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Light Show: Tower of David's history comes into focus
AP Photo
"Night Spectacular" is a series of moving images projected on the walls, arches and turrets of the Tower of David in Jerusalem's Old City.
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Published: October 24, 2008
JERUSALEM
The Tower of David isn't Jerusalem's most celebrated, sacred or coveted site, but perhaps no place better illustrates the city's contentious history. Over the centuries, conquerors have used it as a fortress, military barracks and cannon emplacement.
These days, the tower has a more benign purpose. It is now a museum that welcomes tens of thousands of visitors each year.
Though overshadowed by its world-famous neighbors -- the Western Wall, Dome of the Rock and Church of the Holy Sepulcher -- the sprawling complex is worth a visit for Jerusalem's past.
Visitors can walk alongside layers of walls, some dating back more than 2,000 years, peek into ancient cisterns and bask in the shadows of Crusader arches. The tower's ancient walls come alive, quite literally, in the museum's latest exhibit, a nighttime sound and light show that takes its audience on a stirring open-air tour of Jerusalem's history.
The "Night Spectacular" has no narration and is not meant to be a comprehensive history lesson. Instead, viewers are treated to a colorful series of moving images that turn the massive walls, arches, towers, turrets and archaeological ruins into lifelike depictions of events that took place, often just steps away.
The show opens with a massive silhouette of the Biblical King David strumming on a harp. There are scenes of King Solomon's Temple and its destruction, early Christian monks, the Prophet Muhammad's night journey to heaven, a mystic event recounted in the Quran. At one point, Roman soldiers march through the ruins of the city, their footsteps echoing like thunder, followed by Crusader conquerors and later, by a 30-yard image of the Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent.
The 45-minute show makes no mention of the modern conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, skipping from the times of British rule early in the 20th century to a hopeful scene of children, surrounded by doves, singing for peace.
The show does not strive to provide a full history of Jerusalem -- visitors can get that during the daytime, when the many exhibits are open, said Shosh Yaniv, the museum's director. And there is no explicit political message, she said. The show tries to recognize the Jewish, Muslim and Christian attachment to the city.
"We just took images, visions and put them into one show that doesn't speak any language. It speaks all the languages," she said. "I want people to take Jerusalem with them. It's a very strong image. Very complicated."
The show may be worth catching just for its nifty special effects, and for its soundtrack, written by French composer Etienne Perruchon and recorded by a full orchestra.
"We wanted to create something that was evocative, to let the public fantasize about the history of the place," said Jean-Michel Quesne of Skertzo, the French company that put together the show. "We wanted to do something more poetic than educational."
This was no small task, given the varying heights, angles and textures of the walls of the complex. It took about a year of planning, and required 20 projectors, 10 video players and servers and six miles of cable, along with countless photos, drawings, paintings, computer-generated images and video clips.
"It was a difficult space to work with," said Quesne. "It took some time until what we wanted to express on the walls came about," he said, calling the scenes "dreamlike images."
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