In 2011 a rare golden bell, in the shape of a pomegranate was discovered in a drainage channel near the Temple Mount along the route to the Siloam Pool (Shiloah) at the southern end of the City of David. The Second Temple artefact was thought to be one of 72 similar bells adorning the hem of the High Priests garment. The route along the drainage channel is one the High Priest would have frequently used.
The discovery was widely publicised prompting many to question whether this was one of the actual bells and it exposed an age-old debate among Torah scholars. The adornment of the High Priests garment is discussed in unusual detail in the section known as Tetzaveh, Exodus 28:33-34:
a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe.
Two major commentators Rashi and Ramban had differing views about the interpretation of these words. Rabbi Jacob ben Asher (c. 1269 - c. 1343), known as Ba’al haTurim commented on these:
Tur HaArokh, Exodus 28:34:1
פעמון זהב ורמון, “a golden bell and a pomegranate.” According to Rashi the Torah speaks of two distinctly separate kinds of ornaments, one looked like a bell, the other like a pomegranate. Ramban writes We must assume that the bells were surrounded on the outside by these “pomegranates,” the “pomegranates” being hollow, they were made to look like unripe small “pomegranates” that had not “opened” yet, and the bells were hidden within their cavities, but could be seen partially from the outside.
Perhaps the Ba'al haTurim was also saying that the golden bells were concealed by the woven yarns, as a shell around the golden bell depicted below:
Indeed we find further support for this archaeological wonder, that explains the meaning of these detailed instructions in Torah. 'זָהָ֛ב בְּתוֹכָ֖ם' - 'zahav betocham' - 'gold within' and from an earlier passage 'וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם' - 'v'shachanti betocham' provides more meaning; make Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell within them (Exodus 25:8). Here 'within' provides the key clue as to the golden pommegranate shaped bell.
A commentary from Zohar (2:95a), on the preceding sections of Exodus known as Mishpatim discusses a donkey driver whose knowledge of Torah was not sought referring; "that donkey driver, is he here? For sometimes in those empty ones, you may discover bells of gold" The commentary associates the sound of the hidden bell with the concealed presence of God in the world.
As Isaac Mozeson of Edenics so eloquently states: "We have to elevate a P'aMoaN beyond rings and bells to the פעמו of Judges 13:25 - the divine spirit of Redemption moving in the camp of Dan".
But, the proof text that this is in fact a bell from the garment of the High Priest may lie in a word relationship to Exodus 25:12 that discusses the four gold rings (אַרְבַּ֣ע פַּעֲמֹתָ֑יו). These rings were cast onto the four corners of the ark through which the poles, that suspended it for transport were secured. The word פַּעֲמֹתָ֑יו in (25:12) relates to (28:34) פַּֽעֲמֹ֥ן, the golden pomegranate bell by at least the first three letters and vowels, which invokes a question about exactly what the word references.
If we infer the logic of (25:12) to (28:34) Torah is explaining that Moses cast a gold ring on each gold pomegranate shaped bell, through which it was attached to the High Priest garment. Indeed this is the very design of the gold pomegranate shaped bell that Eli Shukron discovered, albeit without its long disintegrated, outer woven cover.
In 1917 Ottoman reign over their Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem was brought to an end by British forces. It was replaced by Mandatory Palestine, origin of the interim name before it became the modern State of Israel in 1948. The name “Palestine” was later resurrected by the Palestinian Liberation Organization after its establishment in 1964. Until 1917 very few people lived in Jerusalem, almost none lived at original Jerusalem (red dots in image). The regional population by the end of the 19th century was around 500,000, less than 10% were Jews. Some Ottoman Jews acted as agents on behalf of local Jewish alien residents intent on buying and owning land in Biblical Israel. The surviving Ottoman land registry documents landholdings in the names of these Ottoman Jewish agents.
Red dots outline City of David, original 3000 year old Jerusalem
One of 3 homes on the lower slopes of Mount Moriah, original Jerusalem belonged to Rahamim Nathan Meyuhas, a Jewish butcher whose family had found its way to Jerusalem from Spain in 1510. In preceding centuries the lower slope of Mount Moriah, original Jerusalem had become the broken pottery and waste dump of the Ottoman walled city to its north. By the time the Meyuhas family arrived the empty, flattened slope lay quiet and barren, but fertile.
