The Tower of David’s long-held secret has been revealed.
15 years ago, archaeologists dug under an abandoned building next to the Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem’s Old City. “[A]s they carefully dug down,” writes The Washington Post’s Ruth Eglash, “they eventually uncovered something extraordinary: the suspected remains of the palace where one of the more famous scenes of the New Testament may have taken place — the trial of Jesus.”
It is believed that the trial took place in the palace of Herod the Great; scholars express confidence that they have found remains of the palace.
Historians have long known that the site next to the Tower of David was used as a prison by the British and the Ottoman Turks, but the site’s possible much earlier use remained unknown for generations.
Many experts now believe that this place near the Tower of David is where Jesus of Nazareth faced the judgment of Pontius Pilate, who ordered his crucifixion. More than two thousand years later, the site is being opened for tours by the Tower of David Museum.
“There is, of course, no inscription stating it happened here,” Shimon Gibson told the Washington Post, “but everything — archaeological, historical and gospel accounts — all falls into place and makes sense.” Gibson is an archeology professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
If that’s the case, writes The Jerusalem Post, “pilgrims have been walking the wrong path when following the Stations of the Cross.” The newspaper points out that “for centuries Christians have thought that the Antonia Fortress was the site of Jesus’s trial and death.”
The “big” announcement of this discovery, writes Joel Baden, professor of Hebrew Bible at Yale University, is a long time coming.
“What should not be overlooked … is that an important archaeological revelation about the life and death of Jesus was effectively kept under wraps for nearly 15 years — the discovery of Herod’s Palace beneath the Tower of David was first made in 2001 as part of a museum expansion project,” Baden writes for CNN. “The timing of the announcement is linked entirely to the potential for tourist dollars, rather than to the remarkable historical and religious significance of the discovery on its own terms.”
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