View source for David's Tomb

{{Short description|Holy site for Abrahamic faiths}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Infobox ancient site
|name          = King David's Tomb
|native_name   = {{langx|he|קבר דוד המלך}}<br />{{langx|ar|مقام النبي داود}}
|alternate_name= Makam Nabi Daoud; Cenacle
|image         = Jerusalem Tomb of David BW 1.JPG
|alt=
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|map_type      = Old Jerusalem
|map_alt =
|map_caption   = Shown ([[File:Archaeological site icon (red).svg|8px]]) within Jerusalem
|map_size=
|location      = [[Jerusalem]]
|region=
|coordinates   = {{coord|31.77170|35.22936|display=inline}}
|type=
|part_of=
|length=
|width=
|area=
|height=
|builder=
|material=
|built=
|abandoned=
|epochs        = Late Roman, [[Byzantine]], [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Crusader]], [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]], [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]], [[Israel]]
|cultures=
|dependency_of=
|occupants=
|excavations=
|archaeologists= [[Jacob Pinkerfield]]
|condition=
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|public_access = yes
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}}
'''David's Tomb''' ({{langx|he|קבר דוד המלך|Kever David HaMelekh}}; {{langx|ar|مقام النبي داود|Maqām al-Nābī Dāwud}}) is a site that, according to an early medieval (9th century) tradition, is associated with the burial of the biblical king [[David]].<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |author=[[Isabel Kershner|Kershner, Isabel]] |date=May 26, 2014 |title=Mass on Mount Zion Stirs Ancient Rivalries |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/world/middleeast/mass-planned-on-mount-zion-stirs-ancient-rivalries.html |url-access=subscription |newspaper=[[New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name=RDAZ>{{Cite web |last= Zivotofsky |first= Rabbi Dr Ari |title= Where is King David Really Buried? |publisher= Jewish Press |date= May 15, 2014 |url= https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/where-is-king-david-really-buried/2014/05/15/ |access-date= 2021-12-11}}</ref> During the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] and [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate]] periods, Maqam Al-Nabi Daoud served one of Jerusalem prime Islamic shrines.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elad |first=Amikam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CDz_yctbQVgC |title=Medieval Jerusalem and Islamic Worship: Holy Places, Ceremonies, Pilgrimage |date=1995 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-10010-7 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781136579172 |title=Mamluks and Ottomans |date=2013-06-17 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-57917-2 |editor-last=Wasserstein |editor-first=David J |edition=0 |language=en |doi=10.4324/9781315019031 |editor-last2=Ayalon |editor-first2=Ami}}</ref> The building is now administered by the ''Diaspora Yeshiva'' Jewish [[yeshiva|seminary]] group.<ref>Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome (2008). pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cSuErBFmykQC&pg=115 115]–118.</ref> Historians, archaeologists and Jewish religious authorities do not consider the site to be the actual resting place of King David.<ref name="NYT" /><ref name="RDAZ" /> 

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 [[Church of Zion, Jerusalem|Hagia Zion]].{{efn|Or according to a minority theory proposed by Pinkerfeld, [[Bellarmino Bagatti|Bagatti]], and Testa, a late Roman-era [[synagogue]].}}<ref name="Pink">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.</ref> 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. 

Due to Israeli Jews being unable to reach holy sites in the [[Old City of Jerusalem]] 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. The roof above the Cenacle was sought for its views of the [[Temple Mount]] and thus became a symbol of prayer and yearning.{{sfn|Bar|2004|p=262}}<ref name=Divided>''Jerusalem Divided: The Armistice Regime, 1947–1967'', [[Raphael Israeli]], [[Routledge]], 2002, p. 6</ref>

The building’s foundation is the remnant of the [[Church of Zion, Jerusalem|Church of Zion]].<ref name="Pink"/> The current building was originally built as a church and later repurposed as a [[mosque]], becoming one of the most important Muslim shrines in Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Procházka-Eisl |first1=Gisela |last2=Procházka |first2=Stephan |title=Muslim Sanctuaries in and around Jerusalem Revisited |journal=Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes |date=2005 |volume=95 |pages=163–194 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23862773 |issn=0084-0076|quote=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-Ghani al-Nabulsi|'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.}}</ref> It was split into two immediately following the end of the [[1948 Palestine 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]].{{sfn|Bar|2004|p=263}} From then onwards, the Israeli [[Ministry of Religious Services|Ministry of Religious Affairs]] began the process of turning the site into Israel's primary religious site.{{sfn|Breger|Reiter|Hammer|2009|p=105|ps=: "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."}} Jewish prayer was established at the site, and Jewish religious symbols were added.{{sfn|Breger|Reiter|Hammer|2009|p=106|ps=: "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."}} From 1948 until the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967 when Israel reclaimed the [[Western Wall]], it was considered the holiest Jewish site in Israel.<ref>[http://www.pendleton.k12.ky.us/userfiles/119/Classes/401/Holocaust%20Commemoration%20In%20Israel%20During%20the%201950s.pdf 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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809112503/http://www.pendleton.k12.ky.us/userfiles/119/Classes/401/Holocaust%20Commemoration%20In%20Israel%20During%20the%201950s.pdf |date=2017-08-09 }} "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".</ref>