The previous 1000 years, before the City of David (Red dots)
From archaeological discoveries: Around 4000 years ago people lived in the Kidron valley because it was level, thus convenient to carry water from the Gihon Spring. Forty vertical meters higher the top of lower Mount Moriah was unpopulated, only ancient tombs were found along the upper eastern edge. Toward the end of the Bronze Age (3300 years ago) a fortress was built over the cave that was once used to enter the bedrock and access water at the Gihon Spring source. The fortress appears to have been constructed to control the spring source, not the water flow because for hundreds of years after its construction water continued to flow into the valley.
Fortress of Zion by Ronnie Reich, lead archaeologist
Despite artistic renderings and popular sentiment archaeological findings do not support the existence of a city wall surrounding (red dots) the plateau of the lower section of Mount Moriah. A wall may have been unnecessary given the natural protection of the steep escarpment on the south, west and east sides of the mountain. It appears the fortress and its double walls, that extend west were constructed independently of a city wall.
Despite artistic imagination, steep escarpment reduced need for city walls
According to the Bible, during their first 300 years Israelite tribes had been unable to conquer the mountain. Then, around 2900 years ago, following the first seven years of King David's Hebron based reign his night-time guerilla army entered through the Gihon Spring water system to conquer the Fortress of Zion where they made camp and initially lived (2 Samuel 5:9).
The struggle to control the fortress is not recorded as a major conflict, but it provided King David the leverage he needed to control the entire mountain and subdue the local population. This illustrates that residents living on top of mountain were dependent on water carriers who carried water up the 40 meter vertical rise from the Gihon Spring source. Once King David took control he commanded authority over water carriers access to the spring and thus the entire populous.
Why did the Israelite tribes and King David feel so compelled to conquer this mountain hilltop? What motivated them during more than 300 years to come back to this mountain well before construction of the first temple? What was sacred to Jews on this rock? Click to find out more.
Between 1923 and 1925 archaeologists MacAlister and Duncan, for the Palestine Exploration Fund and The Daily Telegraph excavated on the Mount of Ophel, Mount Moriah, Jerusalem: Their extensive report included an aerial photo of the area they called the Jebusite City, now known as the City of David. That image (below) was marked by them to illustrates the location of the Fields 5 (north of),7 and 9 they excavated. To the east, the Gihon Spring in Valley of the Kidron, which they referred to as the Virgins Fountain they wrote: "In fact we have come to the conclusion that there are no Jebusite cisterns at all in the city, but that the Jebusite city was dependent entirely on the Virgins Fountain ([the Gihon Spring] and possibly other springs since dried up) for their water supply."
1925 R.A.F. reconnaissance photo over City of David.
Of their bedrock discoveries in Fields 5,7 and 9 which rise to between @680-700 meters above sea level they wrote: "We thought, when they were first uncovered that they were cisterns and in the original draft of this report we described them as such. We have now definitely abandoned this theory. There is no trace of a water line on the walls. There is no cup-hollows such as usually exists in the bottom of rock-cut cisterns to catch the last dregs of the water. We now hold that these carefully hewn chambers were tombs of a very early date, presumably belonging to notables of the Jebusite city." Pottery discovered and reported from the grave caves in these Fields dated back well before Biblical Jebusites to neolithic and early bronze ages.
How did life, development and water use evolve from the "very early date" these "notables" were buried on the mountain ridge? We have ample evidence of the embedded bedrock implements that were used for processing food or worship, the cave dwellings carved into rock, quarried bedrock structures and foundations that supported stone houses and walls. However, we must find the main route and the way water was transported from the Gihon Spring or we will not understand how 1000-2000 people began to live on the ridge of the mountain.
Bedrock of eastern slope in context Parker, Reich and Eli Shukron expeditions
Occupation was initially clustered close to or at the level of the Gihon Spring. Moving heavy water from the spring up mountain slope would have required substantial effort. The steep grade of the eastern slope rises 50 vertical meters from the Gihon Spring @634m to Field 9 starting @680m above sea level and within a walking distance of 100 meters from the Kidron Valley floor. Enterprising solutions must have been required to service populations once settlement moved above 650 meters. (Sea level heights are indicated in the image above.) To resolve this problem a King, attributed to the Emorites, Jebusites or one of the seven Canaanite tribes, during the period circa 1800-1700 B.C.E ordered work to expand an east sloping, natural underground tunnel that once ran from around @660m toward the Gihon Spring and Kidron Valley below.
