Talpiot (, literally 'turrets' or 'magnificently built') is an Israeli neighborhood in southeastern

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, established in 1922 by

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

pioneers. It was built as a

garden suburb The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, an ...

on land purchased by the

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

-based Palestine Land Development Company and other Jewish building societies. Talpiot has become a major commercial center and a hub of nonprofit organizations. The Talpiot industrial zone is one of the largest in the country, with plans for expansion as a center of shopping, entertainment and industry. Today Arnona and Talpiot are used interchangeably with no real distinction between them.

Etymology

The name ''Talpiot'' derives from a verse in

Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

4:4: "Thy neck is like the tower of David, built with turrets". According to rabbinic sources, Talpiot refers to the Temple. It was said to be a compound of the Hebrew words (hill) and (mouths), as in "the hill to which all mouths turn in prayer".

History

In the 1920s, the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

architect

Richard Kauffmann Richard Kauffmann (1887–1958) was a German-Jewish architect who migrated to Israel (region), Palestine in 1920. His architecture was influenced by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a proponent of the International Style, and was applied to the local l ...

presented the British Mandate authorities with a plan for Talpiot, which he designed as a

. The plan included a large building that he envisioned as a future parliament, redesignated as an art gallery to appease the doubters. The first residents were clerical and office personnel. Living in the neighbourhood required membership in a mutual society to which dues were paid. Despite a British Mandate regulation stating that all buildings in Jerusalem must be made of

Jerusalem stone Jerusalem stone (Hebrew: ; ) is a name applied to various types of pale limestone, dolomite and dolomitic limestone, common in and around Jerusalem that have been used in building since ancient times. One of these limestones, '' meleke'', has ...

, developers in Talpiot were permitted to use stucco-covered concrete because of the high demand for housing. The early settlers were evacuated from Talpiot in the wake of the 1929 Hebron massacre, but they later returned. When the British left Jerusalem in May 1948, a

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

military brigade launched Operation Kilshon to seize security zones that had been occupied by the British and defend Jerusalem against attacks by the

Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army, of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of the Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, an independent state, with a final Ar ...

. The British army camp in Talpiot, known as Mahane Allenby, was one of the strategic sites captured in the operation. After the

1947–1949 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionism, Zionist forces conquered territory and established ...

, Talpiot became the frontier, surrounded by Jordanian-ruled East Jerusalem, but Israelis continued to live there. The neighbourhood expanded significantly after the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

. New residential districts were established in the enclave formerly controlled by the United Nations, which had been a no man's land. A tent camp established on the western outskirts of Talpiot for immigrants after Israel's independence was replaced by a large industrial zone to house the businesses evicted from Mamilla. On May 24, 2001, the third floor of the Versailles wedding hall in Talpiot collapsed during a wedding party, killing 23 and injuring more than 200. The collapse was blamed on poor construction, using a system called Pal-Kal which was deemed unfit for public buildings. The incident is considered one of Israel's worst civil disasters. Talpiot2006

Talpiot today consists of several districts. "Old Talpiot" is the historic residential neighborhood founded in 1922. Adjacent and south of this is Arnona, founded in 1931 but largely undeveloped until the 1980s. North Talpiot, built after 1967, offers panoramic views of the Hinnom and Kidron Valleys, and the Old City. Across Derech Hevron to the west is the Talpiot industrial zone, now one of Jerusalem's main shopping districts. To the east is the neighborhood of East Talpiot, also known as Armon HaNetziv. Mahane Allenby was torn down and eight-story residential towers were built on the land. A parcel remains undeveloped, awaiting the relocation of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv. The main offices of the US Consulate General in Jerusalem were relocated to the eastern ridge of Talpiot in 2010. In 2018 the embassy of USA relocated from Tel Aviv to the premises of the consulate in the Talpiot neighborhood in Jerusalem.

Economy

The Talpiot Industrial Zone is one of the largest in the country, with an annual turnover of NIS600 million. Indoor

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

s in Talpiot include Kanyon Yisrael on Yad Haharutzim St., Kanyon Hadar on Pierre Koenig St., Kanyon Lev Talpiot on HaUman St. and Kanyon Rav Mecher on HaParsa St. In addition the area is home to numerous

strip mall A strip mall, strip center, strip plaza or simply plaza is a type of shopping mall, shopping center common in North America and Australia where the stores are arranged in a row, with a footpath in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a ...

light manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

workshops, warehouses,

car dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

s and the largest concentration of auto repair shops in Jerusalem.

Urban development

In 2013, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee approved a new master plan for the Talpiot industrial zone, adding 600,000 square meters of construction including 3,500 new residential units on the edge of the industrial zone and more space for offices, industry and commerce. The idea is to separate the residential, business and industrial sections of the neighborhood while boosting the presence of high-tech companies, academic institutions, offices, banquet halls, movie theaters, health clinics and art galleries.

Arts and culture

'Yellow Submarine', established in 1991 by the

Jerusalem Foundation The Jerusalem Foundation (, ''HaKeren LiYerushalayim''; ) is a Foundation (non-profit), nonprofit foundation that promotes the development of the city of Jerusalem, by raising funds for social, cultural and beautification projects. Established in ...

in the Talpiot industrial zone, is a performance space for musicians with rehearsal-rooms, a recording studio and a nightclub. "Studio One Jerusalem", a recording studio, opened in Talpiot in 1999. Israel Hershberg, an American figurative painter established the Jerusalem Studio School on the top floor of an industrial building in 1996. Talpiot has become a hub of Jerusalem nightlife, with a multiplex cinema, a

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

alley, a

pool hall A billiard hall, also known as a pool hall, snooker hall, pool room or pool parlour, is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve alcohol and often ...

