Discovering Jerusalem in The 40th Year is a photography exhibit commemorating the 40th year of Jerusalem's reunification.
As a result of Israel's sovereignty, two principle archeological sites have developed in Jerusalem and are currently being excavated further, the City of David and the environs of Mt. Moriah better known as the Temple Mount.
Our exhibit is a collection of 40 photographs made by photographer Max Richardson over the past ten years. This collection of images is best understood in the context of this exhibition.
The photographs retells the story of how Jerusalem was born and built both physically and ideologically from the Judean Desert Mountains she is now an eternal part of. The photographs are an adaptation of ancient motifs found in contemporary Jerusalem
The Gihon Spring is shown to be the birth waters of Jebusi and Shalem the Fortress of Zion, the City of David and finally Jerusalem
The Gihon Spring still gushes from the abyss into the same Wadi Kidron which the Bible records as the site of King Solomon's coronation. Jerusalem was a good choice for an inland capital for Judah. It had the Gihon's abundance within its walls. This, in addition to high, well fortified walls was a deterrent to would be conquerors of the city since the city would be able to hold out under siege.
The sight of pomegranate, cedar and olive trees growing from the stones which built the places we call holy, the places we pray, the familiar Biblical motifs infuse our perception with a bias of self recognition, that of Jews in the Holy Land.
