tower of David

{{Short description|Ancient citadel in the Old City of Jerusalem}}

The Tower of David ({{langx|he|מגדל דוד|Migdál Davíd}}), also known as the Citadel ({{langx|ar|القلعة|al-Qalʿa}}), is an ancient citadel and contemporary museum, located near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem.

The citadel that stands today dates to the Mamluk and Ottoman periods. It was built on the site of a series of earlier ancient fortifications of the Hasmonean, Herodian, Byzantine and Early Muslim periods, after being destroyed repeatedly during the last decades of Crusader presence in the Holy Land by their Muslim enemies.{{cite book |first= Jerome |last= Murphy-O'Connor |title= The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 |publisher= Oxford University Press |series= Oxford Archaeological Guides |year= 2008 |pages= 23–24 |edition= 5 |location= New York |isbn= 978-0-19-923666-4 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=m3Yy9FDcT8gC&pg=PA23 |access-date=14 June 2020}} It contains artifacts from the Iron Age including a quarry dated to the Second Temple period and pottery, fishbones, and other archaeological finds dating from the First Temple Period,{{Cite book |last=Ariel |first=Donald T. |url=https://www.academia.edu/5564855/Ariel_D_T_and_De_Groot_A_eds_Excavations_in_the_City_of_David_Directed_by_Yigal_Shiloh_3_Stratigraphical_Environmental_and_Other_Reports_Qedem_33_Jerusalem_1992 |title=Ariel D.T. and De Groot A. eds. Excavations in the City of David Directed by Yigal Shiloh, 3. Stratigraphical, Environmental, and Other Reports (Qedem 33). Jerusalem 1992.}} and is a venue for benefit events, craft shows, concerts, and sound-and-light performances.

Dan Bahat, an Israeli archaeologist, writes that the original three Hasmonean towers standing in this area of the city were altered by Herod, and that "the northeastern tower was replaced by a much larger, more massive tower, dubbed the 'Tower of David' beginning in the 5th century CE" Originally referring to the Herodian tower in the northeast of the citadel, in the 19th century the name Tower of David began to refer to the 17th-century minaret at the opposite side of the citadel, and since 1967 officially refers to the entire citadel.{{cite journal |last=Hawari |first=Mahmoud |author-link=Mahmoud Hawari |year=2010 |title=The Citadel of Jerusalem: A Case Study in the Cultural Appropriation of Archaeology in Palestine |journal=Present Pasts |location=London, England |publisher=University College London (UCL), Institute of Archaeology, Heritage Studies Section |volume=2 |pages=89–95 [94] |doi=10.5334/pp.25 |doi-access=free |number=1}}

Names

{{multiple image

| align = right

| image1 = Al Kala (the Citadel) and David's Tower on the 1865 Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem Old City full map (cropped).jpg

| caption1 = 1865 Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem

| width1 = 200

| image2 = El Qala and Davids Tower in the 1936 Old City of Jerusalem map by Survey of Palestine map.jpg

| caption2 = 1936 Survey of Palestine

| width2 = 165

| footer = The citadel with the label "David's Tower" appearing in artifacts from 1865 and 1936. The label "Tower of David" is now commonly used to refer to the Ottoman minaret on the south west side of the citadel (shown as a small red circle on the 1936 map).

}}

=Tower of David: Herodian tower=

The name Tower of David was first used for the Herodian tower in the 5th century{{Nbsp}}CE by the Byzantine Christians, who believed the site to be the palace of King David. They borrowed the name Tower of David from the Song of Songs, attributed to Solomon, King David's son, who wrote: "Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men" (Song of Songs, 4:4).{{Cite web |title=Song of Songs 4:4 |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Song%20of%20Songs%204:4&version=KJV |access-date=2024-12-07 |website=BibleGateway |language=en}}

=Arabic names=

An Arabic name of the massive Herodian-Mamluk northeast tower is the {{transliteration|ar|Burj al-Qalʾa}} ({{langx|ar|برج القلعة||lit=Citadel Tower|label=none}}).{{Cite web|last=إسرائيل|first=طاقم تايمز أوف|title=مبادرة لتكنولوجيا الواقع الإفتراضي في مختبر الإبتكار الجديد في متحف برج قلعة القدس|url=http://ar.timesofisrael.com/%d9%85%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d9%84%d8%aa%d9%83%d9%86%d9%88%d9%84%d9%88%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%82%d8%b9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%81%d8%aa%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%b6%d9%8a-%d9%81/|access-date=2020-10-17|website=تايمز أوف إسرائيل|language=ar}}

