2,000-year-old Jerusalem city wall uncovered

The section of the wall unearthed at the Tower of David Museum is among the longest and most intact segments ever uncovered. JNS Staff.

A section of Jerusalem’s city wall dating from the Hasmonean period more than two thousand years ago has been unearthed in the city’s Tower of David Museum, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday.

The wall was discovered during an excavation on the grounds of the museum, located just inside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, adjacent to the citadel, within the historic complex known as the Kishle, the state-run archaeological body said.

The newly uncovered section of the wall known in ancient historical sources as the “First Wall” is particularly impressive in both size and degree of preservation, being over 40 meters long and about 5 meters wide, according to excavation directors Amit Re’im and Marion Zindel.

The historian Josephus details the originally 10-meter high wall and its gates, and contended that it was “impregnable,” with 60 towers standing along its length.

“There is much more to this wall than meets the eye,” the excavation directors said. “It is clear that it was systematically destroyed and razed to the ground.”

The researchers surmise that the wall may have been dismantled by the Hasmoneans themselves, or that alternatively King Herod, in seeking to distinguish his rule from that of the Hasmonean kings, deliberately destroyed their construction projects, including their monumental city wall, as a political statement.

“We are committed to preserving this impressive and unique sight, and allowing the general public to experience this tangible link to Jerusalem’s past spanning thousands of years,” said Eilat Lieber, director of the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum.

“This segment of Jerusalem’s ancient city wall is tangible and moving evidence of Jerusalem’s might and stature during the Hasmonean period,” said Israeli Heritage Minister Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu. “The archaeological discoveries allow us to connect to the historical continuity that binds us—generations of Jews, to Jerusalem, and demonstrates and exhibits our proud heritage to the world.”

63 BC

Roman General Pompe invades Jerusalem

Josephus, Antiquities, 14.4.4

“But when the battering engine was brought near, the greatest of the towers was shaken by it, and fell down; and brake down a part of the fortifications. So the enemy poured in apace...

Pompey went into it (the Temple).. and saw all that which it was unlawful for any other men to see, but only for the High Priests. There were in that temple the golden table (i.e. the Showbread table); the holy candlestick; and the pouring vessels; and a great quantity of spices: and besides these there were among the treasures, two thousand talents of sacred money.”

There’s an angel standing in the sun
And he’s crying with a loud voice
“This is the supper of the mighty one”
Lord of Lords, King of Kings
Has returned to lead his children home
To take them to the new Jerusalem

The rest of the Josephus keyword, sorted:

Study Finds Evidence of Legio X Fretensis in Georgia [05/30/2023]
The Untold Story Of Emperor Vespasian [1:16:04] [01/05/2023]
Rare Half-Shekel Coin from the Great Revolt Found in Jerusalem's Ophel Excavations [12/15/2022]
Looted coin worth $1m returned to Israel after years-long hunt [09/13/2022]
Archaeologist Identifies Position Of Roman Siege Engines Used During Attack On Jerusalem [08/15/2022]
Mystery of Noah's Ark Solved!...The shape of the ark has been a puzzle for millennia. Until now. [08/01/2022]
Masada Shall Never Fail (to Surprise) Again [04/08/2020]
Great Sieges: Jerusalem (70 CE) -- One Million Lives Lost In 8 Months Of Combat [01/04/2019]
Herod's Death, Jesus' Birth and a Lunar Eclipse [09/10/2018]
D.C.-Area Archaeology Event: Ancient Libraries in Rome [03/02/2016]
BOMBSHELL: Amazing Biblical Archeological Discovery In Jerusalem... [11/10/2015]
Fortress of Antiochus Epiphanes Uncovered in Jerusalem [11/04/2015]
Archaeological find in Jerusalem's City of David may answer ancient mystery [2 Thess 2] [11/03/2015]
The Palestinian connection - From the very beginning [10/06/2015]
"Castle of the Slave" -- Mystery Solved [ Jordan ] [05/28/2012]
Have Astronomers Found the Star of Bethlehem? [12/07/2011]
Israel displays coins from ancient Jewish revolt [11/11/2009]
Mysterious Book: Codex Gigas [07/07/2009]
What did Josephus say? [01/16/2009]
Written sources for Christianity outside the Bible (Interesting Stuff for all Christians) [10/29/2008]
Not One Stone Left Upon Another [04/08/2008]
Excavations In The East Jordan Land [12/14/2007]
Archaeologists Find Ancient Tunnel Used By Jews To Escape Roman Conquest Of Jerusalem [09/09/2007]
The Hidden Latrines of The Essenes [12/23/2006]
British Historian Claims to Have Found the Temple Treasures [10/09/2006]
Hamas' win: historical revisionism, a dark reality, but a little hope [01/27/2006]
Historical Tiberias [08/19/2005]
Jews revive ancient synagogue [05/24/2004]
Messiah: 2030/Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Will Erupt into Sixth Arab-Israeli War & Be Over in 2003! [05/22/2002]

It’s the long lost and little known ‘Hilarity Wall’ where ancient comedians stood and dodged things as they performed for rowdy Philistines. Researchers are even now cataloguing the scarring from thrown sandals and the faded stains of rotten produce.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.