Jerusalem - City of David

Excavations recently carried out in this area (now the City of David Archeological Garden) by a team of archaeologists led by Yigal Shiloh of the Hebrew University's Archeological Institute reached occupation levels dated to the period of the foundation of the city by David around 1000 B.C. David's city was built on terraces on the hillside, like the present Arab village of Silwan opposite it. On the four man-made terraces, which were linked by flights of steps, the excavators found the remains of buildings and a drainage system. Individual finds from later periods show that Jews returning from the Babylonian Captivity settled here and that the site was also occupied in Persian, Hellenistic and Roman times. In the Middle Ages the City of David was abandoned, since Jerusalem had moved west to the area of the present Old City and the hill which then became known as Mount Zion.