Middle Bronze Age II, Iron Age IIA, Iron Age IIB, Iron Age IIC, Neo-Babylonian Period, Achaemenid Persian, Early Hellenistic, Hellenistic, Middle Hellenistic, Late Hellenistic, Early Roman, Roman, Late Roman, Byzantine, Early modern/modern
The City of David is a long natural spur running southward from the Temple Mount, bounded on the east by the Kidron Valley, on the south by the Hinnom Valley, and on the west by the Central (Tyropaean) Valley. The flattened area at the north end, immediately south of the Temple Mount, is known as the Ophel. The Givati Parking Lot is located on the northwestern slope. The Gihon Spring is located about a quarter of a kilometer south of the Ophel.
Geology: Within the area of Jerusalem is a tectonic fault zone between two ridges in the Central Judean Mountains, from east to west. Geological bases within the area of the City of David include limestone, dolomite and chalk. The calcareous rock formations create Rendzina and Terra Rosa soils, which form the basis of clays suitable to pottery production (Ben-Shlomo and Mommsen 2017: 352). Contributor: Chaundra Anderson, June 2nd 2021
Shalev, Y., Shalom, N., Bocher, E. and Gadot, Y.. "New Evidence on the Location and Nature of Iron Age, Persian and Early Hellenistic Period Jerusalem" Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University 47:2 (2020), 149–172
Crowfoot, J.W. and Fitzgerald. Excavations in the Tyropoeon Valley, Jerusalem. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society London: Palestine Exploration Fund (Annual 5), 1929
Kenyon, K.M. "Excavations on Jerusalem 1965" PEQ 97 (1966), 73–88
David Ben-Shlomo. The Iron Age Pottery of Jerusalem: A Typological and Technological Study. Ariel University Institute of Archaeology Monograph Series No. 2 Israel: Ariel University Press, 2019
Waiman-Barak, P. "Appendix I.3B: Petrographic Analysis of Selected Late Roman and Byzantine Vessels." in The Ophel Excavations to the South of the Temple Mount 2009–2013, Final Report (Vol. I, ed(s). E. Mazar. Jerusalem: Old City Press, 2015, 160-166
Freud, L.. "The Pottery of the Babylonian Stratum 9/10 at the Summit of the City of David" Tel Aviv 50 (2023), 231–262
