Our First Siur (Tour): Yemin Moshe and Mahane Yisrael

When we first got to Israel, one of my best birthday presents was from Kara, a book published by the Yad ben Tsvi institute. The institute is a sort of combination think tank, tourism and academic center dedicated to studying the history of Israel. Among other things, they sponsor siurim (tours) around Jerusalem led by experts in the history. As I told Toby, Jerusalem is like a living museum, and there are any number of topics and tours to take.

So the book Kara bought me, "ירושלים בכל נתיבותה," (Jerusalem in all its paths"), is a collection of in-depth tours around the city, arranged in chronological order dating back from the earliest settlement in the area in the Bibilical period to the latest buildings, somewhere around 30 different tours. I have been wanting to take one of the tours for some time, and finally Toby and I had time on Tuesday.

Since I am a modernist, I decided that we would start with the "modern" period of Jerusalem's history, which dates back to about 1860. It is always amazing to me to think, when looking around the city, that were one to live "in" Jerusalem before 1860, one would live literally within the city walls. The "breaching of the walls," that is to say, the first time Jews moved outside "Jewish Quarter" of the city occurred when English philanthropist, Moses Montefiore, funded the construction of a neighborhood, "Mishkenot She'ananim" (to which was later added "Yemin Moshe," "the right hand of Moses" named in Montefiore's honor, usually applied to the whole area) along with a windmill for grinding grain, for the sake of improving the sanitary conditions of the Jewish yishuv (community) in Ottoman Palestine (windmill pictured above).

Nestled in the hillside directly south of the Old City is the neighborhood that Montefiore built. It is a beautiful neighborhood, among other things featuring fantastic views of the southern wall of the city. At one time, the neighborhood was quite a bit rougher. There was a good reason why people didn't live outside the city walls back then: doing so put you at a great deal of risk of lawlessness and danger. The apartments that Montefiore built for the Jews of Jerusalem were supposed to be a way out of the unhygienic conditions of the walled city; but in the view of the intended residents, the dangers of spending the night outside the city walls was considerably greater. Now, the neighborhood is gorgeous...and one of the most exclusive addresses in the city.

Walking out of Yemin Moshe, we came to a park behind the famous King David Hotel. As if to prove the point that the city truly is a museum unto itself, in the middle of this park we discovered (with the help of Yad Ben Tsvi) two tombs, including one with the round stone that had previously covered it standing next to it (see picture). These tombs could date back to the Second Temple period. An archeologist from the 19th century, Conrad Schick, called the tombs "The Herod Family Tombs" based upon his (mis)reading of Josephus. We actually don't know whose tombs these were, nor where Herod actually was buried.

Walking to King David Street, Toby and I made our way to the second Jewish settlement outside the city walls, the neighborhood Mahane Yisrael ("The Camp of Israel"), which was constructed in 1868. Unlike Yemin Moshe, not much is left of the old neighborhood; being located so centrally near some of the major hotels of modern Jerusalem have meant that what once stood has largely been built over for shopping and apartments; in fact, Toby and I were unable to follow the correct route according to our guide because of new building construction.

Perhaps one of the most interesting new things we discovered (new to us, that is) was the Mamilla cemetery. Now across from the chi-chi new Mamilla Mall, the Muslim cemetery is a remarkable plot of land with graves dating back to the Mamluk period. Not surprisingly, being located on land so central to the city, the area is subject to a great deal of heated controversy, and according to some reports, as much as 90% of the original cemetery has been covered or removed. That which remains, however, features fascinating artifacts including a remarkable tomb (see photo), complete with cupola. This is the 13th century tomb, called "Turba el-kubakya," named after a Mamluk military leader, Al a-din Idogadi el-kubaki, and dated 1289.

Now the cemetery is the source of controversy due to accusations that a new parking lot - ironically, intended to serve the new Museum of Tolerance - was built over part of the cemetery, and as a result desecrated Muslim graves.