In the video below Ronny Reich explains this underground tunnel now known as a water system or the Warrens Shaft System. There are several important points to note: 1. The iron steps, on which Ronny stands marks the termination of the tunnel and no evidence of steps, at that point has ever been found. Ropes may have hoisted water up the vertical shaft where the iron steps are now built. 2. Ronny indicates the system was used by common people to obtain their daily water, I dispute that, it was used by professional water carriers only. 3. The tunnel route evolved in three stages initially via the natural cave entry-exit to or from the water source immediately north of the double wall fortress and after it was constructed, between the double walls. The final route was more direct through an entry to the tunnel system immediately south of the double walls. These indications support a royal, efficient enterprise that controlled water from the Gihon Spring that had been channeled into the Round Chamber for 'bottling' and distribution.
In a previous article I detailed how the Warrens Shaft System had transformed the sanctity of the ancient bedrock on the lower eastern slope, specifically how it cut the four room worship complex from growing populations on the northern mountain ridge. The water enterprise of the Jeubusites, its capture and continued use by King David, its transformation to industrial zone and food market for the city, by the kings that followed forever changed the ancient character of the eastern slope.
From the excavation report by MacAlister and Duncan - Excavations on the Hill of Ophel, Jerusalem 1923-1925: "We thought, when they were first uncovered that they were cisterns and in the original draft of this report we described them as such. We have now definitely abandoned this theory. There is no trace of a water line on the walls. There is no cup-hollows such as usually exists in the bottom of rock-cut cisterns to catch the last dregs of the water. We now hold that these carefully hewn chambers were tombs of a very early date, presumably belonging to notable of the Jebusite city. In fact we have come to the conclusion that there are no Jebusite cisterns at all in the city, but that the Jebusite city was dependent entirely on the Virgins Fountain (and possibly other springs since dried up) for their water supply."
The statement above related to burial sites in Field 5, but also 7 and 9 of the excavation, which is the upper east facing elevation along the north-south ridge of Mount Moriah (west of and between the modern Area G and E). It is testimony to the use of at least some of these areas as cultic worship sites established around sacred burial caves in the early and mid Bronze Age periods.
Presenting my tomb theory to members of the Israel Antiquity Authority
The vigil seen at sacred grave sites in Israel today may resemble an early form of the tradition that continues by devotees who recite psalms and other prayers at the place the spirit of the deceased returns.
Prayer vigil at Joseph's tomb
As I have previously written, shaft tombs were common in the region during the early through middle Bronze Age. Arguably Jerusalem's most ancient and important tomb may have existed for 1000 years or more before it was hacked when an Iron Age quarry cut the north-south passage on the lower eastern slope of the mountain. The path between two significant Bronze Age features, the upper floor blocked cave and the lower floor cave house (Parker), that exists either side of the quarry may have been purposely separated in order to prevent ("stop or cancel" - see video) the continuous traditions of occupation and organized worship.
Plan of Gihon excavations
The Rock-cut pool disconnected bidirectional north-south access
Along the rim of the quarry the slope of the bedrock's south face can be seen below. It is now known that water could not be contained in the quarry because the low degree geophysical slope from the Gihon spring, north of the quarry could never build sufficient hydraulic pressure to raise water into any section of it.
Cut quarry often confused as - upper Gihon Pool
The remnant round chamber (as it is known today) is contained in the bedrock of the rock-cut quarry visible below. It may once have been a much taller shaft connecting the burial chamber at the base to the surface (as illustrated top left of image).
Remnant of shaft to round chamber in rock-cut quarry
The confirmed discovery of early and mid-bronze burial sites, in vicinity on the eastern slopes of Mount Moriah, as it descends toward the Kidron Valley and Gihon spring offer strong support for the theory that the round chamber in the rock-cut quarry once was a shaft-tomb leading to a sacred burial chamber. Eventually, at its base the abandoned burial chamber was connected to the Gihon Spring source through a series of cut channels.
On the adjacent, north face of the quarry the partly collapsed massive bronze age double wall rises from the east, near the Kidron Valley up the steep bedrock slope to the west. At the top (west), the double wall once connected with the city wall built at the time of King Hezekiah to further and completely block passage from north to south. around 100 years ago Montague Parker cleared sections of the wall to provide passage through a tunnel as seen in the next two images.
Double Wall looking east - quarry to the immediate south.
Top of wall was dismantled by Parker - looking north
(Kevin's gate can be seen in background left).
Before it was dismantled by Parker, the top of the double wall abutted the city wall, which in conjunction with the quarry entirely blocked the north to south passage across the lower section of the east face above the Gihon Spring. In addition to sacred graves, we need to understand the time periods and long-standing motivations to undertake this massive construction.
Drawing (looking to the west) from Ronnie Reich's book
demonstrates how the double wall, above the
Fortress of Zion and quarry blocked passage.
