Source: City of David Website
The international award winning City of David website, with its excellent visuals and rich description of the site - in English, Spanish, Hebrew, French and Russian - bring the City of David to life. The visitor accompanies the excavators in their discovery and reconstruction of Biblical Jerusalem.
The viewers experience begins on the City of David homepage with panoramic views and stunning photos. The virtual visitors accompany King David as he conquers the hilltop, selects Jerusalem as the unified capital, and envisions the building of the First Temple by his son King Solomon on Mt. Moriah.
Visitors can click on an interactive aerial map of the city to visit key sites and explore ancient hiding places and secret tunnels: The Gihon Spring and Shiloah Pool, its water source and a section of the wall (from the time of the Patriarchs) used to fortify the city.
The website uses video presentations to introduce some of the impressive finds such as the one in the Royal Quarter which shows a red seal used by the king's own scribe who is mentioned in the book of Jeremiah.
King Hezekiah's tunnel, an engineering feat, where the city's water source was diverted to protect it from the Assyrian enemy in the 8th century BCE is vividly depicted.
Panoramic views of the city and temple Mount are provided along with a virtual tour of the city's main areas.
New findings ("News and Updates") reveal life in the city 2000 years ago. In March 2008, archaeologists digging in a drainage channel found a half-shekel coin, minted in Tyre in 22 CE. The coin was the annual "head tax" all Jews - rich or poor - had to pay, towards the building and upkeep of the Temple.
The City of David Website won first prize at the UN-sponsored World Summit Awards (WSA) in Venice recently. It was selected as "the best in e-content and creativity in the category of e-culture," "this outstanding website brings remote visitors face to face with the protagonists and locations of the living Bible," said the judges.
The City of David Website has also won the British FWA (Favorite Web Award).