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The Kidron Valley ( classical transliteration, ''Cedron'', from he, נחל קדרון, ''Naḥal Qidron'', literally Qidron River; also Qidron Valley) is the valley originating slightly northeast of the
Old City Old City often refers to old town, the historic or original core of a city or town. Old City may refer to several places: Historical cities or regions of cities ''(by country)'' *Old City (Baku), Azerbaijan * Old City (Dhaka), Bangladesh, also ca ...
of
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, which then separates the
Temple Mount The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...
from the Mount of Olives. It continues in a general south-easterly direction through the
Judean desert The Judaean Desert or Judean Desert ( he, מִדְבַּר יְהוּדָה, Midbar Yehuda}, both ''Desert of Judah'' or ''Judaean Desert''; ar, صحراء يهودا, Sahraa' Yahuda) is a desert in Palestine and Israel that lies east of Jerusa ...
in the
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, reaching the
Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Ban ...
near the
settlement Settlement may refer to: * Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building *Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...
of
Ovnat Ovnat ( he, אָבְנַת) is a small Israeli settlement in the West Bank on the western shore of the Dead Sea, about south of Kalya and north of Mitzpe Shalem. It falls under the jurisdiction of Megilot Regional Council. In it had a populat ...
, and descending along its course. The ancient Mar Saba (' Saint Sabbas') monastery is located in the lower part of the valley. Other names include ar, وادي الجوز, Wadi el-Joz, 'Valley of the Walnut', for the upper segment near the
Temple Mount The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...
; and Wadi en-Nar, 'Fire Valley', for the rest of it – with at least the segment at
Mar Saba The Holy Lavra of Saint Sabbas, known in Arabic and Syriac as Mar Saba ( syr, ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܣܒܐ, ar, دير مار سابا; he, מנזר מר סבא; el, Ἱερὰ Λαύρα τοῦ Ὁσίου Σάββα τοῦ Ἡγιασμέ� ...
monastery also known in the 19th century as Wadi er-Rahib, 'Monk's Valley'. In its upper part, the neighbourhood of
Wadi al-Joz Wadi al-Joz ( ar, وادي الجوز; he, ואדי אל-ג'וז), also Wadi Joz, an abbreviation of "Valley of Josaphat" or Valley of the Walnuts, is a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, located at the head of the Kidron Valley, north o ...
bears the valley's Arabic name.Goffart, Walter. After Rome's Fall. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998. The settlement Kedar, located on a ridge above the valley, is named after the valley's Hebrew name. The
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Yehoshafat'', the " Valley of Josaphat". It appears in Jewish eschatologic prophecies, which include the return of Elijah, followed by the arrival of the
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
, and the
War of Gog and Magog Gog and Magog (; he, גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג, ''Gōg ū-Māgōg'') appear in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran as individuals, tribes, or lands. In Ezekiel 38, Gog is an individual and Magog is his land; in Genesis 10, Magog is a man and ...
and Judgment Day. The upper Kidron Valley holds Jerusalem's most important cemetery from the First Temple period, the Silwan necropolis, assumed to have been used by the highest-ranking officials residing in the city, with rock-cut tombs dating between the 9th and 7th centuries BCE.
The Necropolis from the Time of the Kingdom of Judah at Silwan, Jerusalem, David Ussishkin, The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 33, No. 2 (May, 1970), pp. 33-46
The upper Kidron Valley segment north of the Old City was one of the main burial grounds of Jerusalem in the
Second Temple period The Second Temple period in Jewish history lasted approximately 600 years (516 BCE - 70 CE), during which the Second Temple existed. It started with the return to Zion and the construction of the Second Temple, while it ended with the First Je ...
, where hundreds of tombs have survived until today, while the segment east of, and opposite the Temple Mount, boasts several excellently preserved monumental tombs from the same period.Hachlili, Rachel
Jewish Funerary Customs, Practices and Rites in the Second Temple Period
Boston: Brill, Leiden, 2005. Pages 2, 30-36, 237-242.
Several of the Second Temple period tombs were also used later in time, either as burial or as shelters for hermits and monks of the large monastic communities which inhabited the Kidron Valley during the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
period (4th-7th century). The ancient tombs in this area attracted the attention of ancient travelers, most notably
Benjamin of Tudela Benjamin of Tudela ( he, בִּנְיָמִין מִטּוּדֶלָה, ; ar, بنيامين التطيلي ''Binyamin al-Tutayli'';‎ Tudela, Kingdom of Navarre, 1130 Castile, 1173) was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, an ...
.Adler, Marcus Nathan. The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela. London: Oxford University Press, 1907. A source of confusion is the fact that the modern name "Kidron Valley" (''Nahal Kidron'' in Hebrew) applies to the entire length of a long
wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...
, which starts north of the Old City of Jerusalem and ends at the Dead Sea, while the biblical names ''Nahal Kidron'', ''Emek Yehoshafat'', ''King’s Valley'' etc. might refer to certain parts of this valley located in the immediate vicinity of ancient Jerusalem, but not to the entire wadi, and certainly not to the long segment crossing the Judean desert. Similarly, in Arabic, large wadis have many names, each applied to a certain distinct segment of its course.