Recent years have seen rising tensions between Jewish activists and Christian worshippers at the site.<ref name=NYT/><ref name=EPG>{{cite news |title= Jewish Radicals Disrupt Greek Orthodox Pentecost Prayer in Jerusalem, Calling Worshipers 'Evil' |newspaper= Eetta Prince-Gibson for [[Haaretz]] |date= Jun 21, 2016 |url= https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2016-06-21/ty-article/greek-orthodox-pentecost-prayers-anger-jewish-radicals-on-mt-zion/0000017f-e064-d804-ad7f-f1fef7420000 |access-date=5 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Police Evacuate Scores of Jewish Activists Barricading in King David's Tomb |newspaper= Yair Ettinger for Haaretz |date= June 1, 2015 |url= https://www.haaretz.com/2015-06-01/ty-article/.premium/police-evacuate-jewish-activists-from-king-davids-tomb/0000017f-f112-d8a1-a5ff-f19aaabb0000 |access-date=5 June 2022}}</ref>

==History==
===Early history===
The cenotaph is located in a corner of a room situated on the ground floor remains of the former Hagia Zion, considered as an early church or late{{clarify|reason=Misding word? Late ROMAN era? Or what is meant by late era? Makes no sense.|date=October 2023}} era synagogue;<ref name=McNamer>Elizabeth McNamer, Bargil Pixner (2008). ''Jesus and First-Century Christianity in Jerusalem''. p. 6 8{{page needed|date=March 2023}}<!-- 'pp. 6–8' or 'p. 68'?-->. "In 1951, archaeologist Joseph [sic] Pinkerfield found on Mount Zion the remains of a synagogue ... Pinkerfield also found pieces of plaster with graffiti scratched on them that came from the synagogue wall. "</ref> the upper floor of the same building has traditionally been viewed by Christians as the "[[Cenacle]]" or "Upper Room", the site of the [[Last Supper]].

The actual site of David's burial is unknown, though the [[Hebrew Bible]] states that David was buried in the [[Ir David|City of David]].<ref>1 Kings 2:10</ref> In the 4th century CE, he and his father [[Jesse (biblical figure)|Jesse]] were believed to be buried in [[Bethlehem]].<ref name=RDAZ/> The idea that David was entombed on what was later called Mt Zion dates to the 9th century CE.<ref name=RDAZ/>

Zion, the place conquered by David according to the [[Books of Samuel]], was wrongly ascribed by medieval pilgrims to this site, and from then on David was presumed to be buried there.<ref name=RDAZ/>

===Crusader and Franciscan control===
Writing around 1173, the Jewish traveller [[Benjamin of Tudela]] recounted a colourful story that two Jewish workers employed to dig a tunnel came across David's original splendid palace, replete with gold crown and scepter and decided that the site must be his tomb.<ref name=RDAZ/>

The [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] [[cenotaph]] preserved to this day is the work of the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Crusaders]].<ref name=RDAZ/>

In 1332 the [[Franciscans]], the officials representatives of the Roman Catholic church in the Holy Places after the final Muslim expulsion of the Crusaders, moved their headquarters to the Cenacle, having acquired it in 1332 from Sultan [[An-Nasir Muhammad]] for 30,000 [[ducats]].{{sfn|Cust|1929|loc=Chapter The Status Quo : its Origin and History till the Present Time section B quote: "in A.D. 1230, the Franciscan Order was established in Jerusalem and became the official representatives of Roman Catholicism in the Holy Places, with their headquarters in the Cenacle on Mount Zion, obtained from the Egyptian Sultan, Melek-el-Nasr, in 1332, for 30,000 ducats"}}

