In 701 BC, the Assyrians, headed by Sennacherib invaded Judah, the Southern Kingdom of Israel, because of their disobedience to God. What good is it if you rebuild your own home but there are no city walls and no gate to prevent enemies from coming right in? PayPal does not require you to create a PayPal account to use your credit card. The construction was finished in 516 BCE or 430 BCE. INTRODUCTION: Nehemiah means "The Lord Comforts". (Courtesy Ancient Jerusalem Project). century. In this map the walls surround the southeastern hill and the Temple Mount only; it is assumed that other parts of the Late Iron Age city were not reconstructed. The temple was restored, and the temple gave the town its raison d'tre. 8Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; 9but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place at which I have chosen to establish my name. 10They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great power and your strong hand. The biblical sources are largely silent on what happened in Judah and Jerusalem after the Babylonian destruction. Was it a walled town with a central temple, the seat of the governor, a centre of administration, religion and economy? Returning Exiles Rebuild the Walls444 BC - 442 BC. All in all, archaeological research has not found any actual Persian fortifications but at most indirect evidence for their construction. The pottery she found there originated in the Persian period, which, according to her, proved that the tower itself was Persian in date and therefore part of the fortifications mentioned in Nehemiah 3. The walls surrounding the Old City encompass an area of barely a third of a square mile (1 sq. Are you rebelling against the king? Then I replied to them, The God of heaven is the one who will give us success, & we his servants are going to start building; but you have no share or claim or historic right in Jerusalem.. The work took some four years, between 1537 and 1541. There were lots of people who tried to stop them. About ten feet thick and up to fifty feet high, Suleiman's wall is dotted with forty-two defensive lookout posts. After this destruction the wider area was largely, but not entirely, abandoned. It was built to dimensions similar to King Hezekiahs time. 1538-1541 - Suleiman the Magnificent Rebuilds the Walls of Jerusalem British Mandate (1917-1948) 1917 - British Capture Jerusalem in World War I Divided City (1948-1967) 1948 - State of Israel Established; Jerusalem Divided By Armistice Lines Between Israel & Jordan Reunification (1967-Present) Nehemiah 6:1516: So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. Though the temple has been rebuilt, the city walls were as they had been for the last 130 years, with the result that the inhabitants of Jerusalem had no way of defending themselves against their enemies (see Nehemiah 4:11). R. Reich, `The Ancient Burial Ground in the Mamilla Neighborhood, Jerusalem, in H. Geva (ed. And so Nehemiah travels west to Jerusalem. The Persian king even gives Nehemiah an armed escort and resources to fulfll the project of the walls. What this means is the careers of Ezra the scribe and Nehemiah the governor clearly ov. The conclusion must be that no Persian city walls have actually been found. "The survivors there in the province who escaped exile are in great trouble and shame; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire" (Neh 1:3; cf. Effective leadership in a time of adversity requires the wisdom & courage that result from dependence upon God, identifying with others, acknowledging the seriousness of a situation, & committing ourselves to the common good. The biblical books Nehemiah 2 and 3 relay the story of Nehemiahs trip around the destroyed town of Jerusalem and of the rebuilding of its fortifications. Today, they are revealed in their full height and splendor, after rubble accumulated over centuries was cleared away. He sees not only the reality of what is, but what can be. 5I said, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments; 6let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Moriah upon the threshing floor of Araunah. We don't know that Jerusalem was a gubernatorial seat. Nehemiah 3:1 According to the following report, the rebuilding of the wall started at the middle of the north side and proceeded counterclockwise around the city. As cupbearer it was his duty to taste wine from the kings cup before handing the cup personally to the king, a guarantee that the wine was not poisoned. Was any town wall of the Persian period ever excavated? These walls were largely destroyed in 1033, however, when a major earthquake struck the city. What is the Dung . Despite evidence of permanent settlement dating back to at least the Early Bronze Age (c. 