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Zev Radovan
The City of David—or not? Traditionally, this narrow ridge just south of the Temple Mount (with the golden Dome of the Rock) has been identified as the site of the Canaanite-Jebusite city conquered by David, who renamed it the City of David (2 Samuel 5:7), in about 1000 B.C.E. However, at least one archaeologist—Margreet Steiner, author of the first article in this series—has recently come to a radically different conclusion: that the paucity of remains indicates that there was no city here for David to conquer and for his son Solomon to rule over. But other scholars—including authors Jane Cahill and Nadav Na’aman—insist we do have sufficient evidence, from both archaeological and textual sources, that ancient Jerusalem was continuously occupied thought the Bronze and Iron Ages, and remained so during the glorious reigns of David and Solomon.