Tower of David (northeast tower)

Tower of David is a historical name given to the northeast tower of the Citadel of Jerusalem.^[1] It has been identified as a Herodian structure, either the Phasael Tower or the Hippicus Tower described by the ancient Jewish historian Josephus.^[1]^[2]

1865 Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem

1936 Survey of Palestine

The citadel, with David's Tower labelled in the 1865 and 1936. The label "Tower of David" is now commonly used to refer to the Ottoman minaret on the south west side of the citadel (shown as a small red circle on the 1936 map)

History

Herodian towers

The towers named Phasael, Hippicus and Mariamne were situated in the northwest corner of the so-called First Wall, the Hasmonean and Herodian city wall protecting the Western Hill of Jerusalem. They were situated close to where the Jaffa Gate is today and were built by Herod the Great at the same time he built his immediately adjacent royal palace. These towers protected the main entrance to the city, as well as the palace, constituting a potential last refuge for the king. All three towers have vanished except for the base of the Hippicus (or Phasael) Tower, upon which the present "Tower of David" rests.

The towers were named by Herod after his brother Phasael, his friend, general Hippicus, who had fallen in battle, and his favourite wife, Mariamne.

When the city was razed in AD 70, all three towers were left standing, in order to show off the strength of the fortifications the Roman army had to overcome.^[3]

...Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and temple, but should leave as many of the towers standing as were of the greatest eminence; that is, Phasael, and Hippicus, and Mariamme, and so much of the wall as enclosed the city on the west side. This wall was spared, in order to afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison; as were the towers also spared, in order to demonstrate to posterity what kind of city it was, and how well fortified, which the Roman valour had subdued.^[4]

With time though, only one of Herod's towers survived - either the Phasael Tower, or, according to some, including archaeologist Hillel Geva who excavated the Citadel, the Hippicus Tower.^[1]^[5]

Byzantine name, "Tower of David"

During the Byzantine period, the remaining tower, and by extension the Citadel as a whole, acquired its alternative name - the Tower of David - after the Byzantines, mistakenly identifying the hill as Mount Zion, presumed it to be David's palace mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:11, 11:1-27, 16:22.

Early Muslim "Mihrab Dawud" tradition

In medieval times, Muslim Arabs called the gate next to the tower Bab Mihrab Dawud, or "Gate of David's Chamber or Sanctuary", on the belief that the room atop the Herodian tower stump represented the "private chamber" or "prayer room" of Prophet Dawud (King David), which is specifically mentioned in the Quran (Surah 38. Sad, Ayah 21^[6]).^[7]

Citadel extension

The Citadel was gradually built up under Muslim and Crusader rule and acquired the basis of its present shape in 1310, under the Mamluk sultan Malik al-Nasir. Suleiman the Magnificent later constructed the monumental gateway in the east that you enter through today. The minaret, a prominent Jerusalem landmark, was added between 1635 and 1655, and took over the title of "Tower of David" in the nineteenth century, so that the name can now refer to either the whole Citadel or the minaret alone.

Description

Of the original tower itself, some sixteen courses of the original stone ashlars can still be seen rising from ground level, upon which further courses of smaller stones were added in a later period, which significantly increased its height.

On the way up, a terrace overlooking the Citadel excavations has plaques identifying the different periods of all the remains. These include part of the Hasmonean city wall, a Roman cistern, and the ramparts of the Umayyad citadel, which held out for five weeks before falling to the Crusaders in 1099.

From the top of the tower, there are good views over the excavations inside the Citadel and out to the Old City, as well as into the distance south and west.

