The Tower of David

Yesterday's post mentioned that the first queen of Jerusalem, Melisende, was besieged in the Tower of David by her son, Baldwin III, who objected to the kingdom being divided and wanted the whole place to himself.

The original tower—a palace complex, actually—was begun in the 2nd century BCE by the Hasmonean dynasty. King Herod in 37-34BCE expanded it greatly with three large towers, which he named Phasael, Mariamne, and Hippicus (respectively after his deceased brother, his executed wife, and a friend. Josephus wrote that the place was so lavish and grand that “[It] exceeds all my ability to describe it.”

As the largest administrative complex in Jerusalem, it was desirable and useful property. After Herod's death in 6CE, the Romans chose it for their procurators. Pontius Pilate would have lived and worked there. When the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70CE, the towers were left standing and the place was used to house Roman soldiers.

In the 4th century CE, when Christianity became the official religion of Rome, the complex became home to a community of monks. At this time it was not named after David. That was an error that came later.

Byzantine Christians in the 5th century, who believed it was the site of King David's palace, named one of the towers the Tower of David, based on a reference in Solomon's Song of Songs: "Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury."

After the Siege of Jerusalem, Muslim rulers took over the citadel in 637. They fortified it sufficiently that it held up to the assault by the First Crusade. It was handed over to the Crusaders, however, once the Muslims inside were granted safe passage. Only a generation after Melisende took refuge there, Saladin recaptured the city of Jerusalem and the citadel in 1187.

The Tower of David was destroyed several times in the roughly 2000 years since a structure was first established on the site. It is now a museum, and its present form  is due to the rebuilding by a Mamluk sultan, Al-Nasir Muhammad. Like the destruction and rebuilding of the Tower of David, Al-Nasir also had his ups and downs, becoming Sultan of Egypt, then losing the position, only to regain it, and lose it again, then to regain it, ... but I guess we can wait until next time to see how that happened.