Last Supper Room in Jerusalem

The modern location of the Last Supper Room, also known as the Upper Room, is on Mount Zion outside the Old City of Jerusalem walls. The Mount Zion's early identification made by Christian pilgrims was in error but is preserved by years of tradition and unlikely to be changed. 

The Upper Room is located above the traditional site of the tomb of King David. On the Day of Pentecost , when the Disciples were gathered in the Upper Room, Apostle Peter exclaims:

The patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.”  (Acts 2:29)

This text may relate to the original site of the tombs of the house of David, or the new location on Mount Zion. 

In the 4th and 5th centuries, Byzantine churches were built in the area. In 1335, the Crusaders built the building of the Last Supper Room which has early Gothic architectural features. Columns adorn the large room, transported from the ruins of Roman Ceasarea on the Sea. 

Ottoman Turkish rulers converted the room into a mosque dedicated to the prophet David who is revered by the Moslems. In the middle of the room, there is a large niche (Mihrab) which points the direction of prayer (Qiblah) for Moslems.

Today, the room belongs to the State of Israel who exercises Status Quo. It is open for everyone but no religion can claim it and no prayers, masses or religious ceremonies are allowed at the site.

Gihon Spring is the only natural source of water in Jerusalem. It ends in Siloam pool so it is logical to assume the man with the jar of water was returning from there to the Upper City, today's Mount Zion area.

Why did this man carry the water which was exclusively a woman's task? Perhaps it was a kind of conspiracy letting the disciples to recognize him? Or maybe the man was the Essene, a member of the monastic community of the first century? Ruins prove there was Essene quarter in the area of Mount Zion during the time of Jesus.

Christian scholars surmise the reason of giving such detailed  instructions to the disciples may have been to keep the location of the supper from Judas and not to be surprised at the dinner by the soldiers sent by the high priest.

The Gospel of Luke (22:8) emphasises that Peter and John had been sent to find the guest house and not Judas who was the keeper of the purse and probably the one  to take care of such business.

According to the Catholic scholar Bargil Pixner (May 1990 Biblical Archaeology Review), the 6th-century Madaba map shows two churches. One of them was the Church of the Apostles which served as the early Jewish-Christian synagogue on Mount Zion. He also claimed to have found the Essene Gate. So, he assumed this proves the later identification of the Last Supper Room on Mount Zion. Both claims were met with a mixed reaction among the scholars.