The stepped street, as it is known from academic works, or the Jerusalem pilgrim road as it has been dubbed by the

Ir David Foundation Ir David Foundation or City of David Foundation, commonly known as Elad l'ad(, an acronym for "אל עיר דוד", meaning "to the City of David"), is a Jerusalem-based Israeli settler association which aims to strengthen the Jewish connec ...

, is the early Roman period street connecting the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount (), also known as the Noble Sanctuary (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a ...

from its southwestern corner, to Jerusalem's southern gates of the time via the

Pool of Siloam The term Pool of Siloam (, ) refers to several rock-cut pools located southeast of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The pools were fed by the waters of the Gihon Spring, carried there by the Siloam tunnel. The Lower Pool or "Old Pool" ...

. The stepped street was built at the earliest during the 30s CE, with the latest coin found under the pavement dating to 30–31 CE, during the governorship of

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

fame.

Description

City of David - The Stepped Pilgrims Road IMG 5939

The street ascended from Jerusalem's southern gates, along the ancient

City of David The City of David (Hebrew: עיר דוד, ''Ir David'') is the historic heart of Jerusalem and widely regarded as the original location of the ancient city established by King David over 3,000 years ago. Situated just south of the Temple Mount, the ...

, today part of the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

neighborhood of

Silwan Silwan or Siloam (; ; ) is a predominantly Palestinian district in East Jerusalem, on the southeastern outskirts of the current Old City of Jerusalem.Old City and passed by the

Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...

after passing underneath the Herodian bridge now known as Robinson's Arch. The ancient path was improved and paved in large, well-cut stone in the pattern of two steps followed by a long landing, followed by two more steps and another landing. The street was eight meters wide and its length from the Pool to the Temple Mount is 600 meters. A large drainage channel ran below the street.

Archaeological exploration history

Sections of the ancient street were first discovered by

Charles Warren Sir Charles Warren (7 February 1840 – 21 January 1927) was a British Army officer of the Royal Engineers. He was one of the earliest European archaeologists of the Biblical Holy Land, and particularly of the Temple Mount. Much of his military ...

in 1884, followed by

Frederick J. Bliss Frederick Jones Bliss (22 January 1859-–3 June 1937) was an American archaeologist. Biography He was born in Mount Lebanon, Syria, on 22 January 1859. His father, Daniel Bliss, was first a Congregational missionary and later president of ...

and Archibald C. Dickey of the

Palestine Exploration Fund The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem by Royal Engineers of the War Department. The Fund is the oldest known organization i ...

between 1894 and 1897. The find was reburied when their excavation concluded. Other sections were uncovered, then reburied, by later archaeologists, Jones in 1937 and

Kathleen Kenyon Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, (5 January 1906 – 24 August 1978) was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been called ...

in 1961–1967. More details about the street were published by

Benjamin Mazar Benjamin Mazar (; born Binyamin Zeev Maisler, June 28, 1906 – September 9, 1995) was a pioneering Israeli historian, recognized as the "dean" of biblical archaeologists. He shared the national passion for the archaeology of Israel that also at ...

in 1969–1971, followed by

Ronny Reich Ronny Reich (; born 1947) is an Israeli archaeologist, excavator and scholar of the ancient remains of Jerusalem. Education Reich studied archaeology and geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His MA thesis (supervised by Prof. Yigae ...

(alone or in collaboration with Yakov Billig, then

Eli Shukron Eli Shukron (Hebrew: אלי שוקרון) is an Israeli archaeologist employed by the Israel Antiquities Authority. He has made several significant finds from the period of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. In 2004, Shukron and archaeologist Ron ...

) between 1999 and 2011 (including findings from the drainage channel running beneath the street), and

Eilat Mazar Eilat Mazar (; 10 September 195625 May 2021) was an Israeli archaeologist. She specialized in Jerusalem and Phoenician archaeology. She was also a key person in Biblical archaeology noted for her discovery of the Large Stone Structure, which ...

in 2000. The street was re-excavated during excavations on a

water channel Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms ( ...

from the

Second Temple period The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstructio ...

Reception

The

Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...

work on the street used horizontal excavation, a problematic approach as it lacks context for events before and after the layer being investigated, in this case dating from the 1st century.

Interpretation

According to archaeologist Ronny Reich, who for several years led the dig uncovering the ancient street together with archaeologist Eli Shukron, pilgrims used the Pool of Siloam as a

mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

for ritual purification before walking up the street to the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

. However, Yoel Elitzur opposes this interpretation and argues that the Pool of Siloam was a typical Roman public swimming pool. In ancient times, in the celebration called

Simchat Beit HaShoeivah Simchat Beit Hashoevah or Simchas Beis Hashoeiva () is a special celebration held by Jews during the intermediate days of Sukkot. Origin When the Temple in Jerusalem stood, a unique service was performed every morning throughout the Sukkot ho ...

, water was carried up from the

to the

. There are attempts to connect the Roman-period street to this festival.

Description

Archaeological exploration history

Reception

Interpretation

See also