Wadi Hilweh

For the archaeological site, see City of David (archaeological site).

Wadi Hilweh (Arabic: وادي حلوة) is the Arabic name of a majority Palestinian Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem. It is the subject of a naming dispute with the Israeli government and others calling the area the City of David (Hebrew: עיר דוד, romanized: ʿĪr Davīd). It was included within the boundaries of Silwan during Jordanian and early Israeli control, and some still consider it part of Silwan, but it is currently treated as separate neighborhood by Israel's Jerusalem municipality. It intertwines with an Israeli settlement.[1][2][3]

The Silwan area of East Jerusalem was annexed by Jordan following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and then by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1980 Jerusalem Law. Neither Israel's or Jordan's actions were recognized internationally by most countries. Jordan annexed an expanded Silwan into its Municipality of Jerusalem in 1961.[4] The United States recognized Israeli control of Jerusalem in 2017.[5] Most of the international community regards Israeli settlements as illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this. Israel viewed itself as a successor state to the partition of Palestine along with Jordan.[6]

The Wadi Hilweh neighborhood stretches over historical Jerusalem's Mount Ophel, or Southeast Hill,[a] extending from the southern wall of the Old City. On the western site is the Tryopoeon Valley or central valley. The Arabic name of the neighborhood may come from a section of this valley. On the eastern side is the Kidron Valley (also called Wadi Sitti Maryam or the Valley of St. Mary). Silwan started to expand across the valley in the early twentieth century. Local tradition dates Silwan to the time of Saladin in the twelfth century, originating on a slope of the Mount of Olives and expanding over centuries to the slope of Mount Ophel.[8]

Modern history

Late Ottoman period

c.1870 (Illés Relief)
1910
1931
The development of the City of David / Wadi Hilweh area, 1870–1931. A few small buildings can be seen on the hill facing the houses of Silwan in 1870; further houses were constructed in the following decades

The area immediately outside the walls of Jerusalem was undeveloped for most of early modern history, with the exception of the village of Silwan. Modern settlement outside of the walls began in the late 19th century. A few small buildings are visible on the hill facing the houses of Silwan in the Illés Relief, built between 1864 and 1873. In 1873–1874 a member of the notable Jewish Meyuchas family moved to a house on the towards the bottom of the hill.[9][10] When archaeological excavation began, the area was referred to as Mount Ophel. In 1911 an amateur archaeologist claimed he had found proof this particular area was the location of the "ancient City of David."[11] The claim led Baron Edmond de Rothschild to purchase land in the area. He directed archeologist Raymond Weill to investigate the claim, and in 1913 Weill agreed it was the location of the "City of David."[12][13][14] The Meyuchas family left the in the 1930s; no other Jewish families are known to have settled in the area during the period.[12]

Mandatory Palestine

The area continued to be known in English as Mount Ophel during the Mandatory Palestine period.[15] Excavations continued during the Mandate period with the site being referred to unofficially by the local government with archaeologists as "City of David."[16] During the later stages of the Mandate era the houses of the nearby Arab village of Silwan expanded across the Kidron Valley and up the ridge of what became Wadi Hilweh.

Jordanian period

After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the whole area fell on the eastern side of the Green Line under Jordanian rule. In 1950, Jordan's Custodian of Enemy confiscated Jewish owned property.[17] Baron Edmond de Rothschild was Jewish, and the confiscation of land he had purchased for archaeological excavations would create problems in future decades. The Jordanian Department of Antiquities continued excavations, announcing a major find from the Jebusite era in 1964.[18] In their archeological publication, they referred to the "Davidic and Solominic cities of the Iron Age," but did not use the term "City of David."[19] It was believed at the end of this period that the site "had been picked clean by archeologists over the past century." Prominent British archeologist Dame Kathleen Kenyon wrote of the three thousand year old city, "Our excavations have revealed little of it. I believe the archeological evidence for more does not survive.[20]

Post 1967 and Israeli settlement

See also: City of David (archaeological site)

