Old City of Jerusalem - Tues., 4/8/08

After lunch we went into the Old City which is the part still within the city walls. The walls that stand there now were built by the Turks about 400 years ago. We joked about how that's recent history in this part of the world. Within the Old City are the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter and the Armenian Quarter. Needless to say, tensions can run pretty high within this walled area. We entered through the Zion Gate which is under renovation so I really don't have a good picture of it. It's all just scaffolding covered with black cloth. Again, as with the others, we had to turn as going through the gate. It is called the Zion Gate as it faces Mount Zion.

We began by walking through the Jewish Quarter. This area was destroyed by the Muslims prior to and during the Six Day War in 1967. Once the city was reunited after the war one of the first things the government wanted to do was rebuild this part of the city but before doing so they took advantage of the amazing opportunity to do many excavations. The old city has just been built layer upon layer for thousands of years so there is no way to know what historical treasures lay below the ground. We went down a level and were walking on the cardo from the time when the city was under the Romans. The cardo in any Roman built city was what we in America would call "Main Street."


The ground here is the actual Roman road that was built 2,000 years ago. One of the most fascinating discoveries from the excavations was the presense of a gravity run sewer system below the street. The sewer was blocked off by the Muslims around the 7th century and they allowed the sewage to flow down the middle of the street. A working sewer system that many years ago was an amazing accomplishment.

So excavations could continue and construction could begin, they added columns to the ones still standing and built a roof over this area to protect it. The new construction then began right above it. We followed the cardo lower beneath the city and it is a fun little shopping area now. It was amazing to see the modern shops built in the holes that were once ancient shops with the ancient arches serving as their entrance. At the time of the Romans this would have been open at the top. The Crusaders added the arched ceiling sometime around 1100-1200 AD.


Further down the cardo there is a plexi glass covered hole where you can even further beneath the city to a portion of Hezekiah's wall.


Outside this area they excavated all the way down to Hezekiah's wall and have left it open to see. Originally it would have stood 8 m. high and was about 20' wide. The black and white bar going up behind the wall is marking meters to show how high the original wall stood. It goes up a few feet higher than you can see in the picture. The Romans tore the wall down to just the foundation in order to build on top of it. The curve of the wall had nothing to do with the curve of the city but rather it followed the natural bedrock there. That way invading troops couldn't dig beneath the city.


In this picture you can also see the remains of a house they excavated right along the wall.