Israel and You Spaces and Places in Israel
1918 Jerusalem
Western Wall
Jaffa Road
Jaffa Road ( רחוב יפו – شارع يافا) is one of the longest and oldest major streets in Jerusalem, Israel. Originally paved in 1861 as part of the highway to Jaffa, the road quickly became a focal point for the 19th century expansion out of Jerusalem’s Old City walls, and early neighbourhoods like the Russian Compound, Nahalat Shiva, and Mahane Yehuda blossomed around it, as well as Shaare Zedek hospital.
Damascus Gate
The Damascus Gate was built by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent from the 16th century. This is a central gate in the wall and it faces the north, towards Nablus and Damascus. In English it is named Damascus Gate, and in Arabic- “Bab El Amud” (“the gate of the pillar”), probably due to the pillar that stood at the center of the gate’s courtyard during the Roman-Byzantine era, as evident in the Madaba Map, which was discovered in Jordan
King David’s Grave
King David’s Tomb (קבר דוד המלך) is a site considered by some to be the burial place of David, King of Israel, according to a tradition beginning in the 12th century. The majority of historians and archaeologists do not consider the site to be the actual resting place of King David.
The tomb compound includes the location traditionally identified as the Cenacle of Jesus, traditionally held to be the site of the Last Supper. The Sharif Ahmad Dajani, the first to hold the Dajani name, constructed the neglected Eastern side of today’s King David Tomb complex—where the tomb is located—in the 1490s. He established a place for Muslim prayer on the Eastern part of today’s complex.
Due to Israeli Jews being unable to reach holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City during the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank (1948-1967), the tomb of David became a place of worship, sought for its views of the Temple Mount, and thus became a symbol of prayer and yearning . Formerly a mosque, it was converted into a synagogue following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
Rachel’s Tomb
Rachel’s Tomb – قبر راحيل is located at the northern entrance of Bethlehem, is built in the style of a traditional maqam. The burial place of the matriarch Rachel as mentioned in the Jewish Tanakh. Although this site is considered unlikely to be the actual site of the grave, it is by far the most recognized candidate.
Shiloah Well
The Pool of Siloam (بركه سلوان – בריכת השילוח) was a rock-cut pool on the southern slope of the City of David, located outside the walls of the Old City to the southeast. The pool was fed by the waters of the Gihon Spring, carried there by two aqueducts.
Avshalom’s Grave
Tomb of Absalom (יד אבשלום), also called Absalom’s Pillar, is an ancient monumental rock-cut tomb with a conical roof located in the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem, a few metres from the Tomb of Zechariah and the Tomb of Benei Hezir. Although traditionally ascribed to Absalom, the rebellious son of King David of Israel (circa 1000 BCE), recent scholarship has dated it to the 1st century CE.
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