This aerial photograph of Jerusalem, looking north, shows the hilly character of the area. The Old City, including the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, can be seen in the center of the picture, and the skyscrapers of the New City are in the background. In the middle of the picture a spur of a hill descends from the Old City toward the intersection of the shadows that are created by the hill on which the Old City sits. The Jehoshaphat Valley sits in the shadow that curves around the Old City to the right, while the Hinnom Valley curves around to the left side of the Old City (the valley itself is not clearly visible because of the other hill in the foreground). These two valleys intersect at the bottom of the spurand become the Kidron Valley, which then runs south all the way to the Dead Sea. The City of David sits on the spur itself, between the Jehoshaphat and Hinnom valleys and below the Old City. To the right of the Jehoshaphat Valley is the Mount of Olives with village of Siloam on its slopes. At the top right of the photo you can see the water tower of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus.
This aerial photograph shows the City of David and the Temple Mount above it. Notice the ridge upon which the City of David was built (to the right of the road running from the upper center to the bottom of the photograph). The place of the Temple Mount was outside of the City of David until the time of Solomon. As the highest point in the area it became the location for David's 'high place' altar and Solomon's temple.
Jerusalem: City of David - the Stepped Structure
The 50-foot-high stepped structure on the right in this photo was probably built in the pre-Davidic Jebusite period (i.e., prior to the 10th century BCE). The square-cornered tower immediately beyond the stepped structure was part of the east wall of the city in the Second Temple period and the walls and steps in the lower left of the photo belong to a house from the 8th or 7th centuries BCE.
In this aerial view of the Old City of Jerusalem, which is looking east toward the Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus and the Judaean Desert beyond them, the outline of the Old City walls is clearly visible, as is the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock (in the center of the photo). The Tyropoeon Valley, which runs through the middle of the Old City, is visible as a shadow that runs between the Temple Mount and Mt. Zion at the bottom of the photograph.
Jerusalem: Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock
In this view of the Temple Mount, looking west, one can clearly see the Dome of the Chain (between the five arches and the Dome of the Rock), and the Al Aqsa Mosque (the large building complex on the left). The Dome of the Chain is one of the oldest structures on top of the Temple Mount and was used as a prayer house.
In this photograph of the Old City of Jerusalem after a winter snow, the Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock are visible in the distance (to the east), as is the Mount of Olives in the background. The grey dome at the bottom of the photograph is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
This aerial view of the Temple Mount, looking west, shows not just the massive Temple Mount complex and the Dome of the Rock, but also the Al Aqsa Mosque, to the left (this is the southern end of the Temple Mount complex). The Old City wall is visible at the bottom of the photograph. Note the flat enormous stone slabs that make up the Temple Mount platform. These were hewn by King Herod the Great and his engineers.
Jerusalem: City of David - expansion in the 9th-7th centuries BCE
This map shows the City of David, the City of Solomon (north/up the hill), and the expansion of the city to the west, which occurred between the 9th and 7th centuries BCE. It also shows the path of the Siloam Tunnel from the Spring of the Gihon outside the city walls to the pool of Siloam within the city. Topographically one can see how the two tributaries of the Kidron valley embrace the city from the east and south, and as such define its borders.