===Mosque===
[[File:Mount Zion, Jerusalem, the Mosque of David, colored, 1836.jpg|thumb|1836 sketch by [[Frederick Catherwood]], ''Mount Zion, Jerusalem (the Mosque of David)'']]
[[File:Souvenirs d'Orient, 1878 by Félix Bonfils 0130-2.jpg|thumb|1878 photo by [[Felix Bonfils]], ''Tombeau de David et Cénacle, Jérusalem'']]
[[File:Postcard of David's Tomb in Jerusalem, early 1900s.jpg|thumb|Early 1900s postcard showing the cenotaph with its Islamic silk covering]]

====Lower floor (tomb)====
According to [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] pilgrim [[Felix Fabri]],<ref>{{cite book |last1= Fabri |first1= Félix |last2= Hassler |first2= Konrad Dieterich |title= Fratris Felicis Fabri Evagatorium in Terrae Sanctae, Arabiae et Egypti peregrinatoniem |volume=1 |year= 1848 |publisher= sumptibus Societatis litterariae Stuttgardiensis |page=253 |isbn= 9783226003932 |quote= Judaei multis temporibus et hodie instant apud regem Soldanum pro loco illo, ad faciendum sibi oratorinm: et e contra Christiani reclamabant. Tandem Soldanus interrogavit: qualis tamen sanctitatis esset locus ille?. et cum sibi dictum esset, quod David cum caeteris regibus Jerusalem de ejus semine ibi sepulti essent; dixit: et nos Sarraceni David sanctum tenemus, aeque sicut Christiani et Judaei et Bibliam credimus sicut et ipsi. Locum ergo illum nec illi nec isti habebunt, sed nos enm recipimus, et ita venit in Jerusalem et ostinm illins capellae, per quod ab intra de monasterio erat ingressus, obstruxit, et ipsam capellam profanavit, ejiciens altaria Christi et destruens et delens imagines sculptas et pictas eamque cultu spurcissimo Machometi coaptans, ab extra faciens ostium, ut Sarraceni ingredi possent, dum placeret... |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ztUWAAAAQAAJ}}<br>[https://archive.org/details/libraryofpalesti07paleuoft English version], page 303: "The Jews have many times begged the Soldan to give them that place, that they may make an oratory of it, and they beg it of him even to this day : while the Christians have always refused it to them. So at last the Soldan inquired wherefore this place was holy. When he was told that David and the other kings of Jerusalem of his seed were buried there, he said : 'We Saracens also count David holy, even as the Christians and the Jews do, and we believe the Bible as they do. Wherefore neither the Christians nor the Jews shall have that place, but we will take it for ourselves. He thereupon came to Jerusalem and blocked up the door by which one entered that chapel from inside the monastery, desecrated the chapel, turned out Christ's altars, brake the carved images, blotted out the paintings, and fitted it for the worship of the most abominable Mahomet, making a door on the outside by which the Saracens could enter it when they pleased."</ref> in 1429 Mamluk Sultan [[Barsbay]] took part of the lower floor of the complex away from the Franciscans and converted the tomb chamber into a mosque.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Corpus. Vol. 3. The City of Jerusalem|last=Pringle |first=Denys |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2007|page=270 }}</ref> Though it was returned a year later, possession alternated back and forth until 1523, during the reign of Ottoman Sultan [[Suleiman the Magnificent]], when Muslim authorities expelled the Franciscans from the entire building.{{sfn|Pringle|2007|p=271}}

====Upper floor (Cenacle) and Franciscan convent====
After the 1523 expulsion, the "chapel of the Holy Spirit" (the Cenacle) was transformed into a mosque, as witnessed by a 1524 inscription on its east wall.{{sfn|Pringle|2007|p=271}} With the 1536–41 rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls by Suleiman, Mount Zion was again left outside the city.{{sfn|Pringle|2007|p=271}}

In 1551{{sfn|Pringle|2007|p=271}} the Franciscans were ejected from the premises of their entire Mount Zion convent,{{sfn|Pringle|2007|p=271}} possibly on account of an old 12th-century rumour that Christian workmen had discovered the Tombs of David and Solomon and the other kings of Judah.{{sfn|Cust|1929|loc= Chapter The Status Quo : its Origin and History till the Present Time section B : "The result was that in 1552 by Imperial decree the Franciscans were ejected from the Cenacle, which passed into Moslem hands. [Footnote: According to some authorities this drastic action of the Sultan was on account of the alarm caused by a rumour, started originally at the end of the 12th century by Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, that some Christian workmen had discovered on Mount Zion the Tombs of David and Solomon and the other Kings of Judah.]"}} With time, their properties on Mount Zion were progressively expropriated by the sheikh of the now Muslim shrine of Nabi Da'ud.{{sfn|Pringle|2007|p=271}} Sometime between 1600 and 1639 a domed [[maqam (shrine)|maqam]] was built over the former "chapel of the Holy Spirit", and only from 1831 onwards were the Franciscans allowed to hold mass there on [[Maundy Thursday]] and [[Pentecost]].{{sfn|Pringle|2007|p=271}} Muslim control of the site continued until 1948, when Israel placed it under the authority of the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Ministry of Religious Affairs]].{{sfn|Pringle|2007|p=272}}

