David's Tomb

David's Tomb (Hebrew: קבר דוד המלך, romanized: Kever David HaMelekh; Arabic: مقام النبي داود, romanized: Maqām al-Nābī Dāwud) is a site that, according to an early medieval (9th century) tradition, is associated with the burial of the biblical king David. During the Ottoman and British Mandate periods, Maqam Al-Nabi Daoud served one of Jerusalem prime Islamic shrines. The building is now administered by the Diaspora Yeshiva Jewish seminary group. Historians, archaeologists and Jewish religious authorities do not consider the site to be the actual resting place of King David. The compound is located on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, near the Christian Abbey of the Dormition. The compound is thought to be situated in what once was a ground floor corner of the Hagia Zion. It occupies the ground floor of a former church, whose upper floor holds the Cenacle or "Upper Room" traditionally identified as the place of Jesus' Last Supper and the original meeting place of the early Christian community of Jerusalem. Due to Israeli Jews being unable to reach holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank (1948–1967), the compound including the Medieval cenotaph of David was promoted as a place of worship. The roof above the Cenacle was sought for its views of the Temple Mount and thus became a symbol of prayer and yearning. The building’s foundation is the remnant of the Church of Zion. The current building was originally built as a church and later repurposed as a mosque, becoming one of the most important Muslim shrines in Jerusalem. It was split into two immediately following the end of the 1948 Palestine war; the ground floor with the cenotaph was converted into a synagogue, and the Muslim cover on the cenotaph was replaced with an Israeli flag...