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1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. , in I. Finkelstein, I and N. Na`aman (eds. 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. I am aware that this is only indirect evidence. Required fields are marked *, COPYRIGHT 2023 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY 5614 Connecticut Ave NW #343, Washington DC 20015-2604. 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. In preparation for the expected Crusader siege of 1099, the walls were strengthened yet again but to little avail. Fatigue (Pagkapagod) The General got off his horse and entered through the gate on foot, to show respect for the city. The walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. Several tombs have been found here with finds from the Iron Age unto the Hellenistic period. Nehemiah 2:1-11. The first one to announce that she had found part of the Persian city wall was the English archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. A portion of this "broad wall" still stands in today's Jewish Quarter. We have all met people whose defenses have . He was available to God & answered the call to lead in a crisis & he did it effectively. Diana Edelman, who made an in-depth study of Jerusalem in Persian times based on biblical texts, archaeological finds and information on the Persian empire, sees Jerusalem as a birah, a small fortress used by the Persians (Edelman 2005). He was able to rebuild . 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). 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. 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. Then he erected the temple upon it and added walls from the City of David to encompass the Temple Mount and temple. He sees not only the reality of what is, but what can be. My interpretation (and that of others) was that there had been a building on top of the hill in those periods, of which the remains, together with the pottery, had been swept down the slope when a fortification was built on that spot. 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. Then I got up during the night, I & a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. 7We have offended you deeply, failing to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded your servant Moses. 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. An accurate analysis of the material found during excavations shows, in my opinion, a more nuanced picture. ), Biblical Narratives, Archaeology and Historicity: Essays In Honour of Thomas L. Thompson, London 2019, 3-10. This would be the largest area the city walls would encompass. However, the walls of the city remained in ruins until the end of the third century. 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. Preliminary Report of Seasons 2005-2007, Jerusalem and New York 2009. Click here to take a video tour atop Jerusalems ancient walls. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace . Ltd. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram. ALSO, I LIKE THE WRITE-UPS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE HOLY LAND. I take an intermediate position. Were seeking to build our community and to impact many more lives as we add two new full-time pastors. 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 2. [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]. October 2021. In an interview General Manager Peter Gelb said his challenge was to convince those who love opera that it has to change with the times or it will die with them. Often times our need for faith will increase when were truly aware of the facts of a situation or crisis we are facing. Happy Purim! In 1033, most of the walls constructed by Eudocia were destroyed by an earthquake. But did he do it? Agrippa I began the construction of an additional wall of the city which was completed just at the beginning of the First JewishRoman War in 66 AD. Nehemiah 2:11-20, The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem Its not enough to know what needs to be done; we also need the motivation to make it happen. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. King David's son, Solomon, enlarged the city northward to include the area of the Temple Mount. In 722 B.C., Assyria conquered the northern kingdom, then in 605 B.C. D. Edelman, The Origins of the Second Temple: Persian Imperial Policy and the Rebuilding of Jerusalem, London 2005. But when Nehemiah arrives to Jerusalem, he faces opposition from the people who had already been living in Jerusalem because Nehemiah had made clear that all those living outside Jerusalem had no part in the new city. Nehemiah's brother came from Judah with bad news: 'The people who returned to Jerusalem are not safe. The temple was restored, and the temple gave the town its raison d'tre. The walls of the Old City encompass an area of roughly 250 acres and extend for more than 2.5 miles. The rebuilding and repair of the wall was a miracle. 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. Under his leadership and with a small Jewish population, the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt to dimensions similar to Solomons day. INTRODUCTION: Nehemiah means "The Lord Comforts". 10 And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him. 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. In the Old Testament, Nehemiah and the Israelites were asked to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem! When that happens, the result is often that people like Josephs brothers try to kill the visionary. That provided an opportunity to look underneath and behind the tower. 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. It was chiseled from both ends to the middle at the same time. At the top of the slope there was a large tower and a stretch of city wall from the Late Hellenistic period, built by the Maccabees in the 2nd century BC. Who first built the walls of Jerusalem? Were praying and trusting God in the process and committing ourselves to the common good. Suffice to say there is hardly any archaeological evidence of a large population growth as a result of immigration. 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. Nehemiah, a servant of King Artaxerxes, was an Israelite who lived in the Persian city of Shushan. In 701 BC, the Assyrians, headed by Sennacherib invaded Judah, the Southern Kingdom of Israel, because of their disobedience to God. During the First Temple period the city walls were extended to include the northwest hill as well, i.e. In 1535, when Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Suleiman I ordered the ruined city walls to be rebuilt. The work took some four years, between 1537 and 1541. At the beginning, he also told no one the vision God had given him for building Jerusalems walls. Further north on the hill Kenyon found a smaller tower with part of a wall that according to her originated from the Persian era. 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. 