Gallery

Southern outer wall
The tower from northeast
The tower and medieval glacis from northeast
The tower and the moat separating it from the city
The Citadel, inner view with the ancient tower on the left (small section, with flags)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Hillel Geva (1981). "The 'Tower of David'—Phasael or Hippicus?". Israel Exploration Journal. 31 (1/2). Israel Exploration Society: 57–65. JSTOR 27925783.
^ Denys Pringle (2009). "Jerusalem (No. 115): Citadel, or David's Tower". Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological Gazetteer. Cambridge University Press. p. 55. ISBN 9780521102636. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
^ Josephus, The Jewish War, 7.1.1.
^ Josephus, The Jewish War 7.1.1
^ Archaeologist H. Geva proposes that the "Tower of David" be identified with Josephus's Hippicus tower. Hillel Geva (Ph.D.) has excavated the Citadel, is Director of the Israel Exploration Society and currently edits and publishes the reports for the Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem. The identification with the Hippicus tower was already proposed by 19th-century biblical scholar E.R. Robinson and by James Turner Barclay, a view opposed by other 19th-early 20th century scholars, such as J. Fergusson, Thomas Lewin, Conrad Schick, G.A. Smith, C. Warren and C.R. Conder, who held that the "Tower of David" should be identified with the Phasael Tower, based on its size.
^ "Quran, compared translations: Surah 38. Sad, Ayah 21". Alim.org. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
^ Ellenblum, Ronnie (2016). "Frankish Castles, Muslim Castles, and the Medieval Citadel of Jerusalem". In Laudem Hierosolymitani: Studies in Crusades and Medieval Culture in Honour of Benjamin Z. Kedar. Routledge. ISBN 9781351928243. Retrieved 18 December 2017. The testimonies of the tenth-century Muslim geographers identify the Tower itself with the prayer place of King David (Mihrab Dawud), that was mentioned in the Qur'an...(9) ... At the top is a construction which resembles a room and that is the mihrab." Note 9: Qur'an, xxxviii. 21: "...they ascended over the wall into the upper chamber (mihrab), when they went in unto David...

31°46′33.9″N 35°13′40.93″E / 31.776083°N 35.2280361°E / 31.776083; 35.2280361

[Geva-1] Hillel Geva (1981). "The 'Tower of David'—Phasael or Hippicus?". Israel Exploration Journal. 31 (1/2). Israel Exploration Society: 57–65. JSTOR 27925783.

[Pringle-2] Denys Pringle (2009). "Jerusalem (No. 115): Citadel, or David's Tower". Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological Gazetteer. Cambridge University Press. p. 55. ISBN 9780521102636. Retrieved 27 September 2015.

[3] Josephus, The Jewish War, 7.1.1.

[4] Josephus, The Jewish War 7.1.1

[5] Archaeologist H. Geva proposes that the "Tower of David" be identified with Josephus's Hippicus tower. Hillel Geva (Ph.D.) has excavated the Citadel, is Director of the Israel Exploration Society and currently edits and publishes the reports for the Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem. The identification with the Hippicus tower was already proposed by 19th-century biblical scholar E.R. Robinson and by James Turner Barclay, a view opposed by other 19th-early 20th century scholars, such as J. Fergusson, Thomas Lewin, Conrad Schick, G.A. Smith, C. Warren and C.R. Conder, who held that the "Tower of David" should be identified with the Phasael Tower, based on its size.

[6] "Quran, compared translations: Surah 38. Sad, Ayah 21". Alim.org. Retrieved 2024-06-13.

[Lauda-7] Ellenblum, Ronnie (2016). "Frankish Castles, Muslim Castles, and the Medieval Citadel of Jerusalem". In Laudem Hierosolymitani: Studies in Crusades and Medieval Culture in Honour of Benjamin Z. Kedar. Routledge. ISBN 9781351928243. Retrieved 18 December 2017. The testimonies of the tenth-century Muslim geographers identify the Tower itself with the prayer place of King David (Mihrab Dawud), that was mentioned in the Qur'an...(9) ... At the top is a construction which resembles a room and that is the mihrab." Note 9: Qur'an, xxxviii. 21: "...they ascended over the wall into the upper chamber (mihrab), when they went in unto David...

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