City of David Rock-Cut Sanctuary Rooms
Eight bedrock chambers near the Gihon with an altar, olive press and winepress, sealed in the 8th century BCE
Found 2010 — Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich (Israel Antiquities Authority); parts first opened by Montague Parker's expedition in 1909–1911
Where City of David, eastern slope above the Gihon Spring, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) (Israel)
Dates from c. 1550–750 BCE (final use and burial in the 8th century BCE) · Middle Bronze III to Iron Age IIB (last use) · Kings of Judah before Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah)
Now at In situ; open to visitors in the City of David National Park
How City of David Rock-Cut Sanctuary Rooms was found
Cleared during the IAA excavation on the eastern slope of the City of David, just up-slope from the Gihon Spring; the rooms were found packed with fill and stone that sealed them in the mid-8th century BCE. Full report by Shukron, Freud, Roth, Avisar and Bocher in 'Atiqot 116 (January 2025).
What it is
A complex of eight rooms cut into the bedrock, covering about 220 square metres. Inside are a raised platform holding a thin upright stone, a rock-cut installation with a drain channel that the excavators call an altar, an olive press, a winepress, V-shaped grooves in the floor, and a small pit (favissa) holding an intact 8th-century cooking pot, loom weights, scarabs and grinding stones.
Why it matters for the Bible
If the excavators are right, this is the only First Temple-period worship place found in Yerushalayim outside the Temple itself, and it went out of use in the 8th century BCE, which fits the centralizing reforms described for Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah). It shows that ordinary Judeans in the capital may have kept a local worship spot a few hundred metres from the Temple Mount. Prof. Aren Maeir and others read the same features as a workshop for oil, cloth and wood, so the entry should be read as a real find with a contested meaning.
The Hebrew word: bah-MAH
בָּמָה
בָּמָה is pronounced bah-MAH and means high place; a local worship platform (Strong's H1116).
People this discovery connects to
- Hezekiah — חִזְקִיָּהוּ (chiz-kee-YAH-hoo) — YHVH strengthens
Places
- City of David — עִיר דָּוִד (eer dah-VEED) — city of David
- Gihon — גִּיחוֹן (gee-CHOHN) — bursting forth (spring)
Events
Local worship in Judah alongside the Temple · Hezekiah's removal of the high places
City of David Rock-Cut Sanctuary Rooms in Scripture
1 Kings 1:33 First mention of Gihon in Scripture.
1 Kings 3:2 Israel sacrificed at high places before the Temple was built; the rooms show what such a local shrine near the Temple might have looked like.
2 Kings 18:4 Chizkiyahu removes the high places and breaks the pillars; the rooms were deliberately filled and closed in the 8th century BCE.
Questions people ask
What is City of David Rock-Cut Sanctuary Rooms?
A complex of eight rooms cut into the bedrock, covering about 220 square metres. Inside are a raised platform holding a thin upright stone, a rock-cut installation with a drain channel that the excavators call an altar, an olive press, a winepress, V-shaped grooves in the floor, and a small pit (favissa) holding an intact 8th-century cooking pot, loom weights, scarabs and grinding stones.
When was City of David Rock-Cut Sanctuary Rooms discovered?
It was found in 2010 by Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich (Israel Antiquities Authority); parts first opened by Montague Parker's expedition in 1909–1911, at City of David, eastern slope above the Gihon Spring, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).
Where is City of David Rock-Cut Sanctuary Rooms today?
In situ; open to visitors in the City of David National Park.
Which Bible verses does City of David Rock-Cut Sanctuary Rooms relate to?
1 Kings 1:33, 1 Kings 3:2, 2 Kings 18:4.
Is City of David Rock-Cut Sanctuary Rooms authentic?
The rooms and installations are real and published in 'Atiqot 116 (2025). The ritual reading (standing stone, altar) is the excavators' view; Aren Maeir and others argue for an 8th-century workshop and doubt the Middle Bronze founding date. Popular 'Temple of Melchizedek' claims are not part of the scientific report.
Related discoveries
- תְּעָלָהHezekiah's Tunnel (Siloam Tunnel)533-metre rock-cut water channel bringing the Gihon Spring inside Jerusalem's walls
- מִלּוֹאThe Millo: Where Was It?The Stepped Stone Structure and the Gihon Spring fortifications as rival candidates for the biblical Millo
- מַצֵּבָהThe Gihon Standing Stone (Matzevah)A thin upright stone on a rock-cut platform beside the spring, still standing where it was set
- קַרְנֹת הַמִּזְבֵּחַBeersheba Horned AltarA dismantled four-horned altar from an Israelite border town
- עָלָהPilgrimage Road (Stepped Street)The 600-meter stepped street from the Pool of Siloam up to the Temple Mount, built under Pilate
- שִׁלֹחַPool of SiloamThe Second Temple-period stepped pool where Yeshua sent the blind man to wash
Sources
- Shukron, Freud, Roth, Avisar and Bocher, 'Evidence of Worship in the Rock-Cut Rooms on the Eastern Slope of the City of David, Jerusalem', 'Atiqot 116 (2025)
- Times of Israel, 'In first, researchers find where Jerusalemites prayed before Temple became only game in town' (Jan 2025)
- Armstrong Institute, 'Worship, or Workshop? Making Sense of the City of David Rock-Cut Rooms'
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