33002300 B.C.E. He returns to Jerusalem with a group of exiles and begins rebuilding the wall, meeting opposition along the way. A highly motivated amateur built Noahs Ark. 1km2). During the Second Temple period, especially during the Hasmonean period, the city walls were expanded and renovated, constituting what Josephus calls the First Wall. Indeed, the walls that surround the Old City of Jerusalem today are only around 500 years old, having been constructed by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the mid-16th century. Upon regaining the city from the Crusaders, Saladin began refortifying the walls in 1192. God instructed Nehemiah to build a wall around Jerusalem to protect its citizens from enemy attack. Often times our need for faith will increase when were truly aware of the facts of a situation or crisis we are facing. Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon levied to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. Nehemiah has a very difficult task to accomplish: rebuilding a ruined city with opposition all around & a frightened, discouraged population, fortunately Nehemiah knows how to lead in a crisis. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. . Solomon, David's son, built the First Temple on the hilltop rising right above the city he had inherited, the Temple Mount, and then extended the city walls in order to protect the temple. No other biblical text is as explicit about the walls of Jerusalem as Nehemiah 3. The Old City of Jerusalem is currently divided into the Muslim, Christian, Armenian, and Jewish Quarters. ), Archaeology in the Land of `Tells and Ruins. These ambiguities renders the reconstructions uncertain, and with it our view of Jerusalem in the Persian period. IF WE GET THIS BIBLE HISTORY DAILY, DO WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT? Hold up one of the paper bricks and explain the following: The wall of Jerusalem is about 40 feet high and 2.5 miles long! The "gate" is a large, L-shaped open space. night | 74 views, 3 likes, 0 loves, 3 comments, 1 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Historic Baptist Church: Sunday Night Wright --University of Arizona, Center for Judaic Studies Why did Nehemiah rebuild the walls of Jerusalem? Being built in circa 15371541, they are the walls that exist today. He was born in exile and grew to become the Cupbearer of King Artaxerses of the Medo-Persian empire. The city walls and gates that the Babylonians destroyed have never been rebuilt.' Nehemiah was upset. However, the walls of the city remained in ruins until the end of the third century. The city walls and gates that the Babylonians destroyed have never been rebuilt.' Nehemiah was upset. The entire city was destroyed in 587/86 BCE during the siege led by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. This paper investigates the facts `on the ground. An analysis of the pottery from the Persian period found during excavations in Jerusalem shows that there were several potteries that supplied the inhabitants with vessels, including Greek-style vases and thin-walled bowls, both luxury materials (Steiner 2011). TWO DECREES OF ARTAXERXES 1 The words of a Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.. Now it happened in the month of b Chislev, c in the twentieth year, as I was in d Susa the citadel, 2 that e Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. The walls are demolished, the gates reduced to ashes. But he is a man of vision. Required fields are marked *, COPYRIGHT 2023 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY 5614 Connecticut Ave NW #343, Washington DC 20015-2604. If our plans are not based on reality or the facts its highly unlikely our plans will be successful. This would imply the construction of supply and service buildings, a palace for the governor and houses for the inhabitants. The walls were still in ruin 140 years later when Nehemiah came to Jerusalem. The Walls of Jerusalem (Hebrew: , Arabic: ) surround the Old City of Jerusalem (approx. So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. There is the technical side & the human side. That could be two years later, a hundred years later or a thousand years later. In 1033, most of the walls constructed by Eudocia were destroyed by an earthquake. