says the IAA’s Baruch. “Eilat Mazar is not play-
ing in this game.”
ACROSS THE STREET from Mazar’s putative pal-
ace of David, Yuval Gadot epitomizes this new
game. The tall and affable Tel Aviv University
archaeologist once opposed Israeli digs in this
overwhelmingly Palestinian neighborhood, but
the opportunity to lead the city’s largest recent
excavation proved too tempting to refuse. What
once was a dusty parking lot is now an enormous
pit open to the sky, encompassing much of the
city’s past 2,600 years, from early Islamic work-
shops and a Roman villa to impressive Iron Age
buildings predating the Babylonian destruction
of 586 B.C. Much of the work takes place in off-site
labs, where specialists analyze everything from
ancient parasites in Islamic cesspits to intricate
gold jewelry from the days of Greek rule.
Soon the excavation will open to the public,
beneath a large new visitors center to accom-
modate the increasing hordes of tourists. Gadot,
Mazar, and Uziel have helped turn this quiet
Arab village into one of Israel’s most popular
attractions in a city rated among the world’s fast-
est growing tourist destinations. At night their
archaeological sites serve as dramatic backdrops
for laser light shows.
“Here it began, and here it continues,” thun-
ders the narrator amid colored lights and swell-
ing music. “The return to Zion!”
The organization behind this effort is the City
of David Foundation. Created by former Israeli
military commander David Be’eri in the 1980s to
establish a strong Jewish presence, it has funded
the lion’s share of recent archaeology here.
Along with deep pockets provided by foreign
and Israeli donors, the group boasts excellent
political connections. At a lavish ceremony last
June, U.S. ambassador David Friedman swung
a hammer to break a wall, inaugurating the first
segment of Uziel’s tunnel. “This is the truth,”
he said of the ancient street. The White House
Middle East envoy called Palestinian criticism
of the event “ludicrous.”
When I meet with the foundation’s vice pres-
ident, Doron Spielman, he is bullish about the
future. “If the next 10 years are like the last 10
years, this will be the number one archaeologi-
cal spot in the world,” says the Jewish native of
the Detroit suburbs. Spielman expects the visi-
tor tally to nearly quadruple to two million in a
decade. “There is a fascination for a people who
WHAT WAS
A PARKING
LOT IS AN
OPEN PIT
WITH 2,600
YEARS OF
HISTORY:
EARLY
ISLAMIC
WORKSHOPS,
A ROMAN
VILLA, AND
IRON AGE
BUILDINGS.
66 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC