Tiyul to Ir David in Jerusalem

by Joanna Ray,     11^th grade,        Silver Springs, MD

entrance to Ir David - City of David archaeological site, with ancient Hebrew writing

We woke up and got ready for another tiyul, with hats and water and all the things we would need for our Jewish History class, and we were ready. We climb onto the bus and eventually arrive in Jerusalem. We walk on sidewalks and down many stairs, all still a bit sleepy but excited to be out in Jerusalem. While walking we have so many beautiful buildings to look at, but we don’t stop, we keep walking until we all arrive together to a small courtyard. Here we split into the two Jewish History classes. We learn about David HaMelech, (King David) and Ir David (the City of David), the place where we sat at that very moment. We went to different areas to get different views of the area that surrounded us, knowing how different it looks now to how it looked back in the time of King David 3000 years ago, but also knowing that it was still the exact same place.

            In Jewish History class we have learned about more than just King David’s reign of the Israelite Kingdom from ~1000-960 BCE. There was also two other famous rulers, King Saul and King Solomon. All three kings had many great accomplishments during their respective reigns, as well as all making a few mistakes too.

view of "Area G" at Ir David, excavated houses in Jerusalem from the time of King David

King Saul’s Accomplishments:

King Saul was the first king of the Israelites and so his biggest accomplishment was being the first king to rule over and unite all of the tribes. At first he brought stability and peace throughout the tribes, which is what they needed desperately after years of war and chaos depicted in the Biblical Book of Judges. King Saul also builds a strong military and economy.

King Saul’s Failures:

King Saul was a pretty good king up until he made some very bad choices, which were his biggest failures as king. He disobeys God when God instructs him to wipe out all of the evil nation of Amalek, leave nobody alive and keep none of their belongings and property, just simply wipe them out. King Saul doesn’t kill Agog, King of Amalek, and he also takes war booty and plunders property. Then, after doing all of this, King Saul does not do any tshuva and repent for these sins. Then, as if it couldn’t get worse, he has a statue of himself build and then runs away. These are all big failures as a leader for King Saul.

King David’s Accomplishments:

King David was the second Israelite king, following the reign of King Saul. King David had many accomplishments. He was a poet, a scholar, a musician, warrior, and the people loved him. He unites all of the tribes and establishes the capital in Jerusalem. King David was also a great general and won a lot of wars.

King David’s Failures:

The main failure of King David that is extremely notable is that of the affair with Bathsheba. By impregnating a woman, having her husband Uriah deliberately killed in war, and taking her as his own wife, he made God very angry with him. This behavior certainly did not live up to God’s expectations of him.

King Solomon’s Accomplishments:

King Solomon is the son of King David and he becomes king after David. Solomon's reign is the height of Israelite power, sort of a "Pax Israela" period. Everything about this period of time is an accomplishment for King Solomon because this means he is doing something right. It is a time of prosperity, success, and stability. It was also the greatest extent of territory controlled by the ancient Israelites. King Solomon is also responsible for having The First Temple built, and The Temple (Beit HaMikdash) is the most important institution in Jewish History.

King Solomon’s Failures:

As all kings did, King Solomon also had many failures too. Although The Temple is the most important institution in Jewish History, the way in which it was built was definitely not good. King Solomon used slave labor to build it, and not just any slaves, but the slaves were the Israelites he ruled over! In addition to using the Israelites for slave labor, King Solomon also had many failures because he didn’t follow the rules of what a king could and could not do as king of the Israelites. He had 1000 wives, and not just any wives, but foreign wives, which was not allowed. He amassed excessive wealth and horses, but the biggest sin he committed was the worship of foreign gods. Yes, King Solomon did avodah zarah!!

Choosing the Capital

King David chose Jerusalem for his capital for many reasons. First of all, it had the 4 Ds that any civilization needs: Drink, Defense, Dinner, and Dollar. In addition to the 4 Ds always needed, it had 2 more: DC and Divinity. That means it was a very central location between all of the tribes (like D.C.), and a good location. It was also the location where many holy things were said to have happened, such as the binding of Isaac, the midrash of the two righteous brothers who give grain to each other, and Adam making the first sacrifice to God. Jerusalem was also neutral territory, meaning it was not previously inhabited by any of the Israelite tribes. In fact, before taking over Jerusalem it was inhabited by the Jebusites. It had so many good things going for it; you can see why King David would choose Jerusalem for his capital.

"Warren's Shaft" at Ir David leading down to the ancient water system and Hezekiah's tunnel

Archaeological Findings

We got to learn about and experience firsthand the archaeological findings at Ir David, especially Hezekiah's famous water tunnel that we walked through. It was significant because it was built to protect the water source from invasions and enemies during battle in 701 BCE. We also learned about a sign that was discovered and moved to a museum in Istanbul. The sign was significant because it was marking the spot where the two teams digging the ancient tunnel met in the middle when the it was being made, since they had began digging from two different sides and met in the middle.

the end of Hezekiah's water tunnel at Ir David

Being able to see these sites and learn about the stories in the Tanach in the very places they are said to happen, to learn about King David and the City of David in the City of David itself was so fascinating. It gives you a different perspective on the lesson and on the Tanach in general. If you learn in a classroom or in America about something that happened so long ago and in a place that is so far away from you, it doesn’t hold as much meaning as being able to see the space you are learning about while doing the lesson.

Walking through a water tunnel that is 2700 years old is an experience I can say is completely new to me, and it was amazing. Walking in the dark with cold water up to my knees, guiding myself forward by running my hands along the damp, cold walls of the carved out rock we were walking through was immensely powerful. Thinking that 2700 years ago, people dug that tunnel out by hand is absolutely amazing to me. The fact that the tunnel is still there and that we could go walking through it to this day is such a special thing. I will never forget the City of David and my trek through the ancient water tunnel.