Kidron Valley (classical transliteration,Cedron, fromHebrew:נחל קדרון,Naḥal Qidron, literally Qidron River; alsoQidron Valley)[1][2][3][4] is the modern name of the valley originating slightly northeast of theOld City ofJerusalem, which then separates theTemple Mount from theMount of Olives, and ending at theDead Sea. Beyond Jerusalem it continues in a general south-easterly direction through theJudean desert in theWest Bank, reaching the Dead Sea near thesettlement ofOvnat, and descending 4,000 feet (1,200 m) along its 20-mile (32 km) course.
In ancient Hebrew sources, as well as in Arabic, different segments of the valley bear different names.Arabic names include وادي الجوز,Wadi el-Joz, 'Valley of the Walnut', but possibly a shortening of "Valley of Josaphat", for the upper segment, near theTemple Mount; andWadi en-Nar, 'Fire Valley', for the rest of it – with at least the segment at the ancientMar Saba ('Saint Sabbas') monastery also known in the 19th century asWadi er-Rahib, 'Monk's Valley'.
In its upper part, thePalestinian neighbourhood ofWadi Joz bears the valley's Arabic name.[5] The Jewish settlement ofKedar, in theWest Bank, located on a ridge above the valley, is named after the valley's Hebrew name.
TheHebrew Bible apparently calls the upper courseEmekYehoshafat, the "Valley of Josaphat". It appears in Jewisheschatologic prophecies, which include the return ofElijah, followed by the arrival of theMessiah, and theWar of Gog and Magog and Judgment Day.[5]
The upper Kidron Valley holds Jerusalem's most important cemetery from theFirst Temple period, theSilwan necropolis, assumed to have been used by the highest-ranking officials residing in the city, withrock-cut tombs dating between the 9th and 7th centuries BCE.[6]
The upper Kidron Valley segment north of the Old City was one of the main burial grounds of Jerusalem in theSecond Temple period, where hundreds of tombs have survived until today, while the segment east of, and opposite the Temple Mount, boasts several excellently preserved monumental tombs from the same period.[7] Several of the Second Temple period tombs were also used later in time, either as burial or as shelters for hermits and monks of the large monastic communities which inhabited the Kidron Valley during theByzantine Empire period (4th–7th century).[7][8] The ancient tombs in this area attracted the attention of ancient travelers, most notablyBenjamin of Tudela.[9]
A source of confusion is the fact that the modern name "Kidron Valley" (Nahal Kidron in Hebrew) applies to the entire length of a longwadi, which starts north of the Old City of Jerusalem and ends at the Dead Sea, while the biblical namesNahal Kidron,Emek Yehoshafat,King’s Valley etc. might refer to certain parts of this valley located in the immediate vicinity of ancient Jerusalem, but not to the entire wadi, and certainly not to the long segment crossing the Judean desert. Similarly, in Arabic, large wadis have many names, each applied to a certain distinct segment of its course.
The Hebrew name Qidron is derived from the rootqadar, "to be dark", and may be meant in this context as "dusky".[10]
In Christian tradition the similarity between the Greek word forcedar, κέδρος (kedros), and the Greek name of the valley as used in theSeptuagint, Kedron, has led to the Qidron Valley being wrongly called "Valley of the Cedars".[11]
TheHebrew Bible talks of the "Valley of Jehoshaphat – Emek Yehoshafat" (Hebrew:עמק יהושפט), meaning "The valley where Yahweh shall judge." Not all scholars agree with the traditional view that the Kidron Valley, as the valley situated between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives to the east, is the location of the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The Kidron Valley was not associated with the Valley of Jehoshaphat until the 4th century AD,[12] making this identification somewhat uncertain since no actual valley of this name is known to pre-Christian antiquity.
Biblical commentatorAdam Clarke claims that the Valley of Judgment is a symbolic place.[13]
In the times of theOld Testament kings, the Kidron Valley was identified with, at least in part, the King's Garden; the kings owned land in the area.[9] That the upper Kidron Valley was also known as the King's Valley, in which Absalom set up his monument or "pillar" (see2 Samuel 18:18; no connection to the much later "Absalom's Pillar"), is problematic. The Bible does not make this identification explicit, and the association can only be inferred as associated with En-rogel, which is farther down the Kidron Valley towards the desert.[14]
The name 'King's Valley' may be derived from its location just east of the palace of David in the City of David on the western slopes of the Kidron Valley and south of where the platform was built.[15]
The three monumental tombs on the eastern side of the Kidron Valley are among the most well-known landmarks of ancient Jerusalem. These are, from north to south, the so-called "Tomb of Absalom" (Hebrew: Yad Avshalom), which rises in front of the so-called "Cave" or "Tomb of Jehoshaphat", the (correctly named)Tomb of Benei Hezir (Benei Hezir is the Hebrew for "sons of Hezir", meaning the Hezir priestly family ), and the so-called "Tomb of Zechariah", which could quite likely be thenefesh of the Tomb of Benei Hezir.