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. This town was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC, and many of its inhabitants were sent into exile. The call to action is the third element of Nehemiahs speech & in it Nehemiahs confidence is contagious. An accurate analysis of the finds I made shows, however, that the tower and the wall date from the Late Hellenistic period and are part of the fortifications described above (for an extensive analysis see Steiner 2011). In the Old Testament, Nehemiah and the Israelites were asked to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem! The length of the walls is 4,018 meters (2.497 miles), their average height is 12 meters (39 feet) and the average thickness is 2.5 meters (8.2 feet). Your email address will not be published. This suggests that the rubble was swept down before the Late Persian period began, and that a city wall may have been built there at that time. Every important building he burned down. Nehemiahs life was marked by availability as a servant to an earthly ruler but in a deeper way as a servant of God. The only animal I took was the animal I rode. After some two centuries without walls, a new set was erected around the city, probably during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, sometime between 289 and the turn of the century. The Jerusalem Wall That Shouldnt Be There, Jerusalem Down Under: Tunneling Along Herods Temple Mount Wall, Old, New Banquet Hall by the Temple Mount. ), Biblical Narratives, Archaeology and Historicity: Essays In Honour of Thomas L. Thompson, London 2019, 3-10. Yet in 1219, the Ayyubids, fearing the Crusaders would regain the city, demolished the walls of Jerusalem to keep such a fortified position from falling into Crusader hands. Why is a broken-down wall such a big deal? Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. The excavations of Kathleen Kenyon. Since then, the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times. The emphasis is on the exiles and on the return to the old land after the Persians had conquered Babylon in 539 BC and included Judah into their empire. His city was still located on the low southeastern hill, outside today's Old City area. Nehemiah's brother came from Judah with bad news: 'The people who returned to Jerusalem are not safe. We will soon discover that Nehemiah has a position of authority in the empire, being the 'cupbearer . Tisha B'Av: The 9th of Av is observed as a fast day known as Tisha B'Av, which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. An accurate analysis of the material found during excavations shows, in my opinion, a more nuanced picture. 1 The first exiled people, who came back seventy years later with Zerubbabel on the first order of return (Cyrus' 2 ), found only ruins and rubbles. He was motivated. The walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. O. Lipschits, Y. Gadot et al., `Palace and Village, Paradise and Oblivion: Unraveling the Riddles of Ramat Rael, Near Eastern Archaeology 74 (2011), 1-49. Dig into the illuminating world of the Bible with a BAS All-Access membership. If HolyLandSite.com is helpful to you, and you would like to support our work, we would be deeply grateful. It took the water from the Gihon Spring under the mountain to the Pool of Siloam below the city. He stands before the depressed, fearful, skeptical citizens of Jerusalem & says look at what God has done already, through the heathen king of Persia no less. The Walls that Nehemiah Built: The Town of Jerusalem in the Persian Period, Many biblical scholars have been allured by these texts to sketch a map of the city based on the descriptions therein - see for instance, https://medium.com/@chrisvonada/the-courage-and-calling-of-nehemiah-1b64df490373. Unlike Joseph in Genesis, he didnt make the mistake of revealing Gods vision too soon. Preliminary Report of Seasons 2005-2007, Jerusalem and New York 2009. Only since the end of the 19th century do we know that the town from the Bronze and Iron Ages, roughly the period from 3200 - 600 BC, was built near the only natural spring in the area, the Gichon spring at the foot of the eastern slope of the southeastern hill (Steiner 2014). A series by Phil & Kath Henry. M. L. Steiner, `The Palace of David Reconsidered in the Light of Earlier Excavations, op http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/palace_2468.shtml (2009). But that did not make Jerusalem a large or prosperous town. Were praying and trusting God in the process and committing ourselves to the common good. This, however, is a methodological error. Nehemiah was a servant of God & a servant of Gods people. The identification of Jebus with Jerusalem has been disputed, principally by Niels Peter Lemche. Nehemiah 4:1 . October 2021. The walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. [4] Also in the Amarna letters, it is called Beth-Shalem, the house of Shalem.