Posted by: Joe Yudin | December 12, 2011

There is no other place in the world like Jerusalem. A tourist I was guiding once told me that while he was touring Jerusalem and Israel, his brother toured Rome and Italy. When they got together after their respective trips his brother was astounded by the two thousand years of history. “Two thousand years is that all?” questioned my tourist, “In Jerusalem that’s not even the halfway point!” I couldn’t have said it better myself. A walk through any neighborhood almost anywhere in Israel, will show you some incredible and diverse gems of history, archaeology and architecture. On this walk we are going to check out a few ancient royal tombs from various periods of history.

One of the most famous tombs is that of King David on Mt. Zion. Start just outside of Zion Gate of the Old City and make your way passed the lot to your left down the alley, keep left at the fork, to the right will be Dormition Abby, and into the signed structure to your right. The Bible clearly states, “And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David” (I Kings 2:10). Today we know today that the City of David is not far away to the east below us, but after the destruction of Jerusalem several times the site of King David’s tomb had become lost. The oldest ruins found here beneath the current floor only go back to the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2^nd Century CE. The building is quite interesting as it has over the last 2,000 years gone through various periods of building and destruction.  It was at one time or another, a church, a mosque and a synagogue. I once overheard a Hassidic rabbi here,  after being told that the City of David was to the south, explain that because the Jewish people have been praying here for hundreds of years, the bones of King David crawled through the earth on their own to rest here. Go figure.

Go back to Zion gate but don’t enter the Old City. Turn left and walk along the walls built by Suleiman the Magnificent, completed in 1542. As the local legend goes Suleiman’s father Selim “the Stern”, or “the Grim” as Europeans knew him, first Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, was upset that the people of Jerusalem were not paying their taxes, so he got his army together and rode to Jerusalem, camping out the night before on Mount Scopes ready to storm the city in retribution at sunrise. Well when the sun arose the next morning Selim didn’t, he had fallen ill and later died. Well the new Sultan, Suleiman wanted to finish what his father had started. He came to Mt. Scopes at night and went to sleep, dreaming that four lions devoured his father. At sunrise he summoned his chief advisor who interpreted the dream as being the Lion of Judah, which symbolizes Jerusalem, defending the city from attack and that Suleiman shouldn’t attack the city. In the early 1500’s Jerusalem was indeed in ruins and the back water town did not even enjoy walls to protect it, as it was home to a few thousand paupers, many who had fled the Spanish Inquisition. Instead of conquering Jerusalem, Suleiman decided to rebuild it. Notice the area of the wall that was blown away, without much success, by Haganah forces in 1948 trying, and failing, to enter the city through the three meter thick walls.

Walk down the stairs and come out at the southwestern corner of the city walls by an old crusader wall. Across the valley to the west is the “New City”. From here you can see the very first Jewish neighborhood outside the Old City walls, Mishkanot HaShannim, meaning “Peaceful Habitation” built in 1860. You can make out this beautiful neighborhood below the windmill which separates it from Yemin Moshe. The name was taken from the Book of Isaiah 32:18: "My people will abide in peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings and in quiet resting places." It certainly looks the part but don’t be fooled those first settlers who left the Jewish Quarter of the Old City had it rough. Above the windmill to the right is the King David Hotel. In front of you is a path that winds down mount Zion through a beautiful rosemary garden. Take it all the way down the hill. Cross the main street and make your way past the Sultan’s Pool on a small bridge. This may have been the “Serpent’s Pool” mentioned in the first century by Josephus Flavius, today it serves as an open air concert & fair grounds. Notice the Ottoman period fountain on the bridge. Continue up the path by Mishkanot Hashannanim an over to the windmill on your right. Check out the breathtaking view to the east of the Old City, Mount Zion and the hills of the Judean Desert. On a clear day you can see Mt. Nebo in Jordan.

Explore the neighborhood to your north called Yemin Moshe, named after Moses Montefiore, friend to Queen Victoria and world renown Jewish philanthropist. It was Montefiore who urged the Jews of the squalid Jewish Quarter in the Old City to move west into the new neighborhoods that he funded with his own money and money raised throughout the world. On the other side of Yemin Moshe is a park with some fantastic views, quaint & restored 19^th century houses with private gardens and a beautiful overlook of the Old City by a fountain. Stop by the fountain for a picture, then turn around 360 degrees and go up the steps on the top of the steps you’ll see the King David Hotel ahead of you on the right, take the path ahead of you bearing left into a pit that doesn’t look like much at first, but is actually, one of King Herod’s family tombs.

Pheroras, King Herod’s youngest brother, had plotted to kill Herod’s son’s with his Maccabean wife, Mariamme. For this Pheroras fell out of favor with Herod and left Judea. After Herod had these sons murdered for seemingly plotting against him, Herod reconciled with his younger brother and upon his death from an illness, Herod had Pheroras buried in Jerusalem, apparently here.  This is a perfect example of a first century B.C.E. Jewish tomb. Notice the rectangular base that probably once upheld a monumental pyramid shaped monument. The stones were probably taken away for second hand use as building materials. Look down carefully into the pit. Notive the giant stone rolled away from the entrance of the tomb. This of course reminds us of the description in the New Testament, Luke 24:2: “They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.” The grave was robbed by tomb raiders before archaeologists had a look and was later sealed as it had become a popular spot for youngsters to hang out at night. Inside these is room for several bodies to be laid. One niche may also have been the resting place of Herod’s father Antipater who died in 43 B.C.

Walk towards the King David Hotel but take the path to your left just before it to Elimelech Adomoni St. Take it to the end and turn right on King David St., passing the hotels on your right. Just before the Mamilla Mall cross King David St. and go left on Gershon Agron St and make a quick right on a path that will take you through a park. Continue straight about a 100 meters until you come to a domed structure.

You are now in the Mamilla Cemetery which was first used by Byzantine Christians, then Arabs, Crusaders, Mamlukes and again by Arabs throughout the Ottoman period. The 15^th century Jerusalem Arab historian, Mujir al-Din, once said that "Whoever invokes God's name while standing between the graves of Ibn Arslān and al-Quraishī [in Mamilla cemetery], God will grant all his wishes.” The tomb that you are standing in front of has crusader period elements in it which shows that it may have been reused and expanded upon or that the Mamlukes who built it reused crusader materials. The inscription over the door declares this tomb as being of Emir Aidughdi Kubaki who died in 1289. As with most Mamlukes, Kubaki was taken away by Mamluke conquerors as a slave and rose up through the ranks of the army, becoming governor of Tzfat & Aleppo before falling out of favor with the Sultan who imprisoned him.