Tower of David (northeast tower)



Tower of David is a historical name given to the northeast tower of the Citadel of Jerusalem. It has been identified as a Herodian structure, either the Phasael Tower or the Hippicus Tower described by the ancient Jewish historian Josephus.

Herodian towers
The towers named Phasael, Hippicus and Mariamne were situated in the northwest corner of the so-called First Wall, the Hasmonean and Herodian city wall protecting the Western Hill of Jerusalem. They were situated close to where the Jaffa Gate is today and were built by Herod the Great at the same time he built his immediately adjacent royal palace. These towers protected the main entrance to the city, as well as the palace, constituting a potential last refuge for the king. All three towers have vanished except for the base of the Hippicus (or Phasael) Tower, upon which the present "Tower of David" rests.

The towers were named by Herod after his brother Phasael, his friend, general Hippicus, who had fallen in battle, and his favourite wife, Mariamne.

When the city was razed in AD 70, all three towers were left standing, in order to show off the strength of the fortifications the Roman army had to overcome.

...Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and temple, but should leave as many of the towers standing as were of the greatest eminence; that is, Phasael, and Hippicus, and Mariamme, and so much of the wall as enclosed the city on the west side. This wall was spared, in order to afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison; as were the towers also spared, in order to demonstrate to posterity what kind of city it was, and how well fortified, which the Roman valour had subdued.

With time though, only one of Herod's towers survived - either the Phasael Tower, or, according to some, including archaeologist Hillel Geva who excavated the Citadel, the Hippicus Tower.

Byzantine name, "Tower of David"
During the Byzantine period, the remaining tower, and by extension the Citadel as a whole, acquired its alternative name - the Tower of David - after the  Byzantines, mistakenly identifying the hill as Mount Zion, presumed it to be David's palace mentioned in.

Early Muslim "Mihrab Dawud" tradition
In medieval times, Muslim Arabs called the gate next to the tower Bab Mihrab Dawud, or "Gate of David's Chamber or Sanctuary", on the belief that the room atop the Herodian tower stump represented the "private chamber" or "prayer room" of Prophet Dawud (King David), which is specifically mentioned in the Quran (Surah 38. Sad, Ayah 21 ).

Citadel extension
The Citadel was gradually built up under Muslim and Crusader rule and acquired the basis of its present shape in 1310, under the Mamluk sultan Malik al-Nasir. Suleiman the Magnificent later constructed the monumental gateway in the east that you enter through today. The minaret, a prominent Jerusalem landmark, was added between 1635 and 1655, and took over the title of "Tower of David" in the nineteenth century, so that the name can now refer to either the whole Citadel or the minaret alone.

Description
Of the original tower itself, some sixteen courses of the original stone ashlars can still be seen rising from ground level, upon which further courses of smaller stones were added in a later period, which significantly increased its height.

On the way up, a terrace overlooking the Citadel excavations has plaques identifying the different periods of all the remains. These include part of the Hasmonean city wall, a Roman cistern, and the ramparts of the Umayyad citadel, which held out for five weeks before falling to the Crusaders in 1099.

From the top of the tower, there are good views over the excavations inside the Citadel and out to the Old City, as well as into the distance south and west.