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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. Upon hearing that the wall of Jerusalem was down and destroyed, along with the gates being burned down, Nehemiah cried. Seal impressions bearing the name Yehud - the Persian province of Judah - show that the site was part of an economic network. He took the expansion of the Hasmonean Temple Mount and extended it on three sides, to the north, west, and south. The identification of Jebus with Jerusalem has been disputed, principally by Niels Peter Lemche. Nehemiah believed in the power of prayer & perseverance in solving problems. I went out by night by the Valley Gate past the Dragons Spring & to the Dung Gate, & I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down & its gates that had been destroyed by fire. Supported by: For the next three centuries, the city remained without protective walls, the Temple Mount/Haram ash-Sharif and the citadel then being the only well-fortified areas. Why did Nehemiah rebuild the walls of Jerusalem? ), Judah and Judeans in the Persian Period, Winona Lake 2006, 147166. Then, Artaxerxes I or possibly Darius II allowed Ezra and Nehemiah to return and rebuild the city's walls and to govern Judea, which was ruled as Yehud province under the Persians. 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. God provided me with safe passage, timber, & the authority & permission to build. 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. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. The claim of Nehemiah is, I think, that he gave the city the symbolic appearance of an independent state - underlyingly, that there had been a deal whose terms were: no restoration of the former royal house but governors of the province to be Jewish. In the foreground the wall that she dated to the Persian period with behind it the small tower. After this destruction the wider area was largely, but not entirely, abandoned. The work took some four years, between 1537 and 1541. The Byzantine walls mostly followed the lines and foundations of the earlier walls from the Second Temple period. Just like their builder, however, the modern walls can only be described as magnificent. Then I turned back & entered by the Valley Gate, & so returned. H. Lernau, `Fish Bones, in E. Mazar (ed. 2006. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. The Jebusites had built a massive wall on the vulnerable north side of the city. Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. Hezekiahs Broad Wall Expansion of the Western Hill. Nehemiah 2. If we are sure (are we, absolutely?) [7], At the northwest corner of the Ottoman wall, archaeologists have discovered the meager remains of a large tower, c. 35x35 metres, probably first built in the 11th century during the Fatimid period, that fell to the Franks at the end of the First Crusade in 1099, and was apparently expanded by the Ayyubids after Saladin's reconquest of the city in 1187. Get insights SPL Payroll Outsourcing Pvt. He was what we might call today a top security agent, like a member of the Secret Service. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace . Since their walls were still broken, their enemies can easily come and destroy them. Was it a walled town with a central temple, the seat of the governor, the centre of government, religion and economy? Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer suffer disgrace. Nehemiah is one of them. The most famous cemetery is that of Ketef Hinnom, in the southwest part of the present-day city, where a number of tombs have been excavated, most of them robbed except one which was full of luxury material from the Late Iron Age, the Babylonian and the Persian periods (Barkay 1994). Recently, the Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar conducted excavations on the top of the hill, where she found the so-called `Palace of David' (Mazar 2009; see for a refutation of that interpretation Steiner 2009). 10 And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him. The walls of Jerusalem. If the original wall would have been built in the Late Hellenistic period, one would expect pottery from the Babylonian, Early and Late Persian and Early Hellenistic periods in that rubble. The Old City, the historical part of Jerusalem surrounded by the walls, is the heart of the modern city of Jerusalem. 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. The book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament of the Bible is more than an account of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Many people thought this was impossible. Did archaeologists actually find the Persian city walls? Nehemiah 6:1516: So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 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). This is not the last time that happened on a construction job. Then, 13 years after Ezra's trip, Nehemiah helped to rebuild Jerusalem's broken-down walls. Although I came to the conclusion that Kenyon was wrong and that the wall and the tower did not date to the Persian period, it is quite possible that a Persian wall was once built there, now hidden under the later Maccabean constructions. Josephus, Ant. I. Finkelstein, `Jerusalem in the Persian (and Early Hellenistic) Period and the Wall of Nehemiah, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 32 (2008), 501-520. 