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Iron Age II - King David and the First Temple Period
  • King David's Palace - The Megalim Institute
  • Restoration of King David’s palace according to Dr. Eyal Meiron Illustration: the Orpan Group.
    Restoration of King David’s palace according to Dr. Eyal Meiron Illustration: the Orpan Group.
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  • Restoration of The City of David and the Royal Palace according to Dr. Eyal Meiron, from the City of David Robotic Model, built by the BatSheva Company. Photo: Koby Harati
    Restoration of The City of David and the Royal Palace according to Dr. Eyal Meiron, from the City of David Robotic Model, built by the BatSheva Company. Photo: Koby Harati
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Iron Age II - King David and the First Temple Period

King David’s Palace

And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar-trees, and carpenters, and masons; and they built David a house .


2 Samuel 5:11

David was crowned king over the Israelite tribes in Hebron, and he ruled there for seven and a half years. But after the conquest of Jerusalem a house was built for the king with the help of his friend King Hiram of Tyre. In 2005, Dr. Eilat Mazar discovered remains of a monumental structure dated to the tenth century BCE, at the top of the City of David (where the entrance to the visitors center of the archaeological park is now located). It has been proposed that this was King David’s palace – a controversial theory among scholars.

In the first picture : Possible reconstruction of the City of David and the palace (above the stepped stone structure in Area G), according to Dr. Eyal Meiron (illustration: Leonardo Gurevich).

In the second picture : Reconstruction of the façade of King David’s palace according to Dr. Eyal Meiron (illustration: the Orpan Group) based on the meager findings in the area and parallels in other palaces from the First Temple period such as the palaces at Megiddo.