Arab families continued to live on the ridge and to build houses there after 1967. From 1968 to 1977, the Israel Exploration Society conducted excavations on the hill that rises to the north of the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood led by Benjamin Mazar and Eilat Mazar.[21] However, it was considered a largely excavated site until the early 1980s. At that point, unexpectedly, a structure was accidentally found that initially appeared to be around the age of the ancient City of David.[22] The discovery marked the start of what had largely been an archaeological dig and minor tourist site turning into a place of angry protests and controversy.[23][24][25] Excavation stopped during this period. In 1991, the right wing Ir David Foundation foundation began attempts to claim properties that had been seized by Jordan's Custodian of Enemy property. These could be claimed if the land had not been formally transferred to a new owner. Hundreds of cases were initiated in the area attempting to argue that ownership had of land not been transferred to new owners. Some of these were overturned by the courts and were heavily criticized.[26][27] According to Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh, most of the land Elad had attempted to claim had been purchased by Baron Rothschild, and "a very small area" was from lands and houses purchased by the 19th century Ottoman Jewish community.[28]

According to Ronny Reich, in 1995 no one else at his university would agree to work at the site.[29] The Ir David Foundation controversially won a contract to run the City of David visitor center. However, after the protests in the 1980s, the legal controversy of the early 1990s, and perhaps in part due to an attack on head of the foundation, it does not appear any public company wanted to run the site.[30] The foundation continued to win contract renewals.[31]

The discovery in 2004 of the Pool of Siloam and what might be the remains of the Palace of King David in 2005, led to a major surge of interest in the area. The sites are of importance to both Judaism and Christianity. The small Wadi Hilweh neighbourhood became the scene of massive archaeological exploration, a growth of hundreds of thousands of tourists annually, and Israeli settler activity. This led to a huge growth of criticism and controversy surrounding the archaeology and the foundation.

It had become embroiled in what archaeologist Rafi Greenberg called "the Israeli national project of unifying Jerusalem and the settler project of breaking Palestinian Jerusalem apart", both of which have "joined to disenfranchise the people living above and among the antiquities".[32]

Greenberg noted that, as of 2014, the local settlers were "a tiny, belligerent minority in Silwan", while the "indigenous [Palestinian] community are deprived of their materiality", calling it a "classic case of residual colonialism".[32]

In October 2014, Uri Ariel, politician from The Jewish Home party and at that time Israeli Minister of Housing and Construction, caused controversy when he suggested he was considering taking up residence in the area.[33]

The area was controversially renamed "City of David" by Israel's Jerusalem municipality..[34]

The project also has strong supporters. In 2025, United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said of the project, “Think about the fact that it was hidden for 2000 years, underground, people living their lives on top of it, streets and roads and houses being built above it, nobody understanding that underneath here was maybe the greatest archeological discovery in history.”[35]

National Parks

See also: Palestinian displacement in East Jerusalem

The Jerusalem Walls National Park was declared in 1974 on "a large part of the neighborhood of Silwan." Other parks in East Jerusalem include Tzurim Valley Park in 2000 and in 2013, Mount Scopus Slopes National Park (located between al-'Esawiyah and a-Tur), and Refa'im Stream National Park (on lands belonging to al-Walaja). These parks were approved on privately owned Palestinian lands and in built-up areas or areas bordering the built-up sections of Palestinian neighborhoods and villages. According to B'Tselem these parks are not meant simply to protect nature, landscape and heritage but are also, "perhaps mainly", meant to promote political agendas. By declaring parts of the city as parks entails no development in these areas and serves the political agenda far better than any municipal restrictions on planning and building.[36]

In 1997, management of the City of David within the park was assumed by the Ir David Foundation (commonly known as Elad). The term "City of David" was used officially from the 1970s onward, following the capture of East Jerusalem by Israel, but today the name with its biblical and political connotations is questioned by some in the archaeological academic community.[37] Since El'Ad took over the management of the park in 1997, 'David's City' has essentially become a religious-nationalist battle cry that has transformed the area from an ordinary Palestinian neighbourhood with a few excavation pits, into a religious settlement and major national biblical monument with hundreds of thousands of visitors a year and an official education site for Israeli school children and soldiers.

