Where: Jerusalem, Israel
When: September 14, 2012
With: Dave, Dad and coworkers
I'm not 100% sure this constitutes West Jerusalem, but I read that the City of David is part of West Jerusalem, so I'm going with it.
In the middle of our day through Jerusalem, we got to explore the ancient City of David (thank you Dave for giving us the visual on this).
The tunnel was built by two different teams that started digging at two ends. They made some wrong turns, but eventually heard each other's chisels and found each other (although one team was digging on top of the other). But no worries, the point where they connected was commemorated on the stone called the Siloam Inscription. This is now a replica, but the original helped historians verify just how old this damn thing was.
On the other side of the tunnels, we saw some more excavations for the palace. Mosaics covered the floors and ancient floorplans can be made out.
An absolute must on a visit to Jerusalem. Not sure if the tunnels are always open, but they were absolutely amazing. A rare opportunity to walk in the same footsteps as people did thousands of years ago.
When: September 14, 2012
With: Dave, Dad and coworkers
I'm not 100% sure this constitutes West Jerusalem, but I read that the City of David is part of West Jerusalem, so I'm going with it.
In the middle of our day through Jerusalem, we got to explore the ancient City of David (thank you Dave for giving us the visual on this).
The City of David is supposedly the oldest settled neighborhood in Jerusalem. It is where King David built his palace and ruled his kingdom. Today, archaelogists at this site are still making new discoveries of what is buried beneath this rubble. The ancient city may extend as far as the adjoining mountainside, but as it's completely inhabited, there's no way to find out.
The highlight of our trip was our descent into the city's ancient tunnels, most notably Hezekiah's Tunnel. It was built in 701 BC and provided a source of water to the city's inhabitants while they were under siege. Now, not only can you see the tunnels, you can actually walk through the entire half-kilometer length of them, provided you're ok that it is still diverting spring water that will reach up to your waist at certain points.
You can't see anything in the tunnel - the only light comes from a flashlight or the occasional camera. (Wait, so you're telling me I HAVE to take photos to find my way? Well, ok, if I must).
At certain points, the wall are so narrow that even me in all my 5'4 glory had to squat to get through.
The uneven walls around us are the 3,000 year old remnants of the chisels that built this tunnel. That was a crazy thing to think about.
The tunnel was built by two different teams that started digging at two ends. They made some wrong turns, but eventually heard each other's chisels and found each other (although one team was digging on top of the other). But no worries, the point where they connected was commemorated on the stone called the Siloam Inscription. This is now a replica, but the original helped historians verify just how old this damn thing was.
Like Indiana Jones, we made it out.
On the other side of the tunnels, we saw some more excavations for the palace. Mosaics covered the floors and ancient floorplans can be made out.
An absolute must on a visit to Jerusalem. Not sure if the tunnels are always open, but they were absolutely amazing. A rare opportunity to walk in the same footsteps as people did thousands of years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment