| Mount Zion | |
|---|---|
| הַר צִיוֹן (Har Tsiyyon) جبل صهيون (Jabel Sahyoun) | |
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 765 m (2,510 ft) |
| Coordinates | 31°46′18″N35°13′43″E / 31.77167°N 35.22861°E /31.77167; 35.22861 |
| Geography | |
  Mount Zion Location within Jerusalem Show map of Jerusalem | |
| Location | Jerusalem |
| Parent range | Judean |
Mount Zion (Hebrew:הַר צִיּוֹן,Har Ṣīyyōn;Arabic:جبل صهيون,Jabal Sahyoun) is ahill inJerusalem, located just outside the walls of theOld City to the south. The term Mount Zion has been used in theHebrew Bible first for theCity of David (2 Samuel 5:7,1 Chronicles 11:5;1 Kings 8:1,2 Chronicles 5:2) and later for theTemple Mount, but its meaning has shifted and it is now used as the name of ancient Jerusalem's Western Hill.[1][2] In a wider sense, the termZion is also used for the entireLand of Israel.[3]
Theetymology of the wordZion is uncertain.[4][5][6] Mentioned in the Bible in theBook of Samuel (2 Samuel 5:7) as the name of theJebusite fortress conquered byKing David, its origin likely predates theIsraelites.[4][5] IfSemitic, it may be associated with the Hebrew rootṣiyyôn ("castle"). Though not spoken inJerusalem until 1,700 years later, the name is similar inArabic and may be connected to the rootṣiyya ("dry land") or the Arabicšanā ("protect" or "citadel").[5][6] It might also be related to the Arabic rootṣahî ("ascend to the top") orṣuhhay ("tower" or "the top of the mountain").[6] A non-Semitic relationship to theHurrian wordšeya ("river" or "brook") has also been suggested.[6]
Sahyun (Arabic:صهيون,Ṣahyūn orṢihyūn) is the word for Zion in Arabic andSyriac.[7] A valley calledWâdi Sahyûn (wadi being the Arabic for "valley") seemingly preserves the name and is located approximately one and three-quarter miles (2.8 km) from theOld City of Jerusalem'sJaffa Gate.[7]
The phraseHar Tzion, lit. "Mount Zion", appears nine times in theTanakh.[8]
The nameMount Zion referred successively to three locations, as Jerusalemites preserved the time-honoured name, but shifted the location they venerated as the focal point of biblical Jerusalem to the site considered most appropriate in their own time.
At first, Mount Zion was the name given to theJebusite fortified city on the lower part of ancient Jerusalem's Eastern Hill, also known as theCity of David.[1]
According to theBook of Samuel, Mount Zion was the site of the Jebusite fortress called the "stronghold of Zion" that was conquered byKing David, then renamed and partially rebuilt by him as the "City of David", where he erected hispalace.[1]
Once theFirst Temple was erected at the top of the Eastern Hill, the name "Mount Zion" migrated there too.[1]
After the conquest of the Jebusite city, its built-up area expanded northward towards the uppermost part of the same, Eastern Hill. This highest part became the site ofSolomon's Temple.