[5]. Your email address will not be published. This is not the last time that happened on a construction job. It would be this city layout that would exist during the time of Christ. During the time of Hezekiah, Jerusalems urban population had grown far outside the old walls of the city and were unprotected. In 1202 to 1212 Saladin's nephew, Al-Malik al-Mu'azzam 'Isa, ordered the reconstruction of the city walls, but later on, in 1219, he reconsidered the situation after most of the watchtowers had been built and had the walls torn down, mainly because he feared that the Crusaders would benefit of the fortifications if they managed to reconquer the city. This expansion also included some additional wall construction on the north side of the city walls. . Only when Nehemiah knew all the facts did he make his final plans. He doesnt play the visiting political official saying, You people are in a mess, & Ive come to help you. Rather he says, You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Blessing: Now may you go from this time of worship to serve the God who is ready to forgive, gracious & merciful, slow to anger & abounding in steadfast love. A book about Judah in the Babylonian era is aptly subtitled The Archaeology of Desolation (Faust 2012). As Hezekiah began to prepare for what he knew would be a terrible siege by a merciless Assyrian war machine, he had to figure out how to protect his people. New migrants were sent from the Persian Empire to Yehud to expand the agricultural production necessary for the army, and a governor was appointed with ancestral ties to the area (Nehemiah). 516 BCE - Cyrus Permits Jews in Babylonian Exile to Return to Jerusalem; 63 BCE - Roman General Pompey captures Jerusalem, 70 CE - Roman Forces Destroy Jerusalem and Demolish, 135 CE - Jerusalem Rebuilt as a Roman City, 1229-1244 CE - Crusaders Briefly Recapture Jerusalem Two Times, 1917 - British Capture Jerusalem in World War I. Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "WH Committee: 1st Extraordinary Session, Paris 1981", Selections from the Tell El-Amarna letters, "Building inscription commemorating the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Ottoman period, 1535-1538, Stone, Israel Antiquities Authority, IAA: 1942-265, Archaeology/Islamic Art & Archaeology", Tancred's Tower / Qasr Jalud (Goliath's Castle), Institute for International Urban Development, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walls_of_Jerusalem&oldid=1142505729. Further north on the hill Kenyon found a smaller tower with part of a wall that according to her originated from the Persian era. Archaeological and radiocarbon dating suggests to some that this was carried out as early as the 18th century B.C.E. Fatigue (Pagkapagod) A. Faust, Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation, Atlanta, Ga 2012. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. The destruction of Jerusalem's walls left its people exposed to great trouble and shame. [email protected] [email protected] A portion of the wall was discovered in the 1970s by Israeli archaeologist Nahman Avigad and dated to the reign of King Hezekiah (716687 BC). He stands before them, knowing what the problems are, but ready to begin the hard work of rebuilding & this encourages & gives hope to the people. Agrippa I (r. 4144 CE) later began the construction of the Third Wall, which was completed just at the beginning of the First JewishRoman War. 16 Nehemiah son of Azbuk ruled half of the district of Beth-Zur, and he rebuilt the next section of the wall. The walls contain 34 watchtowers and seven main gates . Jerusalem was, certainly in the later Persian period, more than a sparsely inhabited settlement or just a temple city without any economic or administrative significance. 32:34). Who destroyed the wall that Nehemiah rebuilt? 10 And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him. He said, The risk of doing nothing is the greatest risk of all. Thats why were doing what were doing because the risk of doing nothing is the greatest risk of all. Nehemiah decides that the fortifications have to be rebuilt. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. . An example of these records are the Amarna letters which are dated to the 14th century BCE, several of which were written by the chieftain of Jerusalem Abdi-Heba and call Jerusalem either Urusalim (URU -ru-sa-lim) or Urualim (URU -ru-a10-lim) (1330s BCE). By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. In an individual life, then, the rebuilding of the walls would be a picture of re-establishing the strength of that life. A century after the Roman Empires conversion to Christianity, the city was renamed Jerusalem and its walls were greatly expanded by Empress Aelia Eudocia. Ready to walk around Jerusalems incredible walls yourself? when it was destroyed by the Babylonians who conquered Jerusalem and took much of the population into exile (2 Kings 25:10). xi. ALSO, I LIKE THE WRITE-UPS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE HOLY LAND. The Persian pottery underneath the tower only gives a terminus post quem, a date after which something could have happened. Whether Jerusalem was a birah, a Persian fortress, or a provincial capital possibly fortified by or with the permission of the Persian authorities to safeguard their interests cannot be determined on the basis of current evidence. 