Absalom's Tomb consists of two parts. First, a lower cube hewn out of the bedrock, decorated with engaged Ionic columns bearing a Doric frieze and crowned by an Egyptian cornice.[7] This part of the monument contains a small chamber with an entrance and twoarcosolia (arched funeral niches) and constitutes the actual tomb.[7] The second part, built of ashlars, is placed on top of the rock-hewn cube. It consists of a square pedestal carrying a round drum, itself topped by a conical roof. The cone is slightly concave and is crowned by an Egyptian-style lotus flower. The upper part has the general shape of atholos[5] and is interpreted as anefesh or monument for the tomb below, and possibly also for the adjacent "Cave of Jehoshaphat". The "Pillar of Absalom" is dated to the 1st century CE.[7][16]
Literally, the wordnefesh means 'soul', but in a funerary context it is the term applied to a form of funerary monument. In descriptions of the tombs of the Jewish nobility, the pyramid shape is also emphasized as the mark of a tomb. This would imply thatnefesh and pyramid were synonymous. The Jewish tombs in the Kidron Valley are the best examples of this form ofnefesh.[17] They appear as a rectangular, pyramid-capped monument. Similar forms of the nefesh decorate ossuaries, with the addition of a dome-capped column. In Jerusalem thenefesh as a tomb monument stood either above or beside the tomb; set on steps or on a base.[16]
It was in this valley where King Jehoshaphat is thought to have overthrown the enemies of Israel (2 Chr. 20:26).
King David fled through the Kidron Valley during the rebellion ofAbsalom (2 Samuel 15:23).[18]
Chapters 29, 30 and 31 of 2 Chronicles (2 Chronicles 29–31) cover KingHezekiah's call for the sanctification of the ministers of the Lord, the purification of unclean things, an invitation to all Israel and Judah to celebratePassover in Jerusalem, and liturgical reforms. As part of these changes, which took place around 700 BCE, "altars for offering incense they took away and threw into the Wadi Kidron" (2 Chronicles 30:14). During the same reforms and as part of theritual cleaning of theTemple, thepriests removed the unclean items from the inner part of the Temple to the courts, and theLevites carried the unclean items to Wadi Kidron (2 Chronicles 29:16).
The Book of Joel mentions that God will assemble all nations in the "Valley of Jehoshaphat" (Joel 3:2,Joel 3:12).
According to theNew Testament,Jesus crossed the valley many times travelling between Jerusalem andBethany.[18] The valley contains theGarden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed the night before he was crucified. The name Kidron was mentioned inJohn 18:1.
The Akeldma Tombs were discovered in 1989 at the confluence of the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys, south of Jerusalem's Old City, and were excavated and published by archaeologistsGideon Avni andZvi Greenhut.[19] In 1989, theJerusalem Municipality conducted routine development work in the area. Upon widening a narrow street near one of the approaches to theSilwan village, bulldozers uncovered a number of square openings hewn into rock. TheIsrael Antiquities Authority immediately stopped the road construction. After uncovering the underground spaces, archaeologists found themselves standing inside large burial complexes which appeared intact. Moving carefully from one chamber to another, flashlights revealed an abundance of artifacts scattered on the floors, pottery and glass vessels, oil lamps and many ornamentalossuaries. The three large caves proved to be part of an extensive Jewish burial ground in use at the end of the Second Temple period, which terminated in the year 70 AD, when Jerusalem was conquered and the Temple destroyed by the Roman legions.[20][21]
As of 2010, there is a controversial proposal to reconstruct part of the Kidron Valley, an Arab neighborhood of Silwan inEast Jerusalem, and turn it into a park to be called theGarden of the King.[22]
A road crossing the very steep Wadi Naar (lower Kidron Valley) and connecting Arab towns has been substantially upgraded as part of the USAID effort to modernise the Arab infrastructure. An existing road has been widened and re-paved, and efforts were made to improve the route it takes.[2]
Currently, part of East Jerusalem's and thePalestinian Authority's sewage waters flow freely into the Kidron stream causing severe environmental damage in theJudean desert and theDead sea area. In a rare collaboration with the Palestinian Authority,Hagihon is leading the Kidron stream restoration project with a budget of close to a billion shekels. According to the plan the sewage flow to the stream will be stopped and diverted to a new collection line, through an 8-km long pipe to theOg purification facility. To avoid damage to the natural valley as well as to theMarsaba Monastery and other archeological sites, the route of the sewage line was diverted from the stream itself, through a 60 meter deep 1.3 km long tunnel. The project also includes the construction of ahydroelectric station to generate green electricity. The purified water will be used for agriculture and irrigation ofpalm groves in theJordan Valley and the Palestinian Authority.[23]
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