East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel.
Jerusalem was envisaged as a separ ...
.
Al-Bustan has traditionally been believed to be part of the royal gardens of the Israelite kings, though, according to
B'Tselem
B'Tselem ( he, בצלם, , " in the image of od) is a Jerusalem-based non-profit organization whose stated goals are to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, combat any denial of the existence of su ...
, "the exact location and nature of the biblical garden are not known and there are no archeological or other findings in al-Bustan to suggest that this is in fact the location."
Location
The only place in historical Jerusalem where water is flowing year-round, thanks to the nearby
Gihon Spring
Gihon Spring () or Fountain of the Virgin, also known as Saint Mary's Pool, A.H. Sayce, "The Inscription at the Pool of Siloam," ''Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement'' 13.2 (April 1881): (editio princeps), p72/ref> is a spring in the ...
, allowing for permanent growth of natural vegetation and agriculture, is at the confluence of the Kidron and the Central (aka Tyropoeon) valleys.E. W. G. (Ernest William Gurney) Masterman, ''King's Garden'', in the
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
The ''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'' refers to two different versions of a Bible encyclopedia: a 1915 fundamentalist edition, and a 1979–1995 revised evangelical edition.
The first version was published under the general editorshi ...
br>via BibleHub.com /ref> The area known as the King's Garden is today planted with many fruit trees that are nourished by the water run-off from the
Pool of Siloam
The term Pool of Siloam ( ar, بركه سلوان, he, בריכת השילוח, ''Breikhat HaShiloah'') ( gr, Σιλωάμ) refers to a number of Rock-cut architecture, rock-cut pools on the southern slope of the City of David (Silwan), Wadi Hilw ...
.
According to Dalman, the King's Garden was irrigated originally through a canal with side openings, which led the water of the
Gihon spring
Gihon Spring () or Fountain of the Virgin, also known as Saint Mary's Pool, A.H. Sayce, "The Inscription at the Pool of Siloam," ''Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement'' 13.2 (April 1881): (editio princeps), p72/ref> is a spring in the ...
at the edge of the valley to the south, until Hezekiah's Tunnel created a more southern exit for the water, from which the garden could then be irrigated. According to him, this would not have looked much different from the ''bustān Silwān'' of today at the same place.
The
Kidron Valley
The Kidron Valley ( classical transliteration, ''Cedron'', from he, נחל קדרון, ''Naḥal Qidron'', literally Qidron River; also Qidron Valley) is the valley originating slightly northeast of the Old City of Jerusalem, which then separate ...
, which cuts through Silwan, was divided by its local inhabitants into three sections, proceeding from north to south; 1st ''Wady Sitti Mariam'' (Valley of My Lady Mary), 2nd ''Wady Fer'aun'' (Pharaoh's Valley), and 3rd ''Wady Eyûb'' (Valley of Job). According to PEF explorer
Charles Warren
General Sir Charles Warren, (7 February 1840 – 21 January 1927) was an officer in the British Royal Engineers. He was one of the earliest European archaeologists of the Biblical Holy Land, and particularly of the Temple Mount. Much of his mi ...
, "the intermediate valley, ''Wady Fer'aun'', signifies the ''valley of the king'', and the region to which the name is applied is precisely that which the ''King's Garden'' of the Bible used to occupy."
The "King's Garden" in the Hebrew Bible
The place is known from the Hebrew Bible as 'Gan HaMelekh', 'King's Garden'. The term is used repeatedly () and the area seems to also be referred to in , which mentions "the royal winepresses".
Archaeology
The road that traverses the garden is built over a thick wall that dates back to the
Second Temple
The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited ...
period. The same wall is what created the dam-like structure that formed the ancient Pool of Siloam, known in Arabic as ''Birket al-Ḥamrah''. Remnants of this ancient wall were unearthed during the excavations conducted by F.J. Bliss and A.C. Dickie (1894–1897), along with other more ancient finds dating back to the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...