Around 70 homes in the Al-Bustan area of Silwan are under threat of demolition. According to Ir Amim plans call for the establishment of a touristic and archeological park (King's Garden) which would extend the City of David southwards to cover the entirety of Al-Bustan and towards the settler enclave in central Silwan (Batan al-Hawa) where the Ateret Cohanim settler organization is active.[38]

After having been run by Elad for three years, management of the Jerusalem Archaeological Park/Davidson Center, south of the Western Wall Plaza, with effect from July 2021, reverted to the government's Company for the Reconstruction and Development of the Jewish Quarter.[39]

Development projects

A US$60–66 million project to construct a 1.4 km cable-car running from the First Station compound, passing over the neighborhoods of Abu Tor and the Valley of Hinnom, then through the Mount Zion parking lot and ending at the Kedem visitor center in Silwan/City of David was put on hold following a judgement by the Israeli High Court on 24 February 2021. Since 2019, the court has examined multiple petitions against the project, which is closely connected with Elad. The court gave until 22 April to provide a response to the petitions.[40][41] The court rejected petitions against the project in 2022. However, the project remained stuck due in 2024 over failure to find an international company interested in it.[42]

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority and Elad were planning the construction of a 16,000 m2 new large visitor center to accommodate the large increase in tourists to the area. It was to be located on the opposite side of the Wadi Hilweh Street, at the former Givati parking lot, the "Kedem Compound." It was given preliminary approval in April 2014.[43] The project was denounced by UNESCO in October 2016.[44][45] A series of archaeological discoveries were made at the Givati Parking Lot dig after the initial project approval. As of early 2026, the project has not been able to proceed and the foundation is "still grappling with how best to open up the cramped quarters of the cultic installation to a flood of pilgrims."[46]

References

Notes

  1. ^ "The Southeast Hill is the most excavated place in Jerusalem, with a history of more than 150 years of exploration." [7]