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. 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. His city was still located on the low southeastern hill, outside today's Old City area. So I went up by way of the valley by night & inspected the wall. It was a massive undertaking and measured around 2.5 miles (4 km.) [8][9] The tower as well as the entire city wall were long destroyed by the time the Ottoman Turks built theirs, possibly since 1219 when Ayyubid ruler Al-Mu'azzam Isa razed most of the city fortifications.[9]. 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. First, he describes himself as one of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you offthinking, David cannot come in here. 7 Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. Nehemiahs speech to the citizens of Jerusalem is masterful in its simplicity & directness. General Allenby famously entered the city through this gate when the British captured Jerusalem during the First World War in 1917. R. Reich, `The Ancient Burial Ground in the Mamilla Neighborhood, Jerusalem, in H. Geva (ed. May the joy of the Lord be your strength. Excavations at the Summit of the City of David. 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. The entire city was destroyed in 587/86 BCE during the siege led by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He is a leader with vision, the ability to tell people the truth, commitment to doing Gods work & getting the job done successfully. But he is a man of vision. 17 Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in. Then they said, Let us start building! So they committed themselves to the common good.. So it was about 22 years after returning to Jerusalem that they finally finished the temple. Were literally rebuilding our oldest walls which were built over 150 years ago as well as the roof of the chapel and installing a new steeple. Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the Persian emperor Artaxerxes I, the most powerful ruler of that time. Remains of its walls are located above the Siloam Tunnel. Many of the places mentioned cannot be identified. We heard in Nehemiah 1 how Nehemiah inquired about the situation in Jerusalem (verses 2-3), empathized with those who were hurting (verse 4), humbled himself before God (verse 4) & prayed (verses 5-11) expressing adoration to God (v. 5), confessing his nations sin to the Lord (verses 6-7)), & petitioning God for help (verses 8-11). After David died, Solomon built the Temple Mount Platform on Mt. Dig into the illuminating world of the Bible with a BAS All-Access membership. The walls contain 34 watchtowers and seven main gates . This was some 47 years after the temple was finished. No other biblical text is as explicit about the walls of Jerusalem as Nehemiah 3. Explore this wonder for yourself with this short video tour atop the walls of Jerusalem, led by Biblical Archaeology Review assistant editor Nathan Steinmeyer. This, however, is a methodological error. The General got off his horse and entered through the gate on foot, to show respect for the city. The many Yehud stamp impressions indicate inclusion in an economic network, the exact nature of which still eludes us. During the Second Temple period, especially during the Hasmonean period, the city walls were expanded and renovated, constituting what Josephus calls the First Wall. Source: Chronological Reference Points,Middle East Insight, January-February 1999. The walls of the Canaanite city appear to have stood for around a thousand years, well into the time of the Israelite monarchy, with possible evidence of later repairs in the Iron Age. So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. Or was it an unimportant, undefended settlement, in which only the local temple still had any meaning? Nehemiah is not a professional builder or contractor. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Spoiler alert: there are as many opinions as there are scholars, and the archaeological evidence is meagre. It was a massive undertaking and measured around 2.5 miles (4 km.) Were seeking to build our community and to impact many more lives as we add two new full-time pastors. The walls of Jerusalem were once again destroyed during the Crusader conquest of the city in 1099. The destruction of Jerusalem's walls left its people exposed to great trouble and shame. You see, God is NOT against building walls! Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. How far does - or can - archaeology render this plausible? Nehemiah 2:11-15 recounts how the prophet arrives in Jerusalem and immediately sets out in the night with some of his men to inspect the town walls. What is the Dung . Required fields are marked *, COPYRIGHT 2023 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY 5614 Connecticut Ave NW #343, Washington DC 20015-2604. Nehemiah decides that the fortifications have to be rebuilt. The book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament of the Bible is more than an account of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Several tombs have been found here with finds from the Iron Age unto the Hellenistic period. 