David's Tomb

A traditional Jewish shrine on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, believed to mark King David’s burial place. Its identification as his tomb is historically disputed.

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King David: The biblical king of Israel and Judah traditionally credited with establishing Jerusalem as his capital. The shrine takes its name from this biblical king, whose burial there is not historically established.
Hebrew Bible: The collection of ancient Israelite and Jewish scriptures forming the first part of the Christian Bible. Its account of David’s burial in the City of David is central to debates over the shrine’s location.
Jewish pilgrimage: Travel undertaken by Jews to sacred places for worship, prayer, or religious observance. Pilgrims have treated the shrine as a place to pray at King David’s traditional burial site.
Archaeology of Jerusalem: The study of material remains from Jerusalem’s past through excavation and related methods. Archaeological evidence is essential to assessing whether the shrine can be identified with David’s burial.
Mount Zion: A hill in Jerusalem associated with biblical traditions and several important religious sites. David’s Tomb stands on this hill, whose name has carried shifting geographical meanings.
City of David: An archaeological site and ancient settlement south of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, identified with the core of biblical Jerusalem. Acts places David’s tomb in this area, not on the present shrine’s Mount Zion site.
Sephardi Jews: Jewish communities descended from or shaped by the Jewish populations of the Iberian Peninsula. Sephardi custodians and worshippers helped sustain Jewish use of the shrine under Ottoman rule.
Royal tombs of the Kingdom of Judah: Burial places associated with the rulers of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, known chiefly from biblical texts and archaeological remains. Biblical accounts place David’s burial among the royal tombs in the City of David.
Cenacle: A room traditionally identified as the site of Jesus’s Last Supper and the gathering of his disciples after the Resurrection. The tomb occupies the lower floor of a building whose upper floor is associated with the Cenacle.
Acts of the Apostles: A New Testament narrative of the early Christian movement, traditionally attributed to Luke. Acts 2:29 locates David’s tomb in Jerusalem and informs arguments against the shrine’s identification.