City of David

Indiana Jones would have loved this archaeological adventure. Plunge underground to sense Jerusalem's primal pulse—the Spring of Gihon, the life-blood of the ancient city and the primary reason for its settlement, over four millennia ago. The Israelite king David captured this modest ridge from the Jebusites around 1000 BC, and made it his capital. David's son Solomon, who was anointed at the spring, subsequently expanded the city northward to Mt. Moriah, where he built the Temple of God (on the site of today's Dome of the Rock). In time, Jerusalem spread farther west and north; but in recent years, the name "City of David" has been revived to describe the city's ancient core. If you thrill to the thought of standing where the ancients once stood, you'll be in your element in this city of memories, from its Old Testament walls and water systems to its Second Temple streets and stones.