Etymology

The Hebrew name Qidron is derived from the root ''qadar'', "to be dark", and may be meant in this context as "dusky". In Christian tradition the similarity between the Greek word for cedar, κέδρος (''kedros''), and the Greek name of the valley as used in the
Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond t ...
, Kedron, has led to the Qidron Valley being wrongly called "Valley of the Cedars".


Identification with biblical locations


Valley of Jehoshaphat

The
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Valley of Jehoshaphat - Emek Yehoshafat" ( he, עמק יהושפט), meaning "The valley where Yahweh shall judge." Not all scholars agree with the traditional view that the Kidron Valley, as the valley situated between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives to the east, is the location of the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The Kidron Valley was not associated with the Valley of Jehoshaphat until the 4th century AD, making this identification somewhat uncertain since no actual valley of this name is known to pre-Christian antiquity. Biblical commentator Adam Clarke claims that the Valley of Judgment is a symbolic place.


King's Garden and King's Valley

In the times of the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
kings, the Kidron Valley was identified with, at least in part, the King's Garden; the kings owned land in the area. That the upper Kidron Valley was also known as the King's Valley, in which Absalom set up his monument or "pillar" (see ; no connection to the much later " Absalom's Pillar"), is problematic. The Bible does not make this identification explicit, and the association can only be inferred as associated with En-rogel, which is farther down the Kidron Valley towards the desert. The name 'King's Valley' may be derived from its location just east of the palace of David in the City of David on the western slopes of the Kidron Valley and south of where the platform was built.


Monumental tombs

The three monumental tombs on the eastern side of the Kidron Valley are among the most well-known landmarks of ancient Jerusalem. These are, from north to south, the so-called " Tomb of Absalom" (Hebrew: Yad Avshalom), which rises in front of the so-called "Cave" or "Tomb of Jehoshaphat", the (correctly named) Tomb of Benei Hezir (''Benei Hezir'' is the Hebrew for "sons of Hezir", meaning the Hezir priestly family ), and the so-called " Tomb of Zechariah", which could quite likely be the '' nefesh'' of the Tomb of Benei Hezir. Absalom's Tomb consists of two parts. First, a lower cube hewn out of the bedrock, decorated with engaged Ionic columns bearing a Doric frieze and crowned by an Egyptian cornice. This part of the monument contains a small chamber with an entrance and two arcosolia (arched funeral niches) and constitutes the actual tomb. The second part, built of ashlars, is placed on top of the rock-hewn cube. It consists of a square pedestal carrying a round drum, itself topped by a conical roof. The cone is slightly concave and is crowned by an Egyptian-style lotus flower. The upper part has the general shape of a '' tholos'' and is interpreted as a '' nefesh'' or monument for the tomb below, and possibly also for the adjacent "Cave of Jehoshaphat". The "Pillar of Absalom" is dated to the 1st century CE. Literally, the word '' nefesh'' means 'soul', but in a funerary context it is the term applied to a form of funerary monument. In descriptions of the tombs of the Jewish nobility, the pyramid shape is also emphasized as the mark of a tomb. This would imply that ''nefesh'' and pyramid were synonymous. The Jewish tombs in the Kidron Valley are the best examples of this form of ''nefesh''. They appear as a rectangular, pyramid-capped monument. Similar forms of the nefesh decorate ossuaries, with the addition of a dome-capped column. In Jerusalem the ''nefesh'' as a tomb monument stood either above or beside the tomb; set on steps or on a base.Finegan, J. The Archeology of the New Testament. Princeton, 1969.


Scriptural significance


Hebrew Bible

It was in this valley where King Jehoshaphat is thought to have overthrown the enemies of Israel ().
King David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
fled through the Kidron Valley during the rebellion of
Absalom Absalom ( he, ''ʾAḇšālōm'', "father of peace") was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur. 2 Samuel 14:25 describes him as the handsomest man in the kingdom. Absalom eventually rebelle ...
(). Chapters 29, 30 and 31 of 2 Chronicles () cover King Hezekiah's call for the sanctification of the ministers of the Lord, the purification of unclean things, an invitation to all Israel and Judah to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem, and liturgical reforms. During the reforms of King
Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...
around 700 BCE, as part of the ritual cleaning of the
Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
, the
priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
removed the unclean items from the inner part of the Temple to the courts, and the
Levites Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew de ...
carried the unclean items to Wadi Kidron ().