====Status during British Mandate====
[[File:MountZion1946.jpg|thumb|Mount Zion district in 1946]]

During the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate period]], the site was not subject to the [[Status Quo (Jerusalem and Bethlehem)|Status Quo]] of Holy Land sites since it was considered to be "absolutely under the authority of the Moslem [[Waqf]] of Nebi Daud, who however arrange to open it to the many that are anxious to visit a site of such sacred traditions".{{sfn|Cust|1929|loc=Chapter The Status Quo : its Origin and History till the Present Time section C quote: "The Cenacle is not a subject of concern to this study, being absolutely under the authority of the Moslem Waqf of Nebi Daud, who however arrange to open it to the many that are anxious to visit a site of such sacred traditions."}}

===Israeli control and 1953–54 UN dispute===
After the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], the southern part of Mount Zion upon which the Tomb stands ended up on the [[Israel]] side of the [[Green Line (Israel)|Green Line]]. Between 1948 and 1967, the eastern part of the Old City was occupied by [[Jordan]], which barred entry to Jews even for the purpose of praying at Jewish holy sites. Jewish pilgrims went to David's Tomb and climbed to the rooftop to pray.<ref name=Divided/> Since 1949, a blue cloth with basic modernist ornamentation has been placed over the sarcophagus. The images on the cloth include several crown-shaped [[Torah finials]] placed over [[Torah scroll]]s, and a [[violin]], and the cloth also features several pieces of text written in Hebrew. The building is now part of the Diaspora ''[[yeshiva]]''.

Between 1953 and 1954 a dispute arose over the site at the United Nations.{{sfn|Peled|2012|p=93}} In October 1953, [[Husayn Khalidi]], the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates (Jordan)|Jordanian foreign minister]] and a previous [[Mayor of Jerusalem]] wrote to [[Moshe Sharett]] via the United Nations about David's Tomb:
{{quote|Israel's flagrant defiance of all United Nations decisions now crowned by a further serious breach of the status quo governing the Holy Places of Jerusalem upheld by Turkish, Mandatory and Jordan regimes. Photographic confirmation now in hand proves beyond doubt Israel's conversion of the Moslem holy mosque Nebi Daoud Cenaculum into a Jewish synagogue.{{sfn|Peled|2012|p=93}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Islam: Political Impact, 1908–1972 : British Documentary Sources |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rtYkAQAAMAAJ|volume=9|year=2004|publisher=Archive Editions|isbn=978-1840970708|page=59}}</ref>}}
He demanded immediate United Nations intervention; Iraq sent a similar message in December.{{sfn|Peled|2012|p=93}} In February 1954, Israel replied:{{sfn|Peled|2012|p=94}}
{{quote|Since the establishment of the State of Israel, no architectural, religious or other changes have been made in the Coenaculum room, where the Nabi Daoud is situated, and access thereto is accorded to all visitors in strict accordance with the status quo. No applications by Moslems to visit the place has been refused.{{sfn|Peled|2012|p=94}}}}

===Recent events===
In December 2012, unknown persons completely destroyed a large number of 17th-century Islamic tiles in the tomb; the [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] has decided not to reconstruct them.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Haaretz |title=Who is 'Judaizing' King David's Tomb? |date=August 3, 2013 |author=Nir Hasson |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.539522}}</ref>

A statue of King David, installed on Mount Zion in 2008 near the compound<ref>[https://www.google.com/maps/@31.7719582,35.2291172,3a,73.3y,344.75h,99.49t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMu4NzNC8AWjjyQl4VxxNlLQSDYgXg1Lhn2jBZ1!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMu4NzNC8AWjjyQl4VxxNlLQSDYgXg1Lhn2jBZ1%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya112.52644-ro-0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120 The statue of King David], ''google.com/maps'', 2017.</ref> by the Russian Charitable Foundation of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, was dismantled in 2018. The statue had previously been vandalized several times. The installation of the monument in the old section of the city was negatively received by many representatives of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Orthochristian.com |title=Monument to King David gifted by Russian charity dismantled in Jerusalem |date=March 27, 2018 |url=http://orthochristian.com/111803.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Ynetnews.com |title=Haredim want King David statue moved |date=September 21, 2010 |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3954231,00.html}}</ref>