During the Early Muslim and Ayyubid periods it was known in Arabic as {{transliteration|ar|Miḥrāb Dāwūd}}, {{literally|David's {{transliteration|ar|miḥrāb}} (prayer place)}}. Note that there is also another mihrab called {{transliteration|ar|Miḥrāb Dāwūd|italic=no}}, built into the inner side of the Southern Wall of the Haram esh-Sharif/Temple Mount.{{cite book |last1=Elad |first1=Amikam |title=Medieval Jerusalem and Islamic Worship: Holy Places, Ceremonies, Pilgrimage |date=1995 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-10010-7 |page=137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CDz_yctbQVgC&pg=PA137 |quote= al-Suyūṭī […] regarding the location of Miḥrāb Dāwūd in his time [1470s]. 1. The Great Miḥrāb in the wall adjacent to the minbar inside al-ʾAqṣā Mosque; 2. The Great Miḥrāb in the southern wall of the Ḥaram; 3. In the citadel (al-Qalʾa) of Jerusalem. […] Mujīr states that the Miḥrāb in the southern wall of the Ḥaram, near the “Cradle of Jesus”, is widely accepted as Miḥrāb Dāwūd.}}

History

File:Jerusalem 07-2012 (7550258486).jpg

File:Jerusalem Modell BW 10.JPG with the three towers (Phasael, Hippicus, Mariamne from left to right)]]

=Hasmonean period=

During the 2nd century BCE, the Old City of Jerusalem expanded further onto the so-called Western Hill. This {{Convert|773|m|adj=on}} high prominence, which comprises the modern Armenian and Jewish Quarters as well as Mount Zion, was bounded by steep valleys on all sides except for the north. The first settlement in this area was about 150 BCE, around the time of the Hasmonean kings,{{cite book|first=Dan|last=Bahat|editor1-last=Arav|editor1-first=Rami|title=Cities Through the Looking Glass: Esays on the History and Archaeology of Biblical Urbanism|date=2007|publisher=Eisenbraunds|isbn=978-1575061429|pages=122–124|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5VTXsijtLLAC&pg=PA122|chapter=Jerusalem Between the Hasmoneans and Herod the Great}} when what Josephus Flavius called "the First Wall" was constructed.

={{anchor|Herod's towers}}Herod's towers=

File:The Tower of Phasael, in David's Tower.jpg

Herod, who wrested power from the Hasmonean dynasty, added three massive towers to the fortifications in 37–34 BCE. He built these at the vulnerable northwest corner of the Western Hill, where the citadel is now located. His purpose was not only to defend the city, but to safeguard his own royal palace located nearby on Mount Zion.{{dubious|date=June 2020|reason=He built the 3 towers BEFORE he built the palace. Explain.}} Herod named the tallest of the towers, {{convert|44|m|ft}} in height, Phasael, in memory of his brother who had committed suicide while in captivity. Another tower was called Mariamne, named for his second wife whom he had executed and buried in a cave to the west of the tower. He named the third tower Hippicus after one of his friends. Of the three towers, only the base of one of them survives today—either the Phasael or, as argued by archaeologist Hillel Geva who excavated the citadel, the Hippicus Tower.{{cite journal |first= Hillel |last= Geva |title= The 'Tower of David' – Phasael or Hippicus? |journal= Israel Exploration Journal |date= 1981 |volume= 31 |issue= 1/2 |publisher= Israel Exploration Society |pages= 57–65 |jstor= 27925783 }} Archaeologist H. Geva proposes that the "Tower of David", be identified with Josephus's Hippicus tower. Hillel Geva (Ph.D.) has excavated the Citadel, is Director of the Israel Exploration Society and currently edits and publishes the reports for the Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem. The identification with the Hippicus tower was already proposed by 19th-century biblical scholar Robinson and by James Turner Barclay, a view opposed by other 19th-early 20th century scholars, such as J. Fergusson, Thomas Lewin, Conrad Schick, G.A. Smith, C. Warren and C.R. Conder, who held that the "Tower of David" should be identified with the tower of Phasael, based on its size. Of the original tower itself (now called the Tower of David{{dubious|date=June 2022|reason=This was the case in Byzantine and following periods, but since the 19th c. the name has migrated to the minaret. So what's this claim meant to say here?}}), some 16 courses of the Herodian stone ashlars still rise from ground level (partially hidden by a much later built glacis), upon which were added smaller stones in a later period, that added back significantly to the height of the remaining stump of the Herodian tower.