Kidron Valley in Jewish eschatology

The Book of Joel mentions that God will assemble all nations in the "Valley of Jehoshaphat" (, ).


Gospels

According to the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...
,
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
crossed the valley many times travelling between Jerusalem and
Bethany Bethany ( grc-gre, Βηθανία,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā'') or what is locally known as Al-Eizariya or al-Azariya ( ar, العيزرية, " laceof Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the West ...
. The valley contains the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed the night before he was crucified. The name Kidron was mentioned in John 18:1.


Archaeological excavations


Upper course


The Akeldama Tombs

The Akeldma Tombs were discovered in 1989 at theconfluence of the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys, south of Jerusalem's Old City, and were excavated and published by archaeologists Gideon Avni and
Zvi Greenhut Zvi ( he, צְבִי and , ''Tzvi'', Ṣvi, "gazelle") is a Jewish masculine given name. Notable people with this name include: * Zvi Aharoni (1921–2012), Israeli Mossad agent * Zvi Arad (1942–2018), Israeli mathematician, acting president of ...
. In 1989, the
Jerusalem Municipality The Jerusalem Municipality ( he, עיריית ירושלים; Iriyat yerushalayim), the seat of the Israeli municipal administration, consists of a number of buildings located on Jaffa Road in the city of Jerusalem. History British Manda ...
conducted routine development work in the area. Upon widening a narrow street near one of the approaches to the Silwan village, bulldozers uncovered a number of square openings hewn into rock. The Israel Antiquities Authority immediately stopped the road construction. After uncovering the underground spaces, archaeologists found themselves standing inside large burial complexes which appeared intact. Moving carefully from one chamber to another, flashlights revealed an abundance of artifacts scattered on the floors, pottery and glass vessels, oil lamps and many ornamental ossuaries. The three large caves proved to be part of an extensive Jewish burial ground in use at the end of the Second Temple period, which terminated in the year 70 AD, when Jerusalem was conquered and the Temple destroyed by the Roman legions.


Development and plans


Upper course

As of 2010, there is a controversial proposal to reconstruct part of the Kidron Valley, an Arab neighborhood of Silwan in
East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separ ...
, and turn it into a park to be called the Garden of the King.


Lower course

A road crossing the very steep Wadi Naar (lower Kidron Valley) and connecting Arab towns has been substantially upgraded as part of the USAID effort to modernise the Arab infrastructure. An existing road has been widened and re-paved, and efforts were made to improve the route it takes.Land owners angered over new West Bank road plan. Ma'an News Agency, 18 December 2010, accessed 20 September 2018


Kidron stream restoration project

Currently, part of East Jerusalem's and the
Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,
's sewage waters flow freely into the Kidron stream causing severe environmental damage in the
Judean desert The Judaean Desert or Judean Desert ( he, מִדְבַּר יְהוּדָה, Midbar Yehuda}, both ''Desert of Judah'' or ''Judaean Desert''; ar, صحراء يهودا, Sahraa' Yahuda) is a desert in Palestine and Israel that lies east of Jerusa ...
and the
Dead sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Ban ...
area. In a rare collaboration with the Palestinian Authority,
Hagihon Hagihon Ltd. (Hebrew: הגיחון) is the municipal water and waste water works corporation for the city of Jerusalem, Israel. Since 2010, Hagihon also services the neighboring towns of Mevaseret Zion and Abu Gosh. Hagihon is Israel's largest w ...
is leading the Kidron stream restoration project with a budget of close to a billion shekels. According to the plan the sewage flow to the stream will be stopped and diverted to a new collection line, through an 8-km long pipe to the Og purification facility. To avoid damage to the natural valley as well as to the Marsaba Monastery and other archeological sites, the route of the sewage line was diverted from the stream itself, through a 60 meter deep 1.3 km long tunnel. The project also includes the construction of a
hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
station to generate green electricity. The purified water will be used for agriculture and irrigation of palm groves in the Jordan Valley and the Palestinian Authority.


References

{{Commons


External links


Pictorial Compendium of Kidron Valley on Madain Project Photos of the Kidron Valley
at the Manar al-Athar photo archive Hebrew Bible valleys Geography of Jerusalem Landforms of Jerusalem District Valleys of Israel Judaean Desert