==Question of authenticity==
[[File:King david tomb.jpg|right|thumb|King David's cenotaph in 2006]]

===Earlier traditions===
The compound is not considered to be the authentic resting place of King David.<ref name=RDAZ/> According to the [[Hebrew Bible]] ([[Old Testament]] of [[Christianity]]),<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Kings|2:10|}}</ref> David was actually buried within the [[City of David (historic)|City of David]] together with "his forefathers". This practice repeated itself during the [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|First Temple period]] – according to the [[Books of Kings]], most of the [[Kingdom of Judah|Judean]] kings of the [[Davidic line|House of David]] were buried "with their fathers" in the City of David. It is also said that [[Jehoiada]] the priest was buried among the kings.<ref name=":0">{{Bibleverse|2 Chronicles|24:25}}</ref> The [[Books of Chronicles|Book of Chronicles]] adds a secondary distinction, stating that some of the kings, such as [[Amaziah of Judah|Ahaziah]]<ref name=":0" /> and [[Jehoash of Judah|Joash]]<ref name=":0" /> were buried in the City of David, but not in the "tombs of the kings".

During the [[Second Temple period]], the tombs of the House of David were still known. They are mentioned in the [[Book of Nehemiah]] as a well-known landmark in Jerusalem.<ref name=":0" />  The Apostle Peter specifically referred to the location of David's tomb as commonly-known in his sermon on the day of Pentecost.<ref>{{Cite web |title=oremus Bible Browser : acts 2:29 |url=https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=578730685 |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=bible.oremus.org}}</ref>  According to the first century Jewish-Roman historian [[Josephus]], [[Herod the Great]] tried to loot the Tomb of David, but discovered that someone else had already done so before him.<ref name=":0" /> Elsewhere, in ''Wars of the Jews'', Josephus says that [[John Hyrcanus]] took three thousand talents from David's tomb in order to defend Jerusalem against [[Antiochus VII Sidetes]].<ref name=":1">Tosefta, Bava Batra, 1:11</ref> The genuine David's Tomb is unlikely to contain any furnishings of value.

According to the [[Tosefta]], "the graves of the House of David{{nbsp}}[...] were in Jerusalem and no one had ever touched them."<ref name=":1" />

The 4th-century [[Itinerarium Burdigalense|Pilgrim of Bordeaux]] reports that he discovered David to be buried in [[Bethlehem]], in a vault that also contained the tombs of [[Ezekiel]], [[Jesse (biblical figure)|Jesse]], [[Solomon]], [[Job (Bible)|Job]], and [[Asaph (Bible)|Asaph]], with those names carved into the tomb walls.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061128173732/http://soltdm.com/sources/mss/ib/ib.htm Itinerarium Burdigalense] 598:4–6</ref>

==="Zion": three consecutive locations===
====Jebusite fortress====
According to the [[Book of Samuel]], Mount Zion was the site of the [[Jebusite]] fortress called the "stronghold of Zion" that was conquered by [[King David]], becoming his [[David's Palace|palace]] and the [[City of David (historic)|City of David]].<ref name=Myrickp320>{{cite book|pages=320–322 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bvhA6IE4VqgC&q=zion+canaanite&pg=PA321|title=Paths of the Messiah |author=Bargil Pixner|editor=Rainer Riesner|editor-link=Rainer Riesner|others=Keith Myrick, Miriam Randall (trans.)|publisher=Ignatius Press |year=2010 |isbn= 978-0898708653}}</ref> It is mentioned in the [[Book of Isaiah]] (60:14), the [[Book of Psalms]], and the first book of the [[Maccabees]] (c. 2nd century BCE).<ref name=Myrickp320/>

====Temple Mount====
After the conquest of the Jebusite city, located on the ridge west of the Kidron Valley, the ridge's highest part, in the north, became the site of Solomon's Temple. Based on archaeological excavations revealing sections of the First Temple city wall,{{where|date=December 2013}} this is believed to have received the name Mount Zion.<ref>''This is Jerusalem,'' Menashe Harel, Canaan Publishing, Jerusalem, 1977, pp. 193, 272</ref>