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. 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. Although the Temple had been rebuilt, the unwalled city of Jerusalem was not safe because of the hostility of Israel's neighbors. Ltd. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram. The seat of the Persian province of Yehud would therefore not be in Jerusalem but in Ramat Rachel, where a palace from the Persian era has been excavated (Lipschits et al. An international recognition that this was the Land of the Jews, even if the people of the land thought otherwise, would have been emphatically achieved. H. Lernau, `Fish Bones, in E. Mazar (ed. [1] [2] The walls are visible on most old maps of Jerusalem over the last 1,500 years. He points out that Persian material was found only on the southeastern hill, the City of David, and not in other parts of the site that were inhabited in the Late Iron Age. Then I went on to the Fountain Gate & to the Kings Pool; but there was no place for the animal I was riding to continue. The temple was restored, and the temple gave the town its raison d'tre. Judah and her capital were mostly in ruins, its population decimated, the economy destroyed. Why is a broken-down wall such a big deal? 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.. 3 They replied, 'The survivors there in the province who escaped captivity are in great . It was only late in the Iron Age that the settlement expanded over the western hill. Then I said to them, You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Both I and my family have sinned. During the Middle Bronze Age, the city of Jerusalem was fortified for the first time, with walls having been found in several areas around the City of David and surrounding the strategically important Gihon Spring. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. Since the project involved the reparation of older constructions, this text gives information about the town at the end of the Iron Age, just before its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BC, as well. Jerusalems walls were largely neglected by the Crusader kingdom, although moderate rebuilding activities attempted to close breaches in the walls. [6] Some remains of this wall are located today near the Mandelbaum Gate gas station. There would have had to be some economic and some military activity and so a population more than negligible, so at least some attention to fortifications. These walls were built by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century, roughly following the course of the walls built by the Romans to encircle Jerusalem in the second century. ), The Summit of the City Of David Excavations 20052008; Final Reports Volume I, Area G, Jerusalem 2015, 525-538. The trip continues to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool. 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. 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. in Esther 3:7, 'in the first month, which is the month Nisan,' cf. But is it plausible that these were repaired too by the small group of people who lived in the city after the Exile? Families and professional groups take on the responsibility for repairing stretches of the wall, while gates are provided with attics, doors, bolts and bars, and towers are rebuilt. 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). These ambiguities renders the reconstructions uncertain, and with it our view of Jerusalem in the Persian period. century. K. A. Ristau, Reconstructing Jerusalem: Persian Period Prophetic Perspectives, University Park, Pa, 2016. The Jews gained their independence from the Seleucid Empire in 164 BC, led by the Maccabees and Hasmoneans. M. L. Steiner, `The Palace of David Reconsidered in the Light of Earlier Excavations, op http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/palace_2468.shtml (2009). ), Biblical Narratives, Archaeology and Historicity: Essays In Honour of Thomas L. Thompson, London 2019, 3-10. `The Borders and de Facto Size of Jerusalem in the Persian Period, in O. Lipschits and M. Oeming (eds. The curving tunnel is 583 yards (533 m.) long and has a fall of 12 inches (30 cm.) Rebuilding The Walls Of Jerusalem Nehemiah 4:16-18 KJV Nehemiah Chapter 4 16 And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it, and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. Rebuilding the Wall of Jerusalem -These are the people who helped rebuild the wall and gates of Jerusalem:The high priest Eliashib and the other priests rebuilt Sheep Gate and hung its doors. it is all small letters. He places this project in the context of strengthening the interests of the Persian empire vis a vis the growing threat from Greece and Egypt. In 1033, most of the walls constructed by Eudocia were destroyed by an earthquake. The tower may thus have been built in the Persian period or (much) later. 