Parker dismantled the top section of the double wall, that abutted the city wall to obtain access room 3 and 4, (image below) but he never made it to the adjacent rooms 2 and 1, they were discovered in 2011 by Eli Shukron.
Temple Zero complex facing east near the Gihon Spring
If these four rooms comprised a Bronze Age temple, the quarry, double walls and city wall may have been specifically constructed to prevent successive populations from practicing sacred rites in the four rooms. Herein may lie the long-standing negative motivation to construct such significant barriers that surround this important four room feature and prevent its use.
As MacAlister and Duncan suggested in their detailed report the story of the Lame and the Blind at the Fortress of Zion may further explain such long-standing motivations. The fortress refers to the stone construction immediately south of the Gihon Spring, extending west up the steep east face of Mount Moriah.
All city walls depicted in this image
have not been located in archaeology
This Jebusite fortress is referred to in 2 Samuel 5:7-8 and 1 Chronicles 11:5. King David's troops entered, captured and lived in the fortress until they eventually took control of the broader areas and the surrounding populations on the mountain. According to the Biblical accounts, surprisingly the Jebusite King was never forced to vacate Mount Moriah. During King David's 40 year reign at the same location the Jebusite Kings other property rights were upheld.
According to tradition the Lame and the Blind refers to the pacts between Abraham, Isaac and the descendants of Philistine progenitor Avimelech, as inherited by Jacob. These pacts permitted the Jebusites rights to occupy land in this region. King David allegedly broke the 500+ year "Lame and Blind" pact when his troops conquered the fortress and renamed it and the mountain the City of David.
The fortress and walls preceded Iron Age King David, by at least several hundred years. Therefore, the Bronze Age burial sites in the immediate vicinity may have motivated the Fortress, quarry and double wall obfuscation of the Temple Zero complex as a reminder to Israel of their paternal "Lame and Blind" pact with Jebusites. In this context "Lame" refers to Jacob who was lamed during his tussle with his "angel of death" brother Esau while en route back to the matzevah he erected 20 years earlier in the place he named Beit El, on Mount Moriah, the night he experience his famous "Jacob's Ladder" dream. Unlike room 3 of Temple Zero, which was purposefully constructed to retain the bedrock platform in its northwest corner, room 2 was empty until, post construction the perfectly preserved matzevah was located on its bedrock.
The Israel Antiquities Authority have agreed to investigate using geophysical probes and other methods that may reveal how or if it is affixed to bedrock. Regardless, its preservation in rooms that were sealed when discovered in 2011 is nonetheless remarkable.
A major disagreement between archaeological giants over a 2008 discovery at the City of David, Jerusalem remains unresolved. The modern equivalents of Macalister and Duncan, Reich and Shukron, who excavated sections of the lower and upper ridges near the Gihon Spring remain ~1000 years apart in their time estimates for a critically important upper ridge discovery. By professional standards its a serious issue that could eventually backfire on Israel's Antiquities Authority.
Its not unusual for archaeologists to challenge each other with evidence based theories including at the Gihon Spring. Recently Dr. Joe Uziel discovered evidence that presented a similar time conflict. Under the north-eastern corner stone of the Bronze age citadel construction adjacent to the Gihon Spring, seeds were carbon dated by Weizmann Institute to the Iron age. The seeds were presumed to be in their original location, but if they had been washed under the corner stone, in a prior rain-storm the arguments over Iron or Bronze age dating would be futile.
To elucidate the futility, myopic archaeological reporting is often contained to single fragments of evidence that draw inferences absent of broader context discoveries found in proximity. For example Jerusalem's oldest constructed cave was probably a mansion carved into the east face of Mount Moriah, south of the upper Gihon Pool.
Parker and Vincent Excavation ~1910
Early Bronze Age Cave (2018)
Further up the eastern face, a tomb containing ~4000 year old sophisticated tomb pottery was discovered by Parker-Vincent. Importantly this early Bronze Age tomb pottery dates Mount Moriah's first permanent population to a similar time in which the cave home on the eastern face would have been in use.
From Ronny Reich's book - Excavating the City of David: Where Jerusalem's History Began
The Pottery Artifacts from the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem
Direct evidence does not link the tomb pottery to the cave, but both were sophisticated developments of that time. The cave would have been constructed by skilled laborers and the pottery by refined artisans indicating the importance of the individuals to whom these discoveries were once attributed. Leading archaeologist Hillel Geva made it clear that Mount Moriah was sparsely populated until much later periods when permanent construction on the mountain expanded from around 3800 years ago, around the time of Biblical Abraham.
