'America's Spiritual Underpinnings Come from Jerusalem'

“living, breathing piece of history”

Senior officials from around the world gather in City of David near Old City of Jerusalem for unveiling of 2nd Temple period Pilgrims' Road.

Representatives from around the world gathered in the City of David, just outside of the Old City of Jerusalem, on Sunday, for the unveiling of the Pilgrim’s Road, a key archeological site in the Israeli capital city.

US Ambassador David Friedman, White House special envoy Jason Greenblatt, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, Israeli ministers Rafi Peretz and Uri Ariel, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara Netanyahu, American Jewish philanthropists Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, and the US ambassadors to Portugal, Denmark, and France were among those in attendance at the ceremony.



Addressing the gathering, Ambassador Friedman hailed the discovery of the Second Temple-period walkway as one of the greatest archeological discoveries of the 20th century.

"The discovery in the City of David... is one of the greatest archeological discoveries, perhaps in the century,” said Friedman.

"The centrality of Jerusalem to the Jewish people and the two Jewish temples - we all knew that, but now we have the irrefutable evidence."

"The Pilgrimage Road and Pool of Silwan allow us to go back in time, back in history. It brings the Bible to life. We can walk that path and imagine the great rabbinical figures walking that path."

Friedman called the walkway, which linked the ancient City of David to the Temple Mount and was used for bringing sacrifices to the Temple, a “living, breathing piece of history”, “not a relic”.