4, 8, 'The first month, which according to the Macedonians is called Xanthicus, but according to us Nisan.' Its meaning is uncertain; according to some its root-idea is . In 54 bce, however, Crassus plundered the Temple treasury. Nehemiah, Cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, returned to Jerusalem with the King's decree to repair Jerusalem's walls and gates which had remained in disrepair and ruin since the time of the Babylonian exile. Archaeologist have not been silent either. Temple Of Jerusalem - Description, History, Of major importance was the rebuilding of the Second Temple begun by Herod the Great, king (37 bce -4 ce) of Judaea. Looking out over the walls of Jerusalem. In the 16th century, Suleiman decided to rebuild the city walls on much of the remains of the ancient walls that already existed. But when Sanballat the Horonite & Tobiah the Ammonite official, & Geshem the Arab heard of it, they mocked & ridiculed us, saying, What is this that you are doing? These walls were built by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century, roughly following the course of the walls built by the Romans to encircle Jerusalem in the second century. 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. 1km2). Having faith doesnt mean we ignore problems, that were blind to the facts, or that we are ignorant of what has taken place over time. 3 And they said to me, "The remnant . The Persian pottery underneath the tower only gives a terminus post quem, a date after which something could have happened. Give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man! At the time, I was cupbearer to the king.. The "gate" is a large, L-shaped open space. ), Media, Video and Lectures From The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies of the University of Arizona, Teaching the Bible in Public Schools and Higher Ed, Scholars, Frauds, the Media and the Public, Essays on Minimalism from Bible and Interpretation, Final Reports on the Yehoash Inscription and James Ossuary from the Israeli Antiquities Authority, Essays on the James Ossuary and the Temple Tablet from Bible and Interpretation, University of Arizona, Center for Judaic Studies, Department of Archaeology and Art History, University of Evansville. The walls were expanded again under Herod the Great (r. 374 B.C.E. Today, they are revealed in their full height and splendor, after rubble accumulated over centuries was cleared away. How long did it take to rebuild the. The walls surrounding the Old City encompass an area of barely a third of a square mile (1 sq. The biblical sources are largely silent on what happened in Judah and Jerusalem after the Babylonian destruction. . The Titanic was built by professionals. 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. Because Nehemiah sees what others cannot, he issues a call to action. 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. Whether the biblical stories faithfully represent this return is a problem we will pass over here. How desolate Jerusalem really was, is a matter of interpretation. 2 Chronicles 32:5: He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it, and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. Nehemiah 4. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. What he encounters is terrifying. supra. And those interpretations can be quite diverse. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. Ironically, rather than raising peoples feelings of fear & anxiety; facing the brutal facts can have a remarkable impact on peoples confidence & motivation. The people returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall about 70 years later. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. Under the rule of the Hasmonean dynasty, the citys walls expanded once again, to form what the Jewish historian Josephus called the First Wall. In this respect, the description in Nehemiah 3 is correct. Herod Agrippa (r. 4144 C.E.) Upon regaining the city from the Crusaders, Saladin began refortifying the walls in 1192. DepartmentBldg Tucson, AZ 85721 TEL 520-621-6897 FAX 520-626-9014. 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). He also made weapons and shields in abundance. The Old City of Jerusalem is currently divided into the Muslim, Christian, Armenian, and Jewish Quarters. 7We have offended you deeply, failing to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded your servant Moses. The walls surrounding the Old City encompass an area of barely a third of a square mile (1 sq. D. Edelman, The Origins of the Second Temple: Persian Imperial Policy and the Rebuilding of Jerusalem, London 2005. Jerusalem would remain in ruins for some six decades and without protective walls for over two centuries. We have all met people whose defenses have . Submitted by Martin Hughes on Mon, 10/25/2021 - 01:00. NEHEMIAH AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE WALL Jerusalem had been completely destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar army. It took the water from the Gihon Spring under the mountain to the Pool of Siloam below the city. ), O. Lipschits, `Persian Period Finds from Jerusalem: Facts and Interpretations.. Around 130 C.E., the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian as a Roman settlement and renamed Aelia Capitolina. For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 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. 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.