The identification of the pre-Israelite (Jebusite) and Israelite towns on the Eastern Hill is based on the existence of only one perennial water source in the area, theGihon Spring, and on archaeological excavations revealing sections of the Bronze Age and Iron Age city walls and water systems.[1][9]
The "Mount Zion" mentioned in the later parts of theBook of Isaiah (Isaiah 60:14), in theBook of Psalms, and theFirst Book of Maccabees (c. 2nd century BCE;1 Maccabees 4:36–38) seems to refer to the top of the hill, generally known as theTemple Mount.[1]
The last shift of the name Mount Zion was to the Western Hill, which is more dominant than the Eastern Hill and seemed to first-century CE Jerusalemites the worthier location for the by-then lost palace of King David. The Western Hill is what today is called Mount Zion.[1]
In the second half of the First Temple period, the city expanded westward and its defensive walls were extended to include the entire Western Hill behind them.[10]Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed the city almost completely around586 BCE, severing the continuity of historical memory. A long period of rebuilding followed, ending with Jerusalem's secondtotal destruction at the hands of theRomans in 70 CE.Josephus, the first-century CE historian who knew the city as it was before this second catastrophic event, identified Mount Zion as being the Western Hill, separated from the lower, Eastern Hill, by what he calls the "Tyropoeon Valley".[1] 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.[11][12]
At the end of the Roman period, a synagogue was built at the entrance of the structure known as David's Tomb, probably based on the belief that David brought theArk of the Covenant here fromBeit Shemesh andKiryat Ye'arim before the construction of the Temple.[13]
During the1948 war, Mount Zion was conquered by theHarel Brigade on May 18, 1948, and became the only part of the Old City to stay in Israeli hands until the armistice. At first it was linked to the Jewish neighborhood ofYemin Moshe across theValley of Hinnom via a narrow tunnel, but eventually an alternative was needed to evacuate the wounded and transport supplies to soldiers on Mount Zion. A cable car capable of carrying a load of 250 kilograms was designed for this purpose. The cable car was only used at night and lowered into the valley during the day to escape detection; it is still in place at what is now the Mount Zion Hotel. The ride from the Israeli position at the St. John Eye Hospital to Mount Zion took two minutes.[14]
Between 1948 and 1967, when the Old City was underJordanian rule, Israelis were forbidden access to the Jewish holy places. Mount Zion was a designated no-man's land between Israel and Jordan.[15] Mount Zion was the closest accessible site to the ancientJewish Temple. Until East Jerusalem was captured by Israel in theSix-Day War, Israelis would climb to the rooftop ofDavid's Tomb to pray.[16] The winding road leading up to Mount Zion is known as Pope's Way (Derekh Ha'apifyor). In his Epistle to the Romans, Paul noted: “Happy is he whose conscience does not condemn him in that which he allows” (Romans 14:22) It was paved in honor of the historic visit to Jerusalem ofPope Paul VI in 1964.[15]
The Tanakh reference toHar Tzion (Mount Tzion) that identifies its location is derived from the Psalm 48 composed by the sons ofKorah, i.e. Levites, as "the northern side of the city of the great king", whichRadak interprets as theCity of David "from the City of David, which is Zion (1 Kings 8:1–2; 2 Chron. 5:2)".[17] 2 Samuel 5:7 also reads, "David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David," which identifies Mount Tzion as part of the City of David, and not an area outside today's Old City of Jerusalem.Rashi identifies the location as the source of "joy" mentioned in the Psalm as theTemple Courtyard, the location of atonement offerings in the northern part of theTemple complex.[18]
In the New Testament, Mount Zion is used metaphorically to refer to the heavenly Jerusalem, God's holy, eternal city. Christians are said to have "come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven" (Hebrews 12:22–23, cf. Revelation 14:1).
Important sites on Mount Zion areDormition Abbey, the ArmenianMonastery of St. Saviour,King David's Tomb and theRoom of the Last Supper. Most historians and archeologists today do not regard "David's Tomb" there to be the actual burial place ofKing David. TheChamber of the Holocaust (Martef HaShoah), the precursor ofYad Vashem, is also located on Mount Zion. Another place of interest is the Catholic cemetery whereOskar Schindler, aRighteous Gentile who saved the lives of 1,200 Jews in theHolocaust, is buried.[19]
Notable burials in theProtestant cemetery on Mt. Zion include a number of prominent individuals from the 19th and 20th centuries. These include explorers and archaeologists such as:Flinders Petrie,Charles Frederick Tyrwhitt Drake, James Duncan,Clarence Stanley Fisher, Charles Lambert andJames Leslie Starkey; the architectConrad Schick; and pioneers in the fields of medicine, education, religion, diplomacy and social services such asJames Edward Hanauer, Ernest Masterman,John Nicholayson, Paul Palmer,Max Sandreczky, Johann Ludwig Schneller,Horatio G. Spafford, author of the hymnIt Is Well With My Soul. Also buried in the cemetery are G. Douglas Young, founder ofJerusalem University College, and his wife Georgina (Snook) Young. The cemetery is also the final resting place for a number of soldiers who fought in the First World War, as well as members of the Palestinian Police who served under theBritish mandate. Several persons buried here were killed in thebombing of the King David Hotel on the morning of 22 July 1946.
In 1874, an Englishman, Henry Maudsley, discovered a large segment of rock scarp and numerous ancient dressed stones on Mount Zion that were believed to be the base of Josephus's First Wall. Several of these stones were used to construct a retaining wall outside the main gate of the Bishop Gobat school (later known as the American Institute of Holy Land Studies and Jerusalem University College).[20]
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)
Media related toMount Zion at Wikimedia Commons
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