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]
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