One of the most compelling observations echos a ziggurat like stairway the lower sections having been partly reassembled with steel staircase. Immediately adjacent, north of the cave, the base of the stairway was once quarried in sloping bedrock, but today it is a sheer-rock-cut-face that reshaped the natural slope of the bedrock to displace or destroy the arrangements that once provided gradual stepped-access from lower to upper ridge.
Stairway view bottom to top (looking west)
Stairway view top to bottom (looking east) - see video below
The slope may have first been reshaped to include steps for easier access on the ~30 meter rise (see profile image below) from the lower rock shelf, at the cave's natural entrance to the stairs leading to the high ridge. Interestingly, the lower section of stairs would have once landed on the east face of Mount Moriah, as it falls to the Kidron Valley, but the dramatic absence at the now sheer-rock-cut-face appears related to the quarrying that ultimately formed the large impassable void of the Upper Gihon Pool (see image below).
Profile slice through Mount Moriah looking north.
In 2008 Eli Shukron broke through a false wall on the upper ridge and discovered that the stairway led directly to a sacrificial altar of a significant pre-Solomon temple complex. Soft sand filled the entire upper ridge spaces between the false wall on the east (side of Kidron Valley) and the western bedrock, below the city wall. Thousands of years before Eli's breakthrough, the temple complex had been cleaned of artifacts and purposefully buried, a fact that has not been officially revealed. Below, the four numbered rooms, notably #1 and #3 have short passages connecting these rooms with the upper section of the ridge as it makes its way higher and to the west.
On the eastern bedrock, below the temple complex middle Bronze Age artifacts were discovered by Shukron and previous archaeologists, but several rooms built against the city wall (see image above) contained artifacts that were dated to the Iron Age.
The image above illustrates how access through the rear passage of room #1 of the temple complex led to the bedrock behind the wall. When the temple complex was excavated, several Iron Age artifacts were found in the passages and caused Ronny Reich to firmly date the temple complex to the Iron Age. However, it is evident these artifacts could have moved. The basement of the Iron Age rooms (above image) terminated on the bedrock as it descends east and like so many cavernous basements in and around the old city of Jerusalem the contents on the bedrock found the tunnel of room #1 where the Iron Age contents of the house slipped into and filled the space of the tunnel.
Based on the above,the definitive statements by Ronny Reich, as seen in the video below would therefore be an example of myopic archaeology. Eli Shukron has made public statements that the temple complex is a Bronze Age construct in direct opposition.
I'll leave it to you the reader to decide, which version is more likely just keep in mind that the standing stone or matzevah in room #2 (seen below) is most likely a relic from 3800 years ago, the the time of Israel's Biblical fathers, as such it is more likely to fit the context that supports the narrative of Eli Shukron.
Room #2 matzevah or standing stone is not a grave marker
I set out a theory and proof that ancient occupiers of the sparse hills of Jerusalem, with significant help from their regional allies constructed substantial elements of the Massive Fortified Corridor (MFC), adjacent to the Gihon Spring specifically to discourage Israel's return.
A conclusive theory of Jerusalem's Middle Bronze (MB) to Iron Age period continues to evade archaeologists and historians. One study by Hillel Geva tracks the development of Jerusalem's population and provides an excellent overview of the areas the city expanded to through the ages. I will use the breadcrumbs of population growth, as found in Middle Bronze age archaeology to reconstruct the first period of the city’s development.
Bewildering is the absence of any archaeological trace of a Middle Bronze western city wall in the presence of the MFC adjacent to the Gihon Spring on the eastern slope. Perhaps even more complex is the scant evidence of a complete eastern city wall, one that should have certainly left significant traces at intervals. I will demonstrate that the MFC was not constructed to protect water as per common logic, but to serve another motive.
The massive Middle Bronze II (MB II) fortress erected around the Gihon Spring undoubtedly required a
major economic effort and substantial manpower (Boas-Vedder 2001; Reich 2011: 248–261). This does not mean that the inhabitants of the city were necessarily the builders of the
massive structures; much of the manpower may have been recruited from the hinterland (Geva 2014). Although Uziel lead research to carbon date construction of the north-east corner of the fortress, an MFC extension to the Iron Age 800-900 B.C.E, there remains significant evidence that progression of construction from MBII to completion at the northern end may have occurred in the Iron Age.
