(י)The earliest Jewish source connecting King David's tomb to the area known today as Mount Zion is an account by Benjamin of Tudela in the mid 12th century. Over the years the site has been accepted by Jewish, Christian, and Muslim culture alike to be the tomb of David. This verse, though, describes David as being buried in Ir David. In Tanakh, this area is indeed referred to as Zion, but it refers to the eastern rather than western hill of the city, making the identification of David's tomb on modern Mount Zion (the western hill) difficult. The (mis)identification is likely related to the fact that already as early as Josephus, the western hill was referred to as Mt. Zion, leading pilgrims of the Middle Ages to search for David's tomb there rather than in Ir David.
A second possible location for David's tomb was raised by archaeologist Reymond Weill. In 1913-14 he led excavations on the southern slope of Ir David and discovered eight caves which he identified as tombs and suggested that these might be the remains of the cemetery of the Davidic monarchs. The tombs' location in Ir David matches both our verse and the description of the location of the royal burial site in Nechemyah 3:15-16. Nonetheless, many have objected to the identification, pointing out that other tombs uncovered in Jerusalem from slightly later in the First Temple Period look quite different and are much more elaborate.