====Western hill====
Towards the end of the First Temple period, the city expanded westward.<ref>''This is Jerusalem,'' Menashe Harel, Canaan Publishing, Jerusalem, 1977, p.272</ref> Just before the Roman conquest of Jerusalem and the destruction of the [[Second Temple]], [[Josephus]] described Mount Zion as a hill across the city's central valley to the west.<ref name=Myrickp320 /> This indicates that the western hill by then had come to be known as Mount Zion, and this has been the case ever since.<ref name=Myrickp320/> It must however be said that Josephus never used the name "Mount Zion" in any of his writings, but described the "Citadel" of king David as being situated on the higher and longer hill, thus pointing at the Western Hill as what the Bible calls Mount Zion.<ref name="Wars">{{cite book |title=The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem |author= Flavius [[Josephus]] |publisher= [[Project Gutenberg]] |translator= [[William Whiston]] |quote= The city was built upon two hills, which are opposite to one another, and have a valley to divide them asunder; [...] Of these hills, that which contains the upper city is much higher, and in length more direct. Accordingly, it was called the "Citadel," by king David; [...] Now the Valley of the Cheesemongers, as it was called, and was that which we told you before distinguished the hill of the upper city from that of the lower,... (Book 5, Chapter 4, §1; or V:137) |url= http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2850/2850-h/2850-h.htm#link52HCH0004 |access-date=19 February 2016 |date= October 2001 }}</ref><ref>''The genuine works of Flavius Josephus...'', translated by William Whiston, Havercamp edition, New York (1810). See footnote on page 83. ({{Google books|nc0vAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA83|online copy|page=83}})</ref>

===Early synagogue: pro and con===
The 4th-century accounts of the Bordeaux Pilgrim, Optatus of Milevus, and Epiphanius of Salamis all record that seven synagogues had once stood on Mount Zion.<ref>Bordeaux Pilgrim, ''Itinerarium Burdigalense'' 20; Optatus of Milevus, ''Contra Donatistas'' 3.2; Epiphanius of Salamis, ''De Mensuris et Ponderibus'' 14 (54c).</ref>  By 333 CE (a date defined by some as the end of the Roman period and beginning of the Byzantine period), only one of them remained, but no association with David's tomb is mentioned.

One fringe theory claims that at the end of the Roman period, a synagogue called Hagiya Zion{{dubious|Greek-named synagogue using the term "holy", in wide use for, mhmmm... – churches?|date=March 2020}} was built at the entrance of the structure known as David's Tomb, probably based on the belief that David brought the [[Ark of the Covenant]] here from [[Beit Shemesh]] and [[Kiryat Ye'arim]] before the construction of the Temple.<ref>''This is Jerusalem,'' Menashe Harel, Canaan Publishing, Jerusalem, 1977, p.273</ref>

[[Jacob Pinkerfeld]], the archaeologist who has worked on part of the site, has also suggested that "David's Tomb" was actually a 2nd-century, late-Roman synagogue.<ref name="Pink"/>

The identification of David's Tomb as a synagogue has been thoroughly challenged due to the absence of typical synagogal architectural characteristics including (original) columns, benches, or similar accoutrements.<ref>Clausen (2016). pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=t_0WDAAAQBAJ&pg=168 168]–175.</ref> The presence of a niche in the original foundation walls, thought by a few to be evidence of a Torah niche, has been refuted by many scholars as being too large and too high (8' x 8') to have served this purpose.<ref>Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome (2008). p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cSuErBFmykQC&pg=117 117].</ref><ref name=OS>{{cite book |author=[[Oskar Skarsaune|Skarsaune, Oskar]] |title= In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity |page= 189 |year= 2002 |location=[[Downers Grove]], IL |publisher=[[InterVarsity Press]] |edition= 5th |isbn= 978-0199236664 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IAlQTo4H4F4C&pg=PA189 |access-date=5 June 2022}}</ref><ref name=JT>{{cite book |author=[[Joan E. Taylor|Taylor, Joan E.]] |title= Christians and the Holy Places: The Myth of Jewish-Christian Origins |page= 215 |year= 1993 |location= Oxford |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |isbn= 0198147856 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KWAXbCNxH6YC&pg=215 |access-date=5 June 2022}}</ref><ref>Clausen (2016). pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=t_0WDAAAQBAJ&pg=158 158]–163.</ref>

===Source of the tradition===
====David's Tomb====
According to Professor Doron Bar,<blockquote>Although the sources for the tradition of David's Tomb on Mount Zion are not clear, it appears that it only began to take root during the subsequent, early Muslim period. Apparently, the Christians inherited this belief from the Muslims, and only at a relatively late juncture in the city's history were the Jews finally convinced as well.{{sfn|Bar|2004|pp=260–278}}</blockquote>

