The next three pictures are of the Burnt House in Jerusalem. This house belonged to one of the priests of the Temple, and it was burned by the Romans on the same day as the Temple. From clues found in the rubble, a possible family history is created and dramatized by a film presented as part of the museum called The Burnt House (HaBayit HaSaruf).

Wall plans of the Burnt House found near the Temple area and burnt on the same day. The collapsed walls designate the basement/workshop, not the living quarters, which were on the floors above. In the house were found numerous items of personal use including cooking pots, dishes, coins, and perfume bottles. A single spear and the severed arm and hand bones of a young girl attest to the violence of the family’s end. Map of rooms layout from

Note spear

Migdal David The site of Herod's defense towers is now occupied by the Citadel, also called Migdal David (Tower of David). It is near our hostel and south of Jaffa Gate (aerial view, right). The emperor Hadrian destroyed the towers in 135 AD, leaving only their foundations. In the 12th century AD the Crusaders added the dry moat, but the Citadel took much of its present form under the Mameluke sultan Malik an-Nasir in the 14th century AD with the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent making additional changes in the 16th century AD. This explains the Medieval look of the towers. The name Tower of David is the result of an error. King David did not build it. We visited the Migdal without our camera. The following 2 pictures are taken from the Internet, but nowhere could I find pictures of the unusual modern garden art work and large “guitars” gracing the arches flanking the gardens. We’ll just have to go again.

The central area is far more beautiful today, with art work, gardens, and fabulous museum rooms depicting the complex history of the site, as well as archeological digs and exhibits.

Named for Herod’s brother, this is the Tower of Faisel. Where you see the smaller blocks in the top half, this part is reconstructed during the Middle Ages after having been destroyed by the Romans. In Herod’s day, it was much taller and there were two others like it, named for his other family members.