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Tower of David

The Tower of David and the city walls

The Tower of David (Hebrew: מגדל דוד, romanizedMigdál Davíd), also known as the Citadel (Arabic: القلعة, romanizedal-Qala'a), is an ancient citadel and contemporary museum, located near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem.

The citadel that stands today dates to the Mamluk and Ottoman periods. It was built on the site of a series of earlier ancient fortifications of the Hasmonean, Herodian, Byzantine and Early Muslim periods, after being destroyed repeatedly during the last decades of Crusader presence in the Holy Land by their Muslim enemies.[1] It contains artifacts from the Iron Age including a quarry dated to the Second Temple period and pottery, fishbones, and other archaeological finds dating from the First Temple Period,[2] and is a venue for benefit events, craft shows, concerts, and sound-and-light performances.

Dan Bahat, an Israeli archaeologist, writes that the original three Hasmonean towers standing in this area of the city were altered by Herod, and that "the northeastern tower was replaced by a much larger, more massive tower, dubbed the 'Tower of David' beginning in the 5th century CE"[3] Originally referring to the Herodian tower in the northeast of the citadel, in the 19th century the name Tower of David began to refer to the 17th-century minaret at the opposite side of the citadel, and since 1967 officially refers to the entire citadel.[4]

  1. ^ Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome (2008). The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700. Oxford Archaeological Guides (5 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 23–24. ISBN 978-0-19-923666-4. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  2. ^ Ariel, Donald T. Ariel D.T. and De Groot A. eds. Excavations in the City of David Directed by Yigal Shiloh, 3. Stratigraphical, Environmental, and Other Reports (Qedem 33). Jerusalem 1992.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bahat was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Hawari, Mahmoud (2010). "The Citadel of Jerusalem: A Case Study in the Cultural Appropriation of Archaeology in Palestine". Present Pasts. 2 (1). London, England: University College London (UCL), Institute of Archaeology, Heritage Studies Section: 89–95 [94]. doi:10.5334/pp.25.

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برج القلعة Arabic Torre de David AST Davud Qülləsi AZ Torre de David Catalan Davidova věž Czech Davidszitadelle German Πύργος του Δαβίδ Greek Turo de Davido EO Torre de David Spanish برج داوود FA

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