David's Tomb
David's Tomb (Hebrew: קבר דוד המלך Kever David Ha-Melekh; Arabic: مقام النبي داود Maqam Al-Nabi Daoud) is a site that, according to an early-medieval (9th-century) tradition, is associated with the burial of the biblical King David.[1][2] Historians, archaeologists and Jewish religious authorities do not consider the site to be the actual resting place of King David.[1][2] It occupies the ground floor of a former church, whose upper floor holds the Cenacle or "Upper Room" traditionally identified as the place of Jesus' Last Supper and the original meeting place of the early Christian community of Jerusalem.[3]
Alternative name
Makam Nabi Daoud; Cenacle
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The compound is located on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, near the Christian Abbey of the Dormition. The compound is thought to be situated in what once was a ground floor corner of the Hagia Zion.[4][5] The building is now administered by the Diaspora Yeshiva, a Jewish seminary group.
Due to Israeli Jews being unable to reach holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City during the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank (1948–1967), the compound including the Medieval cenotaph of David was promoted as a place of worship, and the roof of the building, above the Cenacle, was sought for its views of the Temple Mount, and thus became a symbol of prayer and yearning.[6][7]
The building’s foundation is the remnant of Hagia Zion.[4][5] The current building was originally built as a church and later repurposed as a mosque, becoming one of the most important Islamic shrines in Jerusalem.[8] It was split into two immediately following the end of the 1948 Israeli Independence war; the ground floor with the cenotaph was converted into a synagogue, and the Muslim cover on the cenotaph was replaced with an Israeli flag and then a parochet.[9] From then onwards, the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs began the process of turning the site into Israel's primary religious site.[10] Jewish prayer was established at the site, and Jewish religious symbols were added.[11] From 1948 until the Six-Day War in 1967 when Israel reclaimed the Western Wall, it was considered the holiest Jewish site in Israel.[12]
Recent years have seen rising tensions between Jewish activists and Christian worshippers at the site.[1][13][14]
History[edit]
Early history[edit]
The cenotaph is located in a corner of a room situated on the ground floor remains of the former Hagia Zion, considered as an early church or late era synagogue;[15] the upper floor of the same building has traditionally been viewed by Christians as the "Cenacle" or "Upper Room", the site of the Last Supper.
The actual site of David's burial is unknown, though the Hebrew Bible states that David was buried in the City of David area in Jerusalem. In the 4th century CE, he and his father Jesse were believed to be buried in Bethlehem. The idea that David was entombed on what was later called Mt Zion dates to the 9th century CE.[2]
Zion, the place conquered by David according to the Books of Samuel, was wrongly ascribed by medieval pilgrims to this site, and from then on David was presumed to be buried there.[2]
Crusader and Franciscan control[edit]
Writing around 1173, the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela recounted a colourful story that two Jewish workers employed to dig a tunnel came across David's original splendid palace, replete with gold crown and scepter and decided that the site must be his tomb.[2]
The Gothic cenotaph preserved to this day is the work of the Crusaders.[2]
In 1332 the Franciscans, the officials representatives of the Roman Catholic church in the Holy Places after the final Muslim expulsion of the Crusaders, moved their headquarters to the Cenacle, having acquired it in 1332 from Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad for 30,000 ducats.[16]
Exploration[edit]
In the mid-nineteenth century, engineer and amateur archaeologist Ermete Pierotti reported discovering a cavern beneath the grounds of the Byzantine and Crusader churches on Mount Zion which he suspected extended to beneath the Tomb of David.[55] A limited exploration revealed human remains within a huge vault supported by piers. The cavern has yet to be confirmed or scientifically excavated.
In 1951, archaeologist Jacob Pinkerfeld worked in the lower parts of the structure and interpreted them as being the remains of a synagogue which, in his opinion, had later been used as a church by Judeo-Christians.[15]