(Photo By: Naftali Hilger)
By: Rossella Tercatin - October 31, 2021
A few centuries ago, an Ottoman soldier might have been walking along Jerusalem’s city wall. Perhaps it was a long and windy winter night, perhaps a summer day, right after dawn. As he looked outside the city to scan the horizon, in a moment of distraction, he dropped the tobacco pipe he was smoking to while away the long hours of patrol.
Many years later, that tobacco pipe, along with some pottery fragments dating back to the time of the 8th century BCE biblical King Hezekiah, was among the artifacts unearthed in the excavation accompanying the construction work for the new pavilion of the Tower of David Museum, whose groundbreaking ceremony took place on Sunday.
The structure – which is set to open in November 2022 – will reach some 17 meters below the level of the citadel and will house the new entrance of the museum, an art exhibition gallery, a café and offices. The addition is part of a renovation project at the museum which will include a new permanent exhibition presenting the history of Jerusalem through millennia-old artifacts as well as pioneering technology.
Read More: Jerusalem Post