Citations

  1. ^ Wendy Pullan and Max Gwiazda, "Jerusalem's 'City of David': The Politicisation of Urban Heritage" Archived 2017-08-09 at the Wayback Machine, Divided Cities/Contested States Working Paper No. 6, 2008, p. 12: "The 'City of David' is formally treated as a settlement; making homes for Jewish people is seen as an integral part of El-Ad's heritage stewardship"
  2. ^ The Independent, "Israeli foreign ministry cadets to defend 'legality' of West Bank settlements Archived 2023-02-02 at the Wayback Machine", 1 November 2015, "Among the new sessions to be added to the cadet's course are a lecture on the legality of the settlements based on the claim that the West Bank is not occupied territory, according to The Times of Israel. It also includes a tour of the “City of David” settlement in the Palestinian Silwan neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, to be led by settler leader David Be'eri, who seeks its transformation, based on biblical claims, into a Jewish area."
  3. ^ Sixty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan: Report by the Secretary-General Archived 2018-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, A/69/348, 25 August 2014: "Archaeological excavations and parks are also used as a way to control land for settlements, mainly through the funding, participation and endorsement by the Government of Israel of archaeological projects led by settler organizations. Observer organizations report that several archaeological projects in the Old City of Jerusalem are being used as a means to consolidate the presence of settlements and settlers in the area. On 3 April 2014, despite several objections presented by Palestinian residents of the Silwan neighbourhood, a Palestinian community with a population of 45,000, located around the southern Old City wall in East Jerusalem, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee approved a project known as the Kedem Compound.36 The Kedem Compound includes a museum, a visitors centre, and a parking lot covering around 16,000 square metres. The plan was presented by Israel's Nature and Parks Authority and the Ir David Foundation, also known as Elad, which works to strengthen the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, notably the Silwan area. The Kedem Compound would constitute a gateway to the City of David National Park, a touristic archaeological site controlled by the same organization."
  4. ^ Jubeh, Nazmi. "Silwan, the Bleeding Wound". Journal of Palestine Studies. Translated from the Arabic by Aline Bazouni: 102.
  5. ^ Landler, Mark (2017-12-06). "Trump Recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's Capital and Orders U.S. Embassy to Move". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  6. ^ Sulzberger, C. l (1967-06-30). "Foreign Affairs: A New Kind of Status Quo". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  7. ^ Galor 2017, p. 120.
  8. ^ Galor 2017, p. 119.
  9. ^ Yemin Moshe: The Story of a Jerusalem Neighborhood, Eliezer David Jaffe, Praeger, 1988, p. 51
  10. ^ "Translating The Arab-Jewish Tradition: From Al-Andalus To Palestine/Land Of Israel : Rozenberg Quarterly". Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  11. ^ "LEFT FINDS IN JERUSALEM.; English Excavators Turned Antiquities Over to the Government". The New York Times. 1911-05-09. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  12. ^ a b Meron Rapoport, 2009, Ir Amin: "At the beginning of the 20th century, Baron de Rothschild acquired land on the eastern slopes of the Wadi Hilweh hill with the intention of dedicating it to archaeological excavations... As far as we know, during this period, only a single Jewish family lived in Wadi Hilweh itself, in a house known today as the "Meyuhas house," and left during the 1930s."
  13. ^ Mandel, Seth (2025-06-18). "City of David". Commentary Magazine. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  14. ^ Staff, B. A. S. (2026-01-22). "Where Were the Old Testament Kings of Ancient Jerusalem Buried?". Biblical Archaeology Society. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  15. ^ "Maps of Jerusalem (1:1250), Districts 165-130 & 170-130. Surveyed 1935-1937, Published 1937-1938. - Digital Archive of the Middle East". humanities-collections.exeter.ac.uk. p. 34. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  16. ^ Times, Special to The New York (1923-01-22). "INVITE EXCAVATION OF 'CITY OF DAVID'; Palestine Administration Proposes to Unearth Old Ruins Near Jerusalem". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  17. ^ Gur, Haviv Rettig (2021-08-12). "In Sheikh Jarrah, anonymous actors and an absent state have created a powder keg". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  18. ^ "Wall 3,800 Years Old Uncoveredin Jerusalem". The New York Times. 1964-09-25. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  19. ^ "Kathleen M. Kenyon and Her Place in Palestinian Archaeology: Presented on the Occasion of Her Seventieth Birthday in January 1976". Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. Amman, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: 15.
  20. ^ Rabinovich, Abraham (1985-08-18). "SEEING THE JERUSALEM OF DAVID". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  21. ^ Excavations on the South of the Temple Mount. The Ophel of Biblical Jerusalem, Qedem. Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, No. 29, 1989 ISSN 0333-5844
