Cairo: Jesus in Egypt & God's Unusual Leaning
God seldom gives us all we need to understand, but He always gives us what we need in order to obey. The story of Jesus in Egypt as a boy offers a...
Whenever someone asks how to spend a day in Jerusalem, I try to steer the person away from shopping malls and toward the Tower of David Citadel—Jerusalem’s museum of the city’s history.
The museum does what no book can. In just a few hours’ time, one can catch a glimpse of Jerusalem’s history as well as observe archaeology from the city’s various periods.
(Photo: Courtyard of David Citadel, Jerusalem. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Ironically, the museum that does so much to remove the confusion about Jerusalem’s history is named in error.
The Tower of David Citadel in Jerusalem has nothing to do with David.
The Tower of David Citadel dominates the western side of the Old City.
In AD 6, shortly after Herod the Great’s death, the Romans began to govern Judea. Not surprisingly, Roman procurators chose Herod’s posh palace as their Jerusalem residence. Normally, they resided in Herod’s beautiful seaside palace in Caesarea, the Roman capital of Judea.
Because Pontius Pilate stayed at the Jerusalem palace, or Praetorium, he likely held the trial there in which he condemned Jesus.
The popular identification of the Antonia Fortress as Pilate’s Praetorium finds its basis in tradition, not history.
Even though history points to the David Citadel as Jerusalem’s Praetorium, tradition often overshadows truth.
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(All pics courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
A number of regrettable misnomers stemmed from the fifth century as Byzantine Christians misidentified the Western Hill as biblical “Mount Zion”—a name the hill still bears today.
The David Citadel museum offers an unparalleled history of Jerusalem and a microcosm of Israel’s history.
Housed in various sections of the restored ruins, the museum traces the major periods of Jerusalem’s past.
The museum really helps untie the knots of Jerusalem’s tangled history. King Herod would be proud.
(Photo: Hasmonean ruins in the David Citadel, Jerusalem. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
A stroll through the outside grounds offers a taste of Jerusalem’s rich archaeological past.
Other archaeological finds abound—all worth noticing.
Herod’s original Citadel had three towers that he named after his wife Miriam, his friend Hippicus, and his brother Phasael.
(Photo: Phasael Tower, David Citadel, Jerusalem, courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
My wife and I stood atop the Phasael Tower one afternoon and enjoyed reading the events of the Passion Week as recorded in the gospels.
Most of the time, a visit to the Tower of David Citadel Museum in Jerusalem occurs on a visitor’s last day—a good review. But I think it should happen on day one—for a good preview.
Either way, the overview of Jerusalem’s history offers valuable hooks to hang information on.
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