Israel Finkelstein shares the view that the MBII fortress and area around the Gihon Spring remained somewhat independent of the expanded city. The old mound of Jerusalem was located on the
Temple Mount (Ophel) and activity on the City of David ridge
(the southeastern hill of Jerusalem) was restricted
to the area around the Gihon Spring (Finkelstein,
Koch and Lipschits 2011) In other words he supports the view that a complete MB II city wall, which has not yet been discovered, may not have existed at that time.
Figure 1 - Middle Bronze II - Warren Shaft System, Fortification and Gihon Spring. To align see (E) in Fig.2 below.
Coming out of the upper tunnel (Tunnel VI) moving to the eastern slope, a traveler finds
himself outside (north) of the MFC rather than on the path
leading into it, as one would expect if the corridor had already been built
before the Warren Shaft System (WSS). This indicates that parts of the WSS existed and part built before the MFC. Since the corridor is known to be Canaanite in age, it follows that
the WSS must also be of Canaanite age. (Dan Gill 2011)
With periodic increases in Mount Moriah's population (since the Early Bronze Age 1 - L.H. Vincent Underground Jerusalem) and geopolitical changes in the region, this hill eventually became one of the city-states that ruled in the region. In the face of the prevailing political rivalries from within and without, city rulers embarked on a comprehensive, state-funded, integrated program to protect the city and its vital water resources. Presumably, the city walls, the spring tower and MFC, as well as the Siloam Channel, were built during these stages. (Dan Gill 2011)
This invokes many questions, particularly related to evidence the Parker-Vincent expedition of 1909 uncovered, much of which has been principally ignored by Israel's modern archaeologists.
Figure 2 - Parker and Vincent map with photo overlay, sitting at position [K-21-b] (above)
An amateur researcher would be hard pressed to find any archaeological reference to Jerusalem's oldest private cave dwelling, but for a 1909-1911 photo of Parker and Vincent. This photo exposes [K-21-b] on the Vincent map, a private cave dwelling elevated ~20m above the valley floor on the eastern slope of Mount Moriah, south of the Gihon Spring. The cave dwelling (K) dates back to the early bronze age. It is barely referenced by Ronny Reich in his recent book Excavating the City of David - Where Jerusalem's History Began. Vincent also discovered pottery and tombs on the mountain that were dated to 3000 B.C.E. None of these finds date later than the Early Bronze Age.
I rely on the hypothesis that this initial private cave dwelling K was developed by and for important occupants because of its substantial size and features relative to the period of its construction. On this and evidence discovered in the immediate areas around this cave dwelling, I reconstructed the progressive development logic of population growth in the area.
Parker and Vincent excavated K as well as extensions L, M and passage N, adjacent to the more recently excavated area east of L, K, J and P. This area south of the, Rock-cut Pool(Fig. 1) forms an elevated platform ~3m above the top step that leads (on its eastern end) into the Round Chamber (within the Rock-Cut Pool) (Fig.1) also marking the lowest part of the expanded Rock-Cut Pool.
Figure 3 - Lower section of Parker and Vincent overlay map on Reich-Shukron Figure 1 map
Figure 3 is a rough context map of the entire complex including important elements missed by the Parker-Vincent excavation. The Middle Bronze age is a critical period in the development of this site, but the areas missed by Parker-Vincent, those (south) adjacent to G were excavated by Shukron in 2008-10. The most recent excavations (the circled area) are fundamental elements in the logic of these staged progressions.
The birds eye view in Figure 3 includes (what was) an impassable access corridor rising from lower elevation J-P to a temple complex on high ridge G-H. In area F (lower level) excavation reached the bedrock and exposed a number of steep bedrock steps, on several of which were potsherds from Middle Bronze Age IIB. (Shukron, Uziel, Szanton 2013) and Kathleen Kenyon's trench excavation immediately north of Wall 17 revealed potsherds dating to MBII (Reich).
The mapped complex of Fig.3 at the City of David. Kidron Valley foreground. Orange line - a potential path across the bedrock escarpment to between Plateau P and upper ridge sections
Kathleen Kenyon's Wall 17 on bedrock north of Temple Complex on upper ridge
The descending section of the east-west corridor marked XVIII, at lower elevation P-XXI appears to have been disconnected such that its eastern end (as it approaches P) terminates as a sheer rock face that rendered the upper part of the corridor inaccessible. The missing section may have once connected this steep corridor between lower and upper elevation. (see image below)
The impassable, disconnected corridor. Lower-eastern section has been reconstructed to connect P with G
Following the logical path from C to E to G (including via external passage at E) a well thought-out plan was implemented to improve upon natural
karstic elements and combine them into an accessible water supply system that became known as Warrens Shaft, (Dan Gill). Although the complex of rooms excavated at G were completed by 2011, no archaeologist report has ever been published, but the temple features of this complex overwhelmingly support its spiritual importance.
