Jerusalem goes back to the days of the Bible. Today’s archaeological explorations in the City of David has uncovered a lot from these early days. Ever since the days (back in the 80s) when I excavated there myself, to each time I return with groups there, something new and exciting is always found.  It is quite fascinating for ancient Jerusalem to “come to life” in such dramatic ways.

But what is also very interesting is to re-visit pictures of what Jerusalem looked liked in the 1800s.  This recent photos (above) was just shared with me last week.  It’s a fascinating picture of the Old City of Jerusalem from the NE.  While it looks rather empty, this old photo from 1844 still captures the magnificence of the Old City confined by its Turkish walls (built around 1540 AD).

Upon closer view, the picture actually reveals the topography of Jerusalem quite well.  On this view of the NE corner of the Old City, one can already begin to see the truth of what’s mentioned in Psalm 125:2.  The psalmist writes, “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.”  Even though this is more profoundly seen from viewing the Old City & Temple Mount area from the top of the southern end of the Mt. of Olives, the picture displays a19th century AD city that was built as it was because of being surrounded by mountains.

If you would like to see other old photos of Jerusalem, visit Israel Daily Picture.  Compared to seeing and experience on one of my tours today, it’s quite an interesting perspective to encounter Jerusalem in the 1800s.  To be honest, while lots of changed since then, the topography remains the same.

see below, it is a view from the NE to SW rather than from the SE to NW. Now the route ascending up to the NW corner of the city wall reveals the absence of the Rockefeller Museum (built almost a century later) and the terracing below the wall make sense. The horizon also now fits with the higher Judean Arch SW of the city. Sorry that I did not catch this when I first sent it. There are many changes in the city and its environs since 1844 … but not that many.