  22. ^ Rabinovich, Abraham (1985-08-18). "SEEING THE JERUSALEM OF DAVID". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  23. ^ Shipler, David K.; Times, Special To the New York (1981-09-05). "ISRAELI COURT LIFTS BAN ON JERUSALEM DIG". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  24. ^ Times, Special to the New York (1981-08-27). "10,000 Jews Protest Jerusalem Excavation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  25. ^ Times, Special to the New York (1987-07-23). "MILITANTS BLOCK DIGGING IN ISRAEL". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  26. ^ Gur, Haviv Rettig (2021-08-12). "In Sheikh Jarrah, anonymous actors and an absent state have created a powder keg". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  27. ^ AFP and ToI Staff (2021-04-21). "Jordan gives PA documents to help prevent Israeli evictions in East Jerusalem". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  28. ^ "Elad's Settlement in Silwan". Emek Shaveh. 2013-09-10. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  29. ^ Staff, Biblical Archaeology Society (2012-03-21). "Excavating the City of David". Biblical Archaeology Society. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  30. ^ Mandel, Seth (2025-06-18). "City of David". Commentary Magazine. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  31. ^ manager (2022-11-22). "Hinnom Valley Monitoring Report – The City of David Expanded". Emek Shave. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  32. ^ a b Greenberg 2014, pp. 29.
  33. ^ "Housing Minister Uri Ariel May Move to City of David" Archived 2021-10-19 at the Wayback Machine, 25 October 2014.
  34. ^ Staff, ToI (2015-09-21). "30 East Jerusalem streets given Hebrew names, enraging Arab residents". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  35. ^ Tercatin, Rossella (2025-12-10). "For US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, contentious City of David is a place to meet God". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  36. ^ "National parks as tool for constraining Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem". B'Tselem. 16 September 2014. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  37. ^ Wendy Pullan; Maximilian Sternberg; Lefkos Kyriacou; Craig Larkin; Michael Dumper (20 November 2013). "David's City in Palestinian Silwan". The Struggle for Jerusalem's Holy Places. Routledge. pp. 76–77. ISBN 978-1-317-97556-4..
  38. ^ "Reignited Plan For "King's Garden" Park Threatens To Displace Over 1000 Palestinians From Al Bustan, Silwan". 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  39. ^ "Settler group loses control over Jerusalem archaeological park". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  40. ^ "First court victory for opponents of Jerusalem cable car project - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East". www.al-monitor.com. Archived from the original on 2022-08-13. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  41. ^ "Settlement & Annexation Report: February 25, 2021". Foundation for Middle East Peace. 25 February 2021. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  42. ^ Hasson, Nir. "Five years and 30 million shekels later, East Jerusalem cable car project is stuck midair". Haaretz.com. Archived from the original on 2025-08-20. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  43. ^ Sixty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan: Report by the Secretary-General Archived 2018-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, A/69/348, 25 August 2014: "On 3 April 2014, despite several objections presented by Palestinian residents of the Silwan neighbourhood, a Palestinian community with a population of 45,000, located around the southern Old City wall in East Jerusalem, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee approved a project known as the Kedem Compound. The Kedem Compound includes a museum, a visitors centre, and a parking lot covering around 16,000 square metres. The plan was presented by Israel's Nature and Parks Authority and the Ir David Foundation, also known as Elad, which works to strengthen the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, notably the Silwan area. The Kedem Compound would constitute a gateway to the City of David National Park, a touristic archaeological site controlled by the same organization. Furthermore, Elad presented plans, covering an estimated area of 1,200 square metres for the construction of another tourist compound above a site known as the spring house in Silwan, an ancient structure built above the main spring. Palestinians in the area have been prevented from accessing one of their main sources of water, since Elad has blocked the entrance to the spring by walls and fences. According to the Ir Amim archaeological organization, the plan was submitted for objections in February 2014. According to Emek Shaveh, an organization of archaeologists, an examination of the placement of the excavations and the planned tourist centres (the Kedem Compound, the City of David Visitors Centre, and the Spring House tourist centre) shows that a contiguous line of Israeli settler presence along the entire northern boundary of the Silwan area is being created."
  44. ^ 200 EX/PX/DR.25.2 Rev. PARIS, 12 October 2016 Archived 16 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine: "The Executive Board... Deplores the Israeli decision to approve... the construction of the so-called “Kedem Center”, a visitor centre near the southern wall of the Al-Aqṣa Mosque/Al-Ḥaram Al-Sharif... and urges Israel, the occupying Power, to renounce the above-mentioned projects and to stop the construction works in conformity with its obligations under the relevant UNESCO conventions, resolutions and decisions"
  45. ^ Staff, Biblical Archaeology Society (2012-02-15). "Israel Approves New City of David Visitor Center". Biblical Archaeology Society. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  46. ^ Govier, Gordon (2026-01-08). "Archaeology in the City of David Yields New Treasures". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2026-03-16.

Sources

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