Others disagree. The facility was under the control of Greek Christians at this time. It was, indeed, shortly before the Crusades at the earliest that the location of David's Tomb can be traced to Mount Zion.<ref>Pixner, ''Paths'' 352; Clausen, ''Upper Room'' 57.</ref> But the first literary reference to the tomb being on Mount Zion can be found in the tenth-century ''Vita Constantini'' (Life of Constantine).<ref>Anonymous, ''Vita Constantini'' 11.</ref> Ora Limor attributes the localizing of the tomb on Mount Zion to the tenth-century transition from the liturgical celebration of the "founding fathers" of Jerusalem, King David, the founder of the dynasty and capital city, and [[James, brother of Jesus]], the founder of the "mother of all churches" on Mount Sion, to the belief that their tombs were actually located at the site where the liturgy was held–a case of "consolidation", from "abstract foundation myth... into the physical tradition of the tomb."<ref>Ora Limor (1988), pp. 459, 461.</ref>

Limor quotes Muslim traveller [[Mas'udi]], who in 943 wrote about Muslim traditions that placed the tomb of David in the [[Aleppo]] region of [[Syria]] and in eastern [[Lebanon]].<ref>Ora Limor (1988), p. 457.</ref> Having initially revered David's tomb in Bethlehem,{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} Muslims began to venerate it on Mount Zion instead but no earlier than the 10th century following the Christian (and possibly Jewish) lead.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}{{dubious|Says who? Made up "to fit" a narrative? Or from D. Bar?|date=June 2022}}

In the twelfth century, Jewish pilgrim [[Benjamin of Tudela]] recounted a somewhat fanciful tale of workmen accidentally discovering the tomb of David on Mount Zion,<ref>Benjamin of Tudela, ''Masa'ot Binyamin'' 85.</ref> in which he used details from [[Josephus Flavius]]'s narrative about the attempt by [[Herod the Great]] to rob the tomb.<ref name=Pringle07>{{cite book |author =[[Denys Pringle|Pringle, Denys]] |title= St Mary of Mount Sion, no. 336 |year= 2007 |page= 265 |work= The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Corpus. Vol. 3. The City of Jerusalem |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn= 978-0521390385 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=X0jH6VPi4-gC&pg=P265 |access-date= 4 June 2022}}</ref>

====Upper Room and first church====
{{Main Article|Cenacle}}
Epiphanius' 4th-century account in his ''Weights and Measures'' is one of the first to associate the location with the original meeting place of the Christian faith, writing that there stood "the church of God, which was small, where the disciples, when they had returned after the Savior had ascended from the Mount of Olives, went to the upper room".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/epiphanius_weights_03_text.htm|title=Epiphanius of Salamis, Weights and Measures (1935) pp. 11–83. English translation|website=www.tertullian.org}}</ref>

==Exploration==
In the mid-nineteenth century, engineer and amateur archaeologist [[Ermete Pierotti]] reported discovering a cavern beneath the grounds of the Byzantine and Crusader churches on Mount Zion which he suspected extended to beneath the Tomb of David.<ref>[[Ermete Pierotti]], ''Jerusalem Explored: Being a Description of the Ancient and Modern City'', 2 vols., trans. Thomas George Bonney (Cambridge: C. J. Clay, 1864), 215.</ref> A limited exploration revealed human remains within a huge vault supported by piers. The cavern has yet to be confirmed or scientifically excavated.

In 1951, archaeologist [[Jacob Pinkerfeld]] worked in the lower parts of the structure and interpreted them as being the remains of a synagogue which, in his opinion, had later been used as a church by Judeo-Christians.<ref name=McNamer/>

==Alternative burial sites==
[[File:City of davidDSCN4607.JPG|thumb|Tomb ''T1'', identified by Shanks as the possible tomb of David.]]
Archaeologists, doubting the Mount Zion location and favouring the biblical account, have since the early 20th century sought the actual tomb in the City of David area. In 1913, [[Raymond Weill]] found eight elaborate tombs at the south of the City of David,<ref>Kathleen Kenyon, ''Archaeology in the Holy Land'' (1985), p. 333.</ref> which archaeologists have subsequently interpreted as strong candidates for the burial locations of the former kings of the city;<ref name=HS64/> [[Hershel Shanks]], for example, argues that the most ornate of these (officially labelled ''T1'') is precisely where one would expect to find the burial site mentioned in the Bible.<ref name=HS64>Hershel Shanks, ''Biblical Archaeology Review'', January/February 1995, p. 64.</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons category}}
* [[Church of Zion, Jerusalem]] or Church of the Apostles on Mount Zion, Roman-era church or synagogue speculated to have belonged to an early Jewish-Christian congregation
* [[List of burial places of biblical figures]]
* [[Uzziah#"Uzziah Tablet" funerary inscription|Uzziah Tablet]], artifact possibly indicating a reburial of King Uzziah's remains