11O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Who first built the walls of Jerusalem? Nehemiah is commissioned to return to Jerusalem to oversee the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem that still laid in ruin. The Jews gained their independence from the Seleucid Empire in 164 BC, led by the Maccabees and Hasmoneans. Combine a one-year tablet and print subscription to BAR with membership in the BAS Library to start your journey into the ancient past today! Many people thought this was impossible. Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library, The Unexpected History Behind Jerusalems Street Names, Richard the Lionheart Accepts Saladin's Peace, British Mark Capture of Jerusalem from Turks, Supreme Moslem Council Recognizes Jewish Temple Mount, Jerusalem's Military Government Abolished, 1998 - 2023 American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 1800 BCE - Construction of First City Wall, 586 BCE - Babylonian Forces Destroy Jerusalem and Demolish. Kulakov in Zaoksky<br><br>1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when the wine was brought, I took the cup to the king and gave it to him. How long did it take Nehemiah to rebuild the wall? ), M. L. Steiner, `One Hundred and Fifty Years of Excavating Jerusalem, in B. Wagemakers (ed. In the foreground the wall that she dated to the Persian period with behind it the small tower. Then he erected the temple upon it and added walls from the City of David to encompass the Temple Mount and temple. Villages still supplied grain and other products, governors were appointed, residing first in Mizpa and later in Jerusalem, and for many people life will have taken its traditional course. M. L. Steiner, `The City of David as a Palimpsest, in L. Niesioowski-Span and E. Pfoh (eds. Submitted by Martin Hughes on Mon, 10/25/2021 - 01:00. The Broad Wall constructed by King Hezekiah (late eighth-century B.C.E.). At the beginning, he also told no one the vision God had given him for building Jerusalems walls. It was called Hezekiahs Broad Wall by archaeologists because of its width. Why did Nebuchadnezzar destroy Jerusalem? God allowed most of Judah to be conquered but protected Jerusalem because of Hezekiahs obedience to Him. Often when we face a challenge, information can be plentiful but motivation is lacking. Because Nehemiah sees what others cannot, he issues a call to action. Such tombs belonged to wealthy families, who buried their dead there for centuries. E. Mazar, The Palace of King David. Many of the places mentioned cannot be identified. Looking out over the walls of Jerusalem. 8 And David said on that day, Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, who are hated by David's soul. Therefore, it is said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house. 9 And David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. However, much of the southern part of the city walls were omitted in the new construction. In the Late Hellenistic period that construction then was rebuilt or restored and the older wall was not visible anymore. Hes smart enough to know that one must have a true & accurate grasp of the facts in order to come up with a successful plan. They had to be rebuilt by the Fatimids, who left out the southernmost parts that had been previously included: Mount Zion with its churches, and the southeastern hill (the City of David) with the Jewish neighborhoods which stood south of the Temple Mount. People didn't just eat what the land nearby yielded; fish bones were found from sea bream and mullet from the Mediterranean Sea and catfish from the river Jordan or Lake Tiberias (Lernau 2015). When Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, he asked the king's permission to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. Virtually any citizen of the ancient world could tick off three reasons why a wall was far more than just a pile of rocks. The walls were still in ruin 140 years later when Nehemiah came to Jerusalem. The Persian kings allowed exiles from many countries to return to their lands, and some made use of that, others did not; many Judeans continued to live in Babylonia. Stepping out in faith means looking squarely at the problems, knowing the facts, & understanding what has taken place previously, then we look to God & use our God given gifts to come up with solutions & we work for success. