Gehenna Valley

Address: Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna), southwest of Jerusalem Old City, Jerusalem District, Israel

Gehenna, historically the Valley of Hinnom, is a deep valley immediately outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem with strong biblical associations dating back to the Iron Age. It is notable both as an archaeological landscape and as the source of the word translated as ‘Gehenna’ in later religious literature.

In the Hebrew Bible the valley is recorded in texts as a place associated with idolatrous practices in the first millennium BCE; later historical descriptions note its use as a site where refuse and burning refuse contributed to an image of perpetual fire. Over centuries the valley became a literary and theological symbol of punishment in Jewish and Christian traditions.

The valley runs along the southern and southwestern edges of Jerusalem’s Old City, descending from the area around the Armenian and Jewish quarters toward the west; it forms part of the broader topography that includes the Kidron Valley to the east.

• Name and significance: The name comes from the Hebrew ‘Gei Hinnom’ - the Valley of Hinnom - and is the origin of the later religious concept of Gehenna or hell in Jewish and Christian texts.

The Valley of Gehenna (Ge-Hinnom) is immediately adjacent to Jerusalem’s Old City and is commonly reached on foot from the Old City (depending on the exact entry point, roughly a 5-20 minute walk from the Jaffa Gate / City of David area).

Local Jerusalem buses and shared minibuses serve stops around the Old City and the City of David; taxis and walking from central Jerusalem locations are the usual ways visitors reach the valley.

• The Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) skirts the southwest and south sides of Jerusalem's Old City-approach it as part of a walking route from the Dung Gate or from the Yemin Moshe/Armon Hanatziv promenade to get historical context and good viewpoints.
• Many visitors walk past without reading the interpretive panels; take time at the established park viewpoints and archaeological signage to understand the valley's long history and how its landscape relates to the Old City.