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
;Bibliography
* {{cite journal|last=Bar|first=Doron|url= https://www.academia.edu/16528490 |title=Re-creating Jewish Sanctity in Jerusalem: Mount Zion and David's Tomb, 1948–67|journal=Journal of Israeli History|volume=23|issue=2|pages=260–278 |date=2004|doi=10.1080/1353104042000282401|s2cid=153462373}}
* {{cite book |last1=Breger |first1=Marshall J. |last2=Reiter |first2=Yitzhak |last3=Hammer |first3=Leonard |title=Holy Places in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Confrontation and Co-existence |year= 2009 |publisher= Routledge |pages=105– |isbn=978-1135268114 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=JGaPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT105}}
* {{Cite book |last= Clausen |first= David |title= The Upper Room and Tomb of David: The History, Art and Archaeology of the Cenacle on Mount Zion |year= 2016 |publisher= McFarland |location= Jefferson, NC |isbn= 978-1476663050 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=t_0WDAAAQBAJ |access-date= 4 June 2022}}
* {{cite book |last=Cust |first=L. G. A. |author-link=Lionel George Archer Cust |title=The Status Quo in the Holy Places |date=1929 |publisher=H.M.S.O. for the High Commissioner of the Government of Palestine |url= https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Status_Quo_in_the_Holy_Places}}
* {{cite book |author= Ferrari, Silvio |author2= Benzo, Andrea |title= Between Cultural Diversity and Common Heritage: Legal and Religious Perspectives on the Sacred Places of the Mediterranean |year= 2016 |publisher= Taylor & Francis |pages=150– |isbn=978-1317175025|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=5okHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT150}}
* {{cite journal |last= Limor |first= Ora |title= The Origins of a Tradition: King David's Tomb on Mount Zion |year= 1988 |pages= 453–462 |journal= Traditio |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume= 44 |doi=10.1017/S0362152900007133 |jstor= 27831230 |s2cid= 148351522 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/27831230 |access-date= 4 June 2022|url-access= subscription }}
* {{cite book |last1= Mizrachi |first1= Yonathan |first2= Anna |last2= Veeder |title= David's Tomb on Mt. Zion |date=2014 |publisher=Emek Shaveh |url=http://alt-arch.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Davids-Tomb-Eng.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909192654/http://alt-arch.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Davids-Tomb-Eng.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 9, 2015}}
* {{cite book |author=[[Jerome Murphy-O'Connor|Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome]] |title= The Cenacle and the Tomb of David |work= The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 |pages= 115–118 |series= Oxford Archaeological Guides |year= 2008 |location= Downers Grove, IL |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |edition= 5th |isbn= 978-0199236664 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cSuErBFmykQC&pg=115 |access-date=5 June 2022}}
* {{cite book |last=Peled |first=Alisa Rubin |title= Debating Islam in the Jewish State: The Development of Policy Toward Islamic Institutions in Israel |date= 2012 |publisher= SUNY Press |isbn=978-0791490068 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Qz5KkSVZaicC&pg=PA92}}
* {{cite book|last=Reiter|first=Yitzhak|title=Contested Holy Places in Israel–Palestine: Sharing and Conflict Resolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzUlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA186|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1351998857|pages=186–}}
* {{cite book |last=Vincent|first=Louis-Hugues|author-link= Louis-Hugues Vincent |title=Jérusalem. Recherches de topographie, d'archéologie et d'histoire |volume=2 |chapter=III: La Sainte Sion et les sanctuaires de second ordre a l'intérieur de la ville |publisher= Gabalda |date=1922 |pages=421–668 |chapter-url= https://archive.org/stream/jrusalemrecher02vincuoft#page/421/mode/1up}}
* {{cite journal |last= Wharton |first= Annabel Jane |title= Jerusalem's Zions |journal= Material Religion |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=218–243 |year=2013 |doi= 10.2752/175183413X13703410896050 |s2cid= 161373640 |url= https://sites.duke.edu/annabelwharton/files/2015/08/WhartonJerusalemsZions.pdf}}

{{Holy sites in Judaism}}{{Tourism in Jerusalem}}{{Cemeteries in Jerusalem}}

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[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 12th century]]
[[Category:Gothic architecture in Israel]]
[[Category:Cenotaphs in Israel]]
[[Category:Torah places]]
[[Category:Shrines in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:David]]
[[Category:Mount Zion]]
[[Category:Tombs of biblical people]]
[[Category:Jewish pilgrimage sites]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures converted into mosques]]
[[Category:Tombs in Israel]]