Time Surfing: Experience History.
An experiment: travel back in time and position a drone over a spot on the Earth… and then watch the area evolve. Imperfect, to be sure, but a work in progress. Comments welcome!
Jerusalem sits on a limestone ridge in the Judean hills, wedged between the Kidron Valley to the east and the Hinnom Valley to the west. For more than 3,000 years, this small patch of rock — barely a few hundred acres — has been conquered, destroyed, and rebuilt more than almost any place on Earth. It began as a small Bronze Age town called Jebus, built beside the only reliable water source for miles, the Gihon Spring. King David captured it around 1000 BCE, Solomon crowned it with a temple, Babylon burned it, Persia let it rise again, Herod made it magnificent, Rome flattened it, and Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans, the British, Jordanians, and Israelis each left their mark in stone.
c. 1000 BCE — Late afternoon, early autumn — Jebus / City of David, Judean Hills
A small walled Canaanite-Jebusite town of roughly 1,200 people clings to the narrow southeastern ridge above the Gihon Spring. King David’s forces have recently taken the city. The summit of Mount Moriah above it is still a bare threshing floor.
c. 957 BCE — Late afternoon, early autumn — Jerusalem, Kingdom of Israel
Solomon’s Temple stands newly completed on the summit of Moriah after seven years of construction. Sacrificial smoke rises from the great altar. The royal palace complex spreads between the Temple and the old city below.
Early autumn, 701 BCE — Late afternoon — Jerusalem, Kingdom of Judah
King Hezekiah has fortified the city against the advancing Assyrian army of Sennacherib. Refugees from the fallen northern kingdom crowd a city that has quadrupled in size. The Broad Wall now encloses the Western Hill directly beneath the camera.
Early autumn, 586 BCE — Late afternoon — Jerusalem, weeks after the Babylonian destruction
Nebuchadnezzar’s army has burned the Temple, torn down the walls, and deported the population to Babylon. The city smolders, nearly empty.
Early autumn, 445 BCE — Late afternoon — Jerusalem, Persian province of Yehud
Nehemiah’s crews have just finished rebuilding the city wall in 52 days. The modest Second Temple, completed 70 years earlier, stands on Moriah. The city is small, poor, and determined.
Early autumn, 30 CE — Late afternoon, during the Feast of Tabernacles — Jerusalem, Roman province of Judaea