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. The pottery shows that several potteries provided the inhabitants not only with coarse utilitarian earthenware but also with vessels in Greek style and refined bowls. So it was about 22 years after returning to Jerusalem that they finally finished the temple. in Esther 3:7, 'in the first month, which is the month Nisan,' cf. News and Interpretations on the Bible and Ancient Near East History. Just like their builder, however, the modern walls can only be described as magnificent. In this map the walls surround the southeastern hill and the Temple Mount only; it is assumed that other parts of the Late Iron Age city were not reconstructed. In this respect, the description in Nehemiah 3 is correct. Seal impressions bearing the name Yehud - the Persian province of Judah - show that the site was part of an economic network. I take an intermediate position. Both I and my family have sinned. E-Book Overview. That provided an opportunity to look underneath and behind the tower. This hill is now commonly referred to as the City of David, but that is a fairly recent name (Steiner 2019). He became Governor of Judah somewhere after. Reconstruction of one of the Ketef Hinnom tombs. Under Nehemiahs inspirational leadership the people completed the rebuilding project in only 52 days. Even though he had an important job in the palace of the king, he has given that up to take on a dangerous job in a city that has been ruined by war. This was some 47 years after the temple was finished. [1] [2] The walls are visible on most old maps of Jerusalem over the last 1,500 years. In 1535, when Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Suleiman I ordered the ruined city walls to be rebuilt. However, it is not easy to find out what exactly has been excavated and how biblical texts and archaeological finds relate to each other. Explore this wonder for yourself with this short video tour atop the walls of Jerusalem, led by Biblical Archaeology Review assistant editor Nathan Steinmeyer. Nehemiah knows there will be opposition so he waits to share what God has put on his heart to do. In 19 BC, the master-builder, King Herod the Great, began his life's most ambitious building project. Wine and olive oil were brought to the town in sealed jars (Lipschits 2009). During this time, known as the Hasmonean period (16463 BC), Jerusalem was rebuilt along with its walls. In the Middle Bronze Age, a period also known in biblical terms as the era of the Patriarchs, a city named Jebus was built on the southeastern hill of Jerusalem, relatively small (50,000 square meters) but well fortified. This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 19:52. BY THE WAY, THE l in my e-mail for linda is a small L, but, it looks like it is capital l. Just letting you know. But is it plausible that these were repaired too by the small group of people who lived in the city after the Exile? God was with David and allowed him to capture Jerusalem from the Jebusites. ), Ancient Jerusalem Revealed, Jerusalem 1994, 111-118. H. Lernau, `Fish Bones, in E. Mazar (ed. The church faces a similar challenge. Nehemiah 4. Several tombs have been found here with finds from the Iron Age unto the Hellenistic period. When I look at what is happening in our nation, I am seriously concerned that there is little to no concern for the common good as so many leaders & members of every political party seem more focused on power & money than what is for the long term common good of our country. But irrespective of whether those walls did or did not exist, in my opinion Jerusalem was not as desolate as is sometimes assumed, both before and after the arrival of Nehemiah. O. Lipschits, `Persian Period Finds from Jerusalem: Facts and Interpretations. The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 9 (2009), 2-30. Looking out over the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah 1:3, "They said to me, 'Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The length of the walls is 4,018 meters (2.497 miles), their average height is 12 meters (39 feet) and the average thickness is 2.5 meters (8.2 feet). So I went up by way of the valley by night & inspected the wall. What a wealth of information on the lay-out of Jerusalem in Persian times! The work took some four years, between 1537 and 1541. Fortifying the town would certainly not have been tolerated by the Persian authorities, and the story as told in the biblical book of Nehemiah would be a much later construction. In preparation for the expected Crusader siege of 1099, the walls were strengthened yet again but to little avail. The story can speak to each of us today as we desire to rebuild communities of faith and hope in the wake of the .
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