Returning to the Rock-cut pool of Figure 1, the MBII channel and Round Chamber preceded the expansion of the pool to its present day boundaries (Reich attributes this expansion to the Iron Age). The eastern stepped access into the expanded pool and more humble Round Chamber suggests the Chambers original elevation may have once been level with adjacent plateau's north and south (as indicated, by red outlines in Figure 4 below).
Figure 4 - Shukron, Uziel, Szandton excavations enhanced and labeled
Looking (south) over the Round Chamber, tourist walkway sunken into Rock-cut Pool.
Fallen boulders (right-west) illustrated green in Figure 4
Figure 5 - Indicative depth of original Round Chamber edge (north-east) level with northern adjacent plateau and entry of MBII Tunnel III
Round chamber entry of Iron Age Tunnel IV (left) and MBII Tunnel III (right)
The expansion of the Round Chamber into the Rock-cut pool, which disconnected the lower section of corridor P-G would have rendered the P plateau and cave dwelling K inaccessible from its opposite northern plateau (that supports the remains of MFC - Fig.5). Further, the high ridge of area G would have become inaccessible from any of the lower reaches on the eastern slope of Mount Moriah and the Kidron Valley. This or any renovation may have occurred at a date later than MBII, perhaps very Late Bronze (LB) or Iron Age (IA) (Reich).
In the video above Ronny Reich confirms that Middle Bronze Age access to water in the Round Chamber would have been via WSS to the MFC plateau (before the MFC was built). The cave’s opening is sealed but may have been accessible in antiquity (Uziel). At the same level, MFC plateau was level with and part of the P plateau. Quarrying the the Rock-cut pool and construction of MFC would have cut internal access between the WSS and plateau P.
It would have been convenient to quarry and extract the rock surrounding the Round Chamber to form the Rock-cut Pool in order to construct the MFC on its adjacent northern plateau. Was this part of their thinking? The deep chasm of the Rock-cut pool cut access and the added MFC divided the entire mountain to the south placing more emphasis on north-west expansion of the city. This is further evidenced by the existence of wall constructs that blocked access along Parker corridor XIX at the point the fortification corridor abutted city walls that were constructed in the Late Bronze or early Iron Age.
Having been slowly established during the Bronze Age on the lower, southern end of the eastern face of Mount Moriah, people, who were now more technically capable were on the move to expand the walls of the city north as the Iron Age was gathering pace. If we accept the hypothesis that this was the pattern by which Jerusalem became more populated then we can understand this atypical development model for a location so prominent in history. Atypical because countless archaeologists who have worked on or studied these excavations coalesce that water protection was the motivation for fortification around the Gihon Spring, but I suggest this was not the case.
The effort to quarry the Rock-cut Pool and construct adjacent fortification corridors that cut the eastern slope, separating south from north was herculean (Boas-Vedder 2001 and Reich 2011). Regional labor, at subsidized cost would have been imported to the city, but only if the ~900 inhabitants (Geva) of MB Mount Moriah had good reason to inspire and undertake such significant development. Note: The Rock-cut pool is cut deeper on the southern, northern and western edge. Storing water was not the reason for these deep cuts because the eastern edge, perhaps as much as ~2m lower dictated the highest water level in the pool.
Given Dan Gill's observation "...that Coming out of the upper tunnel (Tunnel VI) to the eastern slope, a traveler finds himself outside (to the north) of the MFC rather than on a path leading into it...", protecting water does not seem to have been the objective of the MFC construction. Although Early Bronze developments may have cast the die, at any reasonable MB, LB or IA date, geopolitical objectives must have been strongly aligned to inspire regional powers to support the construction of such a substantial infrastructure push to the north.
In summary we have structural evidence of;
1. a deep cut quarry on 3 sides of the Rock-cut Pool leading to Round Chamber
2. access impasse from rock plateau supporting MFC to plateau of cave dwelling K
3. eastern city wall's or foundations but not western
4. fortification corridor blocking XIX and abutting an eastern city wall north of G
5. disconnected corridor joining P with G
6. misalignment of fortification corridor south of and adjacent to the Gihon Spring water source
On the high ridge at G the stone-cut, beam, oil press is juxtaposed with the undisturbed matzevah or massebah and rock frame (see matzevah image below) that was placed directly on the bedrock at some point after the stone-cut rooms had been completed.