During the Jewish war with Rome, Simon bar Giora made the tower his place of residence.Josephus, The Jewish War (V.IV.3; VII.II.1) Following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE, the three towers were preserved as a testimony of the might of the fortifications overcome by the Roman legions, and the site served as barracks for the Roman troops.

When the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its favoured religion in the 4th century, a community of monks established itself in the citadel. It was during the Byzantine period that the remaining Herodian tower, and by extension the citadel as a whole,{{dubious|date=June 2020|reason=What citadel? Not a word about if & when such a thing was built. Till here-just towers!}} acquired its alternative name—the Tower of David—after the Byzantines, mistakenly identifying the hill as Mount Zion, presumed it to be David's palace mentioned in 2 Samuel.{{Cite web |title=Bible Gateway passage: 2 Samuel 5:11, 2 Samuel 11, 2 Samuel 16:22 - New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+5:11,+11:1%E2%80%9327,+16:22&version=NRSVUE |access-date=2024-12-07 |website=Bible Gateway |language=en}}

=Early Muslims, Crusaders, Ayyubids=

File:National Library of Israel, Wahrman Collection, Palestine in 1911 865136 m2682084 002r.jpg

After the Siege of Jerusalem (636–637), the new Muslim rulers refurbished the citadel.{{dubious|date=February 2021|reason=The counter-theory is that there was no citadel, just the remains of the Herodian tower.}} This powerful structure withstood the assault of the First Crusade in 1099, and surrendered only when its defenders were guaranteed safe passage out of the city.{{citation needed|date=January 2012}}

During the Crusader period, thousands of pilgrims undertook the pilgrimage to Jerusalem by way of the port at Jaffa. To protect pilgrims from the menace of highway robbers, the Crusaders built a tower surrounded by a moat atop the citadel,{{dubious|date=February 2021|reason=Atop? Makes zero sense. A perfect citadel they couldn't conquer-they demolish and build over it? And if the "Muslim citadel" consisted only of the ancient tower, they built around it, not on top of it.}} and posted lookouts to guard the road to Jaffa.{{dubious|date=October 2015|reason=After tens of km of exposed road, a single tower protects the pilgrims?}} The citadel also protected the newly erected palace of the Crusader kings of Jerusalem, located immediately south of the citadel.{{cite book |first= Martin |last= Gilbert |work= Jerusalem: Illustrated Historical Atlas |year= 1987 |location= Oxford |title= Crusader Jerusalem (Map 11) |url= http://www.appuntisugerusalemme.it/Dati/Jerusalem_Historical_Atlas_1987_Martin_Gilbert.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150814163758/http://www.appuntisugerusalemme.it/Dati/Jerusalem_Historical_Atlas_1987_Martin_Gilbert.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 14 August 2015 |access-date=20 October 2015 }}

In 1187, Sultan Saladin captured the city including the citadel. In 1239, the Ayyubid emir of Karak, An-Nasir Dawud, attacked the Crusader garrison and destroyed the citadel. In their 1244 siege of the city, the Khwarazmians defeated and banished the Crusaders from Jerusalem for a last time, destroying the entire city in the process. The Mamluk Sultanate destroyed the citadel in 1260.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}{{dubious|date=June 2020|reason=How many times over was it destroyed between 1187-1239-1244-1260 without anyone ever rebuilding it in between? And why did they? Explanation needed.}}

=Mamluk and Ottoman citadel=

Image:Tower of David P8040024.JPG and minbar]]

