We visited David’s Tower yesterday, unfortunately on the eve of a holiday so our stay was cut short a bit. Places close at 3pm here the day before a major holiday (or the weekly shabbat) because as we all know when God created it was “evening and it was morning.” Thus at sundown the new day begins here.
Anyway… I digress…
We did have about two hours for David’s tower which is a lot of time but not quite enough time to take everything in at a leisurely pace. The tower is a big place as it contains museums, archaeological digs, a botanical park, W.C.s and a cafe. The size of the place is an echo of the original structures that were here. Originally during the Maccabean period the city wall of Jerusalem extended to this point of the western hill (where modern Jaffa gate is today.) It’s probable Hezekiah’s Jerusalem extended this far as well but in this particular location there is no arch remains. Later during Herod the Great’s reign he created his enormous palatial structure here. Along with a three towered defensive structure that overlooked the city from the West. One of the foundations to these towers still stands to a height of 40-50 feet as the foundation to the current tall tower we climbed to get the view of the city.
At the first revolt against Rome most of this part of the city was saved any major damage because we find that the Roman legions used the tower area for their garrison in the ruined city. During the following centuries the Byzantine pilgrims saw the immensity of Herod’s palace adjacent to the tower area and declared this must be David’s palace with his attached tower. The name stuck to the structure at that location even though it was destroyed and rebuilt several times as the Crusaders and Muslim passed control of the city over the following centuries.
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The holiday later that evening was the eighth day of sukkot which was declared a holy day of no work. (Thus the tower closing early.) We went down to the Western Wall to watch the festivities of Simchat Torah – joy of Torah. It signifies the end of the annual cycle of reading Gen – Deut and is characterized by joyful dancing and celebration.
The excitement at the Western Wall was particularly festive as you could see Jews of all types (men only) gathering and dancing with each other holding their Torah scrolls up high. Orthodox Jews from Mea Shearim dancing with New York Jews visiting on holiday. The women, on the other hand, had the fun of watching over the barriers that separate them from the men’s area.
I couldn’t take any pictures of this as it would have been a BIG taboo.
By the way this is one of two days a year where public drunkenness is tolerated because it means you’re really celebrating. Any guesses what the other day is? (No cheating using the Internet!)
Pictures:
1.) the distinctive tower of David. You see it on a lot of Jerusalem publications.
2.) The NE tower with Herodian foundation stones. The Herodian stones are the big ones with embossing that go over 2/3 of the way up.
3.) Ballista stones used against the Hasmonean (Maccabeean period) walls/towers. Varying in size form bowling ball to 2x bowling ball size.
Well, I’d have to guess that it’s not Yom Kippur…maybe Purim? “Hadassah was brave; let’s tie one on.” It has a nice ring to it.
I was also thinking about the irony of a site surviving Roman occupation because it was the first place they got to, so they didn’t have to oust anyone (and destroy everything in sight in the process.) On that point: has your time there influenced your thinking about the Romans at all? More towards Rob Bell or more towards me?
Also, those ballista stones look carved. It’s amazing to me that they’d just sit there in a pile like that all this time. Were they collected, or was Israel fixin’ to defend their land with ballistae recently?
Joel, you know way too much! You must be reading ALL THE TIME!! And are you sure the plural of ballista is “ballistae”??? Maybe it is “ballistas”!
I say the enjoyment of the fruit of the vine in excess would be after Passover….that’s the time to celebrate FREEDOM! (That’s my big guess…I didn’t know where to look on the Internet!)
MOM V
hmmm… interesting.. Glad you guys finally got there
Well, honestly, I pick up half this stuff from hanging around with your son. Seriously, the most amazing stuff comes out of his mouth when I stop talking long enough to hear it.
D’oh–and I bet you’re right; I bet it’s Passover. “Four cups of joy” and all that…
I have no idea. But have a fun week of travel 🙂
We are all enjoying reading your exploits – thanks for taking the time to write. How is Bryan doing with his day-job? And, your tests sound rather intimidating, Erika. We will keep you in our prayers.
Dad N (I added that because I don’t think this will identify me otherwise)
Ahhhh…Wikipedia:
On Purim day, typically toward evening, a festive meal called Seudat Purim is held, with wine as the prominent beverage; consequently, drunkenness is not uncommon at this meal. The jovial character of this feast is illustrated in the saying of the Talmud (Megilla 7b) stating that one should drink on Purim until he can no longer distinguish between the phrases, arur Haman (“Cursed is Haman”) and baruch Mordechai (“Blessed is Mordechai”).
Nice call by Joel…and yeah I cheated 🙂