1980-1990

In the 1980s, in Yigal Shilo’s excavation in “Kiryat HaShilton” (the Government Campus) near the top of the Hill of the City of David, a building was discovered that was nicknamed “the burnt room” in that it contained burnt pieces of wood. These pieces were parts of furniture found in the building. Tests of these pieces of wood revealed that the wood is of a Boxwood tree – it is the biblical Boxwood or Buxus, a tree that does not grow in Israel but in northern Syria and modern-day Turkey.

A Timura carving was discovered on one of the pieces of wood. It is probably imported furniture that was brought to the residents of the house, indicating the wealth of the owner of the house. This find is connected to other findings from the nearby houses that led the excavators to propose that the city’s ruling center was located in this area.