In 1310 the citadel was rebuilt by Mamluk sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun, who gave it much of its present shape.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080132/http://www.enjoyjerusalem.com/explore/paths-and-trails/stops/citadel The Citadel: Position]}}, EnjoyJerusalem.com (EU-supported Palestinian website)

The citadel was expanded between 1537 and 1541 by the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, whose architects designed a large entrance, behind which stood a cannon emplacement.{{dubious|date=October 2015|reason=Referring to western or eastern entrance? W: not that large, but artillery plaza. E: barbican, bridge etc., but built when, and where would the cannon empl. be?}} For 400 years, the citadel served as a garrison for Turkish troops. The Ottomans also installed a mosque near the southwest corner of the citadel commonly known as the {{Transliteration|ar|Mihrab el-Qal'a ed-Dawood|italics=no}} ('Prayer niche of David's fortress'),{{cite web |title= al-Qal'a Mosque (Masjid Mehrab e Dawud) |url= https://madainproject.com/al_qala_mosque_(jerusalem) |website= Madain Project |access-date=14 June 2020}} erecting a minaret during the years 1635–1655. In the 19th century the conspicuous minaret, which still stands today, became commonly referred to as the Tower of David. At least two mosques are known to exist within the citadel.{{cite web |title= Tower of David Mosques |url= https://madainproject.com/tower_of_david_mosques |website= Madain Project |access-date=5 December 2019}}

During World War I, British forces under General Edmund Allenby successfully captured Jerusalem. Allenby formally proclaimed the event standing on a platform at the outer eastern gate of the citadel.

=British and Jordanian periods=

File:מגדל - דוד , ירושלים-JNF001108.jpeg

During the period of British rule (1917–1948), the High Commissioner for Palestine established the Pro-Jerusalem Society to protect the city's cultural heritage. This organisation cleaned and renovated the citadel and reopened it to the public as a venue for concerts, benefit events and exhibitions by local artists. In the 1930s, a museum of Palestinian folklore was opened in the citadel, displaying traditional crafts and clothing.[http://www.towerofdavid.org.il/eng/upload/.castle/history.html Tower of David: History of a Citadel], at the homepage (2007) of the Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070905105941/http://www.towerofdavid.org.il/eng/upload/.castle/history.html |date=2007-09-05 }}

Following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Arab Legion captured Jerusalem and converted the citadel back to its historical role as a military position, as it commanded a dominant view across the armistice line into Jewish Jerusalem. It would keep this role until 1967.

Tower of David Museum

Image:Chihuly P8040009.JPG chandelier hangs in the entrance hall of the Tower of David Museum]]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, the citadel's cultural role was revived.{{clarify|reason=What did change in the first 22 years?|date=September 2020}}

The Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem was opened in 1989 by the Jerusalem Foundation. Located in a series of chambers in the original citadel, the museum includes a courtyard which contains archeological remains dating back 2,700 years.

The exhibits depict 4,000 years of Jerusalem's history, from its beginnings as a Canaanite city to modern times. Using maps, videos, holograms, drawings and models, the exhibit rooms each depict Jerusalem under its various rulers. Visitors may also ascend to the ramparts, which command a 360-degree view of the Old City and New City of Jerusalem.

As of 2002, the Jerusalem Foundation reported that over 3.5 million visitors had toured the museum.

Archaeology

Image:Tower of david jerusalem.jpg

In 2010, a survey of the site was conducted by Yehudah Rapuano on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).Israel Antiquities Authority, [https://www.antiquities.org.il/m_digs_eng.aspx?shana=2010 Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2010], Survey Permit # A-5826

References

External links

[https://3disrael.com/jerusalem/david_tower.cfm 360 degrees HD virtual tour of the Tower of David Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117050547/http://www.3disrael.com/jerusalem/david_tower.cfm |date=2008-01-17 }}
[https://www.tod.org.il/en/museum/about-the-museum/ Tower of David Museum]
[http://igoogledisrael.com/2011/06/the-majestic-tower-of-david-jerusalem/ A tourist's guide to the Tower of David Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509060911/http://igoogledisrael.com/2011/06/the-majestic-tower-of-david-jerusalem/ |date=2013-05-09 }}