, and dozens of bars,

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s and discos, including one of Israel's oldest and most popular nightclubs, Haoman 17. Non-profit organizations located in Talpiot include the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel, El HaLev, a center for

women's empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several method, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, equal status in society, ...

, the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, Melabev, a center for English-speaking senior citizens, and the Israel Free Loan Society.

Landmarks

In 1980, the

Talpiot Tomb The Talpiot Tomb (or Talpiyot Tomb) is a rock-cut tomb discovered in 1980 in the East Talpiot neighborhood, five kilometers (three miles) south of the Old City in East Jerusalem. It contained ten ossuaries, six inscribed with epigraphs, inc ...

aka Jesus Family Tomb was discovered. This very controversial archaeological site contained nine

ossuaries An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years th ...

inscribed with "Y'shua bar Yosef"/Jesus son of Joseph and other family members. The Lower Aqueduct IMG 1437

Tayelet

Connecting East Talpiot and Talpiot is the Haas Promenade ( – ''ha-Tayelet''). Together with the Sherover and Goldman Promenades, the three form a continuous public park from the Government House used by the UN and Jabl Mukabar to the east to Abu Tor to the north. From this vantage point atop a ridge overlooking Jerusalem's Old City and the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

, tradition holds that

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

was shown Mount Moriah as the site for the

binding of Isaac The Binding of Isaac (), or simply "The Binding" (), is a story from Book of Genesis#Patriarchal age (chapters 12–50), chapter 22 of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God in Abrahamic religions, God orders A ...

as recorded in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. Hidden under this ridge are the remains of an aqueduct built by

Herod the Great Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...

to bring water from the south, by way of his summer palace

Herodium Herodion (; ; ), Herodium (Latin), or Jabal al-Fureidis () is a fortified desert palace built by Herod the Great, king of Herodian kingdom, Judaea, in the first century BCE. The complex stands atop a hill in the Judaean Desert, approximately s ...

, to the

Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...

. This area was a no man's land in the period between the establishment of the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in 1948 and the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967. At one end of the promenade, on the Hill of Evil Counsel, is the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Middle East Headquarters, located in the former Palace of the British High Commissioner (''Armon HaNetziv''). The Jerusalem Peace Forest descends along the slope below the Promenade. The Jerusalem municipality plants a tree in this forest for every child born in Jerusalem, representing the eternal hope of peace bridging the Arab and Jewish populations. Every year, on the 29th day of Heshvan, the Ethiopian Jewish community gathers at the Promenade to mark the

Sigd Sigd ( , 'Prostration', , also romanized Sig'd, Siged or Seg'd), also Mehlella () or Amata Saww (, 'Grouping Day'), is one of the unique holidays of the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jewish) community, and is celebrated on the 29th of the Hebrew month o ...

holiday.

World War I cemetery

A cemetery for Indian soldiers who died fighting for the British Army in World War I is located in Talpiot. Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims are buried there in common graves, with monuments inscribed in English, Hebrew, Sanskrit and Urdu. 290 Turkish soldiers who died as prisoners of war in September and October 1918 are buried in a separate section.

Notable residents

Shmuel Yosef Agnon Shmuel Yosef Agnon (; August 8, 1887 – February 17, 1970) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Israeli novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew literature. In Hebrew, he is known by the pseudonym Shai A ...

, winner of the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

, settled in Talpiot in 1924 and wrote most of his important works there. After his death, his home was turned into a museum, Beit Agnon, where his study has been preserved intact. One of Agnon's neighbors was the eminent scholar

Joseph Klausner Joseph Gedaliah Klausner (; 20 August 1874 – 27 October 1958), was a Lithuanian-born Israeli historian and professor of Hebrew literature. He was the chief redactor of the '' Encyclopedia Hebraica''. He was a candidate for president in the ...

, uncle of Israeli author

Amos Oz Amos Oz (; born Amos Klausner (); 4 May 1939 – 28 December 2018) was an Israeli writer, novelist, journalist, and intellectual. He was also a professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. From 1967 onwards, Oz was a pro ...

. In his autobiographical novel ''

A Tale of Love and Darkness ''A Tale of Love and Darkness'' ( ''Sipur al ahava ve choshech'') is a memoir by the Israeli author Amos Oz, first published in Hebrew in 2002. The book has been translated into 28 languages and over a million copies have been sold worldwide. ...

'', Oz writes that Agnon and Klausner were not fond of one another and kept their distance. The founder of

Modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew (, or ), also known as Israeli Hebrew or simply Hebrew, is the Standard language, standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the only surviving Canaanite language, as well as one of the List of languages by first w ...

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda (born Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman; 7 January 1858 – 16 December 1922) was a Russian–Jewish linguist, lexicographer, and journalist who immigrated to Jerusalem in 1881, when the Ottoman Empire ruled it. He is renowned as the ...

, built a home on Ein Gedi Street in Talpiot, Beit Ben-Yehuda, but died before moving in. Today it serves as a guesthouse and meeting center.

References

{{Authority control Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem Populated places established in 1922 Garden suburbs 1929 Palestine riots 1922 establishments in Mandatory Palestine