JERUSALEM - BEFORE DAVID

David's Mountain Fortress     Click for information

Picture an outcrop of rock dropping away steeply on three sides. Sitting on top is the citadel, perched like a hawk above a walled keep and a lookout tower. This was ancient Jerusalem.

Massive gates on its northern side blocked the path of an enemy.

With its fortified position and a permanent water supply, it was virtually impregnable.

To its north was a great flat slab of rock.

This was the threshing floor, where people from surrounding villages brought their grain at harvest time. They beat it and thumped it until each grain separated from the husk.

When the threshing was finished, the people held a riotous harvest festival to give thanks to Nature for feeding them.

It was a place of hard work - peasants mostly, living their lives as best they could.

The Threshing Floor Click for information

There have been people living in this place for many centuries - perhaps as early as 3,500 BC. These ancient men and women used

• the fortress for protection
• the surrounding land for growing crops
• and the great rock slab for threshing.

DAVID'S JERUSALEM

In about 1,000 BC, things changed.

Archaeology and King David        Click for information

The fortress caught the attention of a young upstart king called David. He had grand plans, and his capital Hebron did not fit with them.

Hebron was too far south, and weighed down with history and tradition.

David turned his eyes towards Jerusalem.

It was better placed, more central, on the border between Judah and the northern tribes.

Despite the fact that he himself had captured it, King David knew the city's position atop steep cliffs made it difficult to take by force. Archaeological excavations at the Stepped Stone Structure show just how dangerous it would have been to scramble up those cliffs.

The great slab of rock north of the fortress was another point in its favor. The patriarch Abraham had built an altar to sacrifice his son Isaac there, so it was a holy place.

Ark of the Covenant           Click for information

David decided to move his court there, making it his capital. With him went the Ark of the Covenant. He installed it outside the city limits for three months, then moved it inside.

By doing this, he joined Israel's religious center to himself and the monarchy. This gave him valuable leverage with the Israelite tribes. It also turned the city of Jerusalem into a symbol of unity.

At this stage, Jerusalem was divided into three areas:

• the fortress/palace, relatively modest in David's day
• the sacred area
• houses for officials, courtiers and staff.

It was still a simple city - in fact, the word 'city' could hardly be applied to it.  But it had potential.

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Years passed, and King David died.

Things changed when David's son Solomon took over.....

See SOLOMON'S JERUSALEM to discover these changes.

Reconstruction of the Ark of the Covenant                            Click for more information

Photos of Jerusalem at GALLERY PAGE