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David's Tomb
 | |
  Shown ( .svg){kind=icon} ) within Jerusalem | |
| Alternative name | Makam Nabi Daoud; Cenacle |
|---|---|
| Location | Jerusalem |
| Coordinates | 31°46′18″N 35°13′46″E / 31.77170°N 35.22936°E |
| History | |
| Periods | Late Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, Mamluk, Ottoman, Israel |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Jacob Pinkerfeld |
| Public access | yes |
David's Tomb (Hebrew: קבר דוד המלך Kever David Ha-Melekh; Arabic: مقام النبي داود Maqam Al-Nabi Daoud) is a site that, according to a Medieval (9th century) tradition, is associated with the burial of the biblical King David.[1][2] Historians, archaeologists and Jewish religious authorities do not consider the site to be the actual resting place of King David.[1][2] It occupies the ground floor of a former church, whose upper floor holds the Cenacle or "Upper Room" traditionally identified as the place of Jesus' Last Supper and the original meeting place of the early Christian community of Jerusalem.[3]
The compound is located on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, near the Christian Abbey of the Dormition. The compound is thought to be situated in what once was a ground floor corner of the Hagia Zion.[4][5] The building is now administered by the Diaspora Yeshiva, a Jewish seminary group.
Due to Israeli Jews being unable to reach holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City during the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank (1948–1967), the compound including the Medieval cenotaph of David was promoted as a place of worship, and the roof of the building, above the Cenacle, was sought for its views of the Temple Mount, and thus became a symbol of prayer and yearning.[6][7]
The building’s foundation is the remnant of Hagia Zion.[4][5] The current building was originally built as a church and later repurposed as a mosque, becoming one of the most important Islamic shrines in Jerusalem.[8] It was split into two immediately following the end of the 1948 Israeli Independence war; the ground floor with the cenotaph was converted into a synagogue, and the Muslim cover on the cenotaph was replaced with an Israeli flag and then a parochet.[9] From then onwards, the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs began the process of turning the site into Israel's primary religious site.[10] Jewish prayer was established at the site, and Jewish religious symbols were added.[11] From 1948 until the Six-Day War in 1967 when Israel reclaimed the Western Wall, it was considered the holiest Jewish site in Israel.[12]
Recent years have seen rising tensions between Jewish activists and Christian worshippers at the site.[1][13][14]
- ^ a b c Kershner, Isabel (May 26, 2014). "Mass on Mount Zion Stirs Ancient Rivalries". New York Times.
- ^ a b Zivotofsky, Rabbi Dr Ari (May 15, 2014). "Where is King David Really Buried?". Jewish Press. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
- ^ Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome (2008). pp. 115–118.
- ^ a b Or alternatively, according to a minority theory proposed by Pinkerfeld, Bagatti, and Testa, a late Roman-era synagogue.
- ^ a b Pinkerfeld, Jacob. "'David's Tomb': Notes on the History of the Building: Preliminary Report". In Bulletin of the Louis Rabinowitz Fund for the Exploration of Ancient Synagogues 3, ed. Michael Avi-Yonah, Jerusalem: Hebrew University, pp. 41–43.
- ^ Bar 2004, p. 262.
- ^ Jerusalem Divided: The Armistice Regime, 1947–1967, Raphael Israeli, Routledge, 2002, p. 6
- ^ Procházka-Eisl, Gisela, and Stephan Procházka. “Muslim Sanctuaries in and around Jerusalem Revisited.” Wiener Zeitschrift Für Die Kunde Des Morgenlandes, vol. 95, 2005, pp. 163–94. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23862773. "The alleged grave of King David on Mount Zion has been one of the most important Muslim shrines in Jerusalem from the 15th Century onwards. [Footnote: The tomb of David was handed Over to the Muslims by the Franciscan monks in 1452. 'Abd al-Ghanl an-Nabulusi visited the grave and prayed there in 1690. At the beginning of the 20th Century Kahle states: "Nebi Da'üd auf Zion ist heute eines der wichtigsten muhammedanischen Heiligtümer in Jerusalem".] For a long time the whole quarter was called Harat an-Nabi Däwüd. However, after the area became a part of Israel in 1948 the Jews took control of the sanctuary, which since then has been off-limits for Muslim pilgrims."
- ^ Bar 2004, p. 263.
- ^ Breger, Reiter & Hammer 2009, p. 105: "Director General Kahana was obliged to contend with the problematic nature of the Tomb's status. Immediately after the war he initiated a long series of religious ceremonies that brought about a radical change in the status of King David's Tomb and served to encourage Jewish control of the Tomb structure, in the absence of any official decision by the State of Israel. This endeavor was roundly condemned by various official Israeli bodies from its earliest stages."
- ^ Breger, Reiter & Hammer 2009, p. 106: "Particularly vexing was the matter of the status and definition of King David's Tomb, an issue that was the focus of disagreements and conflicting interests even within the Ministry. On the one hand, it was Kahana himself who initiated extensive Jewish prayer activity at the site, with the goal of eradicating the Muslim past of King David's Tomb. He saw to the placement of numerous Jewish symbols in and around the Tomb, aimed at demonstrating the political-religious change that had taken place at the site and impressing this fact upon visitors. with the concurrence of the Ministry's architectural advisor, Meir Ben Uri, the phrase "David King of Israel Lives and Endures" was painted over the niche above the tombstone, while large oil-burning candelabra were hung nearby."
- ^ Doron Bar, "Holocaust Commemoration in Israel During the 1950s: The Holocaust Cellar on Mount Zion," Jewish Social Studies: History, Culture, Society n.s. 12, no. 1 (Fall 2005): 16–38 Archived 2017-08-09 at the Wayback Machine "The development of Mount Zion and David's Tomb as the holiest site in the State of Israel occurred immediately after the end of the 1948 war, when pilgrims frequented the previously inaccessible tomb... geopolitical change ... followed the Six Day War of 1967. The outcome of the war and the reclamation of the Jewish holy places in the Old City of Jerusalem resulted in the steady decline in the status of David's Tomb and the Holocaust Cellar".
- ^ "Jewish Radicals Disrupt Greek Orthodox Pentecost Prayer in Jerusalem, Calling Worshipers 'Evil'". Eetta Prince-Gibson for Haaretz. Jun 21, 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
- ^ "Police Evacuate Scores of Jewish Activists Barricading in King David's Tomb". Yair Ettinger for Haaretz. June 1, 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
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