A 2013 excavation along XIII west of G unveiled a weight which may have been used for the oil, beam press as depicted
Dating of the rooms carved on the high ridge could be as far back as Early Bronze IV such that the development chronology on the mountain may resemble the following.
1. Early Bronze I
– 3300-3050 B.C.E. – sparse, periodic settlement
2. Early Bronze II-III
– 3050-2030 B.C.E. sparse, prolonged settlement including private dwelling K
3. Early Bronze IV/Middle Bronze I
-2300-2000 B.C.E. - permanent settlement, bedrock chiseling at high ridge
4. Middle Bronze IIA 2000-1750 B.C.E
. – expanded settlement, early use of area G high ridge, expansion of WSS, Gihon tunnels
5. Middle Bronze IIB-C 1750-1550 B.C.E.
– excavation of Round Chamber and expanded area G features constructed on the high ridge
6. Late Bronze I – 1550-1400 B.C.E.
– development on east face, commencement of city walls
7. Late Bronze IIA-B 1400-1200 B.C.E.
– commence construction of city walls, Rock-cut Pool and MFC
8. Iron Age I 1200-1000 B.C.E.
– completion of MFC, expansion along valley floor, tower and city walls
9. Iron Age II – 1000 – 586 B.C.E.
– water system rearrangement, internal city construction, expansion North and eastern outer wall
At some point after the construction of rock-cut rooms at G, perhaps MBI or MBII the matzevah discovered by Shukron would have been constructed on the bedrock at G.
Matzevah at G
An inventory of items located north to south in 4 rock-cut chambers at G (see southwest corner in Figure 4) include;
1. beam, oil press (external east wall of animal pen)
2. small animal pen (room enclosure)
3. altar platform, grain press, liquids channel leading to pit (tunnel exit west)
4. animal ties (thread through rock corners)
5. matzevah (see picture above)
6. grain press, oil press, V markings in bedrock floor (exit tunnel west)
Eli Shukron in the now famous room with V markings exit tunnel west in the north west corner of room
The significant rock-cut and matzevah features in the chambers at G indicate, at least MB use as a temple for high volume worship. Its large scale construction on the high ridge overlooking the Kidron Valley once announced its importance. The scant population of Mount Moriah cannot be have motivated such a significant rock-cut construction, therefore it is more likely it's location and cultural importance attracted people from the region that motivated its construction. Given the dominant nature of this early element of the scheme in Figure 3 especially its relationship to the southern end, it is surprising that the Rock-cut Pool and MFC cut the eastern slope, obfuscating access to area G's rock-cut rooms.
Curiously the next Figure 5 scheme of excavation presents corridor 1,2 and 3. We have discussed corridor 1 previously as the east-west disconnected P-G corridor marked XVIII in Figure 3. However, corridor 2 terminates at the western deep cut edge of the Rock-cut pool and corridor 3 terminates prematurely into an apparent dead-end. The evidence suggests access to the water below from the temple on the high ridge at G was important. As demand for access was growing additional corridor excavation may have been undertaken. Nevertheless, these excavations are incomplete and 1,2,3 defined here as corridors may simply follow the bedrock slope to their termination points.
Figure 5 excavation area scheme with G and matzevah as indicated - click to enlarge
Relying on the structural evidence above and stratum data provided in the references used, we must establish credible reasons why;
1. the Round Chamber was quarried to establish the Rock-cut pool
2. lower vital connecting sections of corridor 1 (P-G @ XVIII) were cut and corridor 2 terminated at the western quarry edge of the Rock-cut pool
3. the MFC adjacent to the Gihon Spring was undertaken.
Therefore, I posit the following chronological hypothesis;
1. That Mount Moriah was settled in accordance with 1-3 of the chronology above during EB.
2. That MB I reasons for permanent settlement began to materialize, but that these were not fundamentally based on demand for water, but on soft-cultural, spiritual demands as evidenced by Geva's population estimates.
3. That cave dwelling K and early features of the temple at G began servicing spiritual demands
4. That the Round Chamber and channel from the Gihon Spring were constructed to service increasing transient demand during MB IIA-B
5. That the matzevah was erected during MB IIB-C
6. That eastern walls, the Rock-cut pool and MFC were constructed toward the end of LB
Finally the reason for MFC and Rock-Cut-Pool were entirely geo-political, they served little practical purpose. At least the MFC and eventually the Rock-Cut-Pool was entirely required by regional leaders to cut the eastern slope and access to the Bronze Age temple on the high ridge at area G. The next video supports my claim.
