed Communities

The Valley of the Destroyed Communities is the latest addition (1993) to the Yad Vashem complex, Israel's central memorial to the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust of World War II. It consists of a maze of courtyards (each representing a country or geographical region), on whose walls are inscribed the names of cities and towns where Jewish ...

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Traditional Upper Room

According to tradition (going back only to the 10th century), this is the place where Jesus celebrated the Passover feast with his disciples before he was arrested. Also according to tradition he appeared here after his resurrection. The hall was constructed by the Crusaders. The Fransciscans who bought it in 1335 introduced some changes in it. At ...

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Hezekiah's Tunnel

The most magnificent waterworks of ancient Jerusalem is Hezekiah's Tunnel. The tunnel is hewn inside the hill in order to protect the access to water from enemies. It channels the water from the Gihon fountainhead to the Shiloah pool, which was within the new walls of the city built by Hezekiah. King Hezekiah built the tunnel in preparation for th...

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Artist's Conception of City of David

Virtual tour to 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 ...

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The Gihon Spring

In a land as dry as the Land of Israel, the main consideration in determining the location of a city or village, is its proximity to the nearest water source. The only permanent water source of ancient Jerusalem was the Gihon Spring. Its name is derived from the fact that it doesn't flow steadily, but rather in random eruptions with lapses in betwe...

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Gates of the Old City - Zion Gate

Zion Gate The western gate of the Old City, named after Mount Zion. In Arabic it is known as "the Prophet David's Gate", because one passes through King David's tomb on Mount Zion(Photo by Duby Tal and Moni Haramati) [Archaeology] [Images of selected sites in Jerusalem from Furman Univ.]...

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Gates of the Old City - Lion's Gate

Lion's Gate Known in Hebrew as the Lion's Gate. Legend has it that the lions engraved on both sides of the gate were placed there by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, because he had dreamed that he would be devoured by lions unless he built a wall around the Holy City for the defence of the citizens (Photo by Duby Tal and Moni Haramati) ...

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Gates of the Old City - Golden Gate

Golden Gate The Mercy (Golden) Gate (Bab el Rahmeh) appears in the legends of all three religions. An early Jewish tradition holds that it is through that gate that the Messiah will enter jerusalem. According to Christian tradition, Jesus made made his last entry to Jerusalem through the Mercy Gate. The Muslims refer to it as the Gate of Mercy and ...

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Gates of the Old City - the Valley Gate (Sha'ar HaGai )

Sha'ar HaGai Nehemiah mentions that he began his trip to the city from Sha'ar HaGai. The name refers to a site on the way to Jerusalem. The Hebrew name Sha'ar HaGai is a translation of the Arabic Bab el Wad, the Valley Gate, which leads to Jerusalem (Photo by Duby Tal and Moni Haramati) [Archaeology] [Images of selected sites in Jerusalem from Fur...

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