Jerusalem’s City of David is an archaeological wonder, dedicated to uncovering the historical ties of the Jewish people to Israel. Their slogan, “Not simply a matter of faith, but a matter of fact,” is illuminated through what is uncovered along the grounds of an ancient city; so ancient that pre-dated Jerusalem’s old city.
Unveiled to The Jerusalem Post on a special visit, The Pilgrimage Road is where people made a religious journey to the Temple for Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. Stretching only a couple of short miles from the complex, the road is presumed to have been followed between the Siloam Pool and the Temple, as people entered the pool in a ritual bathing process ahead of the annual religious festivals.
After a sewage pipe burst on a road near the archaeological park, the Israel Antiquities Authority and archaeologists joined construction crews.
As the excavation began, archaeologists heard a scraping and scratching that did not sound right. This necessary repair would reveal a hidden series of 2,000 year old stone steps, identical to the southern steps that would have gone up to the temple in ancient times.
2,000 years ago was the age of Herod, the age of Jesus. The Pool of Siloam is considered one of the most significant biblical heritage sites for Christians. In this site, it was believed to be the site of healing a blind man. Finding this ancient road helped archaeologists confirm a connection between the places; Jesus, as a practicing Jew in this time, would have entered this sacred mikvah and followed the road up to the temple alongside 2.5 million others in this age.
According to archaeologists at City of David, the Pilgrimage Road would be the ancient version of Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda in modern times. Researchers uncovered coins, weights, and other materials that suggested the area was used for commercial use in ancient Jerusalem; likely with many stalls for merchants to sell their goods to those traveling on the 600-meter-long road.
Parts of the road are between 8 meters and 30 meters wide — or around 27 to 98 feet wide. "The road itself is about five times wider than what you see here right now,” Ze’ev Orenstein, the Director of International Affairs at City of David, told the Post. “It will connect from the Shiloh pool, the pool of Siloam, all the way up to the footsteps of the Western Wall of the Southern steps of the Temple Mount."
Under the road’s drainage system, pottery, oil lamps, and bronze coins from the Great Revolt were found as Jewish rebels hid from the Romans in their efforts to conquer ancient Israel and the Jewish people.
This excavation is considered one of the most expensive and complex excavations currently underway in Israel, because of associated construction costs and how deep underground excavation is.
Excavation ruled as one of both national and international importance
Orenstein told the Post on the tour that the excavation was ruled by the High Court as one of both national and international importance. As the City of David pre-dates the Old City, Jewish ancestry traced back even further to the once-lost neighborhood.
Orenstein emphasized the significance of the route: "We are standing on the 2000-year-old pilgrimage road. This is the road our ancestors, yours and mine, 2000 years ago. This is the road they would have walked down when they went up to the temple,” he said. However, this route is not only significant historically, but to many spiritual backgrounds as well. “Conservatively speaking, the likelihood that Jesus walked on this road is 100%. If you believe that there was a historic Jesus 2000 years ago, he would have gone with all the Jews to cleanse in the Shiloh, southern end of the City of David, and then walked up along the pilgrimage road through the city of David, up to the temple,” he said.
Orenstein emphasized that excavations like that of the Pilgrimage Road put biblical stories into context and offer additional evidence that they are not just stories of religious value, but living history books.
