The Biblical sources including Midrahsim related to the title of this paper and other references including matzeva (grave marker or pillar), mizbeach (altar) and the Even haSehtiya (Foundation Stone) can present numerous insights into the recent archaeological discoveries in the area of the Gihon spring at the City of David. Whilst these are certainly not considered to be an archaeological proof, the stricter standard may be helped in its investigation to understand the facts uncovered. Before we explore these Biblical sources, the reader must regard the complete unification, no matter how abstract, with facts on the ground in order for The Hebrew Bible to be upheld. It is with this view I offer the facts with full regard to each esoteric even abstract thought recorded in the posterity of Jewish heritage and culture. The fortification of the area at the Gihon may have occurred hundreds of years apart identifiable in the construction of the enclosed area south and west of the Gihon and the enclosed area to the north and west. Each of these enclosures appear bounded by an upper ledge and escarpment, a plateau (a ridge) at the western boundary of these enclosures. Through a compilation of ancient of stories we learn that three men came to Hebron to break the news that Abraham and his wife Sarah were to have a son. As Abraham prepared to slaughter a calf for these men it escaped and he chased it into the cave at the end of the field of Machpelah (Hebron) where he smelled the Garden of Eden. Was he alerted to the presence of the underground water source, high in the hills of Hebron? In the 37 years after Isaac’s birth, Abraham traced the water, digging wells along the aquifers path as it makes its way from Hebron toward Jerusalem. Abraham was told by God to offer his son as a sacrifice at the instructed place. At the end of the journey he stopped to ask his assistant Eliezer and two son’s Ishmael and Isaac who could see Ha Makom (The Place), Isaac recognized the feature. Did Abraham know this (Mount Moriah) to be the location at which the underground waters turn from their northerly flow to the east? In the final test of his commitment, whilst carrying a flame to light the fire for the sacrifice, the waters surge forth, blocking their path, threatening his and Isaac’s lives and to douse the flames. After the offering, Isaac, remained in the field that surrounds The Place (Ha Makom), this is where he first sees his future wife Rebecca and where he discovers ber sheva, seven additional wells. Isaac becomes known as ‘the well digger’. In Genesis 28:19 we learn that Jacob after running away from his brother Esau and on his way to Haran (in the north) slept one night at a place he named Beit El, but its name was originally Luz. At this place he erected and anointed a semi-circular stone as a monument (matzeva) to God. We understand Luz to mean spine or a bone of the spine, a specific bone, the vertebrae connecting the spine and neck to the head, heralded to be the hardest bone in the body and associated with the end of days prophecy related to the resurrection of the dead; the bone that survives all and which is not subject to permanent state of death. Culturally we learn that the Luz bone exclusively gets its nourishment from the melaveh malka meal on Saturday night after Shabbat. Whilst Adam and Eve’s bodies participated in the meal of the Sin of the Tree of Knowledge, the Luz bone did not (hence its protection from the angel of death). We also understand it relates to a high plateau or ridge and finally it can also be used as the name for Almond. The Midrash tells us that Luz was enclosed (walled) and its entrance hidden such that the only way in and out was through a hole in an Almond tree that hid an opening to a cave which led to the entrance to the city. The analogy here is to the Almond Shell. The story tells of a man who

advised The Tribes of Joseph’s troops, who were attacking the city at the time Joshua entered to the land of Israel, where to find the secret passage. The man and his family were freed, they settled in the eastern part of the world where they named a town Luz, which today is Madras in India. In Genesis 35:7:8 Jacob who was running away from a confrontation with his brother Esau, but returned to collect some jars of sacred oil that he needed for his return to the monument, instead he was met by the angel of death, but he prevailed demanding the angel bless him, which he did by bestowing on him the name Israel. The next day Esau received Jacob in peace and Jacob left with his family to Shchem. Following the events of Shchem he made his way south through Luz where Jacob built an altar, and he named the place “El Beit El”. Deborah, Jacobs mothers (Rebecca’s) wet nurse, was traveling with them and died, she was buried below Beit El, (which was located on a hilltop) on a plateau (near the bottom of the slope of the hill). According to an oral tradition, the olives from the branch that Noah received from the dove he sent to test the waters were made into pure olive oil. The oil was given to Noah's firstborn, Shem. Shem, otherwise known as Malchitzedek, the high priest of Salem (Jerusalem), sealed this little jar of oil and gave it to Abraham as a gift. Abraham, in turn, handed it to Isaac who passed it to Jacob. The Midrash supports that the matzevah and the altar are also the site where Isaac (Jacob’s fathers) was offered. Further, that 12 stones were taken by Jacob from this altar to support the semi-circular stone monument which he had rested his head during the night. On insertion into the bedrock, the monument headstone and the 12 stones, converged to become one in, with and as the Foundation Stone of the creation of the world. The stone marks the place the temple will be built. The area in which this stone and altar reside is called Luz and it is known as an area in which the angel of death cannot exist, which is where Jacob was seeking protection from Esau the night he was running away with his family. The symbolism informs us of the mountain on which this event took place. It tells us of a future time when the matzevah stone will become the House of God. The monument is also referred to as the “corner stone that the builders despised” in the holiday liturgy known as Hallel which goes on to say “the stone has become the cornerstone” and the Midrash refers to unsuccessful attempts by the builders of the first and second temple to move the monumental stone into the wall of those temples. The future altar, which will be located on this mountain - HaMakom (The Place), Mount Moriah, The Temple Mount amongst many other names, is located at the site of these 12 stones because they were extracted from the altar on which Abraham offered his son Isaac and that will be the place of the altar of The Temple. In a recent video posted by Israel Antiquities http://www.antiquities.org.il/IRD_movie_eng.asp an image of bones recovered in a cistern behind the Gihon spring evidences an unusual mix of vertebrae absent of other major bones that would be expected to have been found. Could these all be Luz bones of people whose relatives placed the Luz into the area Luz to ensure resurrection and safety from the angel of death?

Based upon the paper published at; https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lNp_2dKw9cOd2NVI-9jn1o6GEVQUS6Y9yDzkEzyXYds/edit?hl=en_US The area below is considered to be Luz.

The location of Luz (as show above) is identified at the end of the thick red line pointing across the valley floor from the the mountains apex at the base of the Mount of Olives cemetery.