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. Today, they are revealed in their full height and splendor, after rubble accumulated over centuries was cleared away. 3 And they said to me, The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Jerusalem in the Time of Nehemiah Map Rebuilding of the Walls around Jerusalem in the Second Temple period by Nehemiah The entire city of Jerusalem, including the Temple, was destroyed in c. 586 B.C. 2006. Nehemiah was a servant of God & a servant of Gods people. I have been to Jerusalem but did not walk the walls. cit. Judah and her capital were mostly in ruins, its population decimated, the economy destroyed. The Late Iron Age and the Maccabean period were two prosperous periods in the history of the town, in which solid city walls were erected around the southeastern hill. Being built in circa 15371541, they are the walls that exist today. God provided me with safe passage, timber, & the authority & permission to build. DepartmentBldg Tucson, AZ 85721 TEL 520-621-6897 FAX 520-626-9014. The Old City of Jerusalem is currently divided into the Muslim, Christian, Armenian, and Jewish Quarters. Many of us dont lack the information we need to make positive changes in our lives or to live more like Jesus, what we need is the proper motivation. 2 Samuel 5:610: 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. Virtually any citizen of the ancient world could tick off three reasons why a wall was far more than just a pile of rocks. 1 Kings 9:24 Verse Concepts As soon as Pharaoh's daughter came up from the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then he built the Millo. Another point is the size and function of Jerusalem during the Persian period. 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). The Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem by the end of the 5th B.C. (Courtesy Ancient Jerusalem Project). One of Sultan Suleimans greatest projects was the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem. The people returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall about 70 years later. Nebuchadnezzar The walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. We don't know that Jerusalem was a gubernatorial seat. Many paint a dark situation, with only some 'people of the land' living in the collapsed houses and making sacrifices in the ruins of the temple. Because Nehemiah cared so much for God's people, notice how he reacted to the news . Seal impressions bearing the name Yehud - the Persian province of Judah - show that the site was part of an economic network. How desolate Jerusalem really was, is a matter of interpretation. Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was important because it revealed God's blessing, served as a sign to Israel's enemies, and showed God was with His people. 3 And they said to me, The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. A rare inscription bearing the name of the Persian King Darius the Great, a powerful monarch who ruled over much of the Near East from 522 to 486 BC, was found at Tel Lachish in central Israel this week. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. Upon hearing that the wall of Jerusalem was down and destroyed, along with the gates being burned down, Nehemiah cried. 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. It was a massive undertaking and measured around 2.5 miles (4 km.) Eventually he returns through the Valley Gate. The pagan Roman city, Aelia Capitolina, which was built after 130 by Emperor Hadrian, was at first left without protective walls. The excavations of Kathleen Kenyon. This meant building new defenses. Around 130 C.E., the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian as a Roman settlement and renamed Aelia Capitolina. Because Nehemiah sees what others cannot, he issues a call to action. [3], The city of Jerusalem has been surrounded by defensive walls since ancient times. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 15201566), the city of Jerusalem regained its splendor and recovered from centuries of neglect. the area where today's Jewish and Armenian Quarter (Jerusalem) Quarters are located. 3 And they said to me, "The remnant . Josephus, Ant. 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. After the return from exile, the small Jewish populationunder Nehemiah's leadershiprebuilt the walls of Jerusalem with dimensions similar to Solomon's day. 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. 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. Nehemiah taught us how to battle discouragement (Neh. Recent ones include Finkelstein 2008, Lipschits 2009, Ristau 2016, and Ussishkin 2006. When Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, he asked the king's permission to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. Under the rule of the Hasmonean dynasty, the citys walls expanded once again, to form what the Jewish historian Josephus called the First Wall. When the work does become public, the opposition begins immediately & steadily grows, escalating in intensity to the point of his enemies unsuccessfully plotting his assassination. 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. They appointed a governor over Judah, who sat in Mizpa, not Jerusalem. 2006. The Jewish Quarter (Hebrew: , HaRova HaYehudi; Arabic: , Harat al-Yehud) is one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem (part of Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem).The 116,000 square meter area lies in the southwestern sector of the walled city, and stretches from the Zion Gate in the south, along the Armenian Quarter on the west . It would be this city layout that would exist during the time of Christ. The city walls and gates that the Babylonians destroyed have never been rebuilt.' Nehemiah was upset. Nehemiah is a man of perseverance & he prays & plans for four months waiting for the right opportunity to ask the king to give him the authority, responsibility, & opportunity to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. C. E. Carter, The Emergence of Yehud in the Persian Period A Social and Demographic Study (JSOT Supplement Series 294), Sheffield 1999. One of the burial chambers contained, for instance, a silver Greek coin from the end of the 6th century BC, the Early Persian period. Just like their builder, however, the modern walls can only be described as magnificent. M. L. Steiner, `The City of David as a Palimpsest, in L. Niesioowski-Span and E. Pfoh (eds. The trip continues to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool. ), A. M. L. Steiner, `The City of David as a Palimpsest, in L. Niesioowski-Span and E. Pfoh (eds.). Very interesting. 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. during the siege led by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon at the time of King Zedekiah of Judah. His city was still located on the low southeastern hill, outside today's Old City area. 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. 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. No other biblical text is as explicit about the walls of Jerusalem as Nehemiah 3. In April of 445 B.C., after a prayer period of four months, Nehemiah speaks with the king. In 19 BC, the master-builder, King Herod the Great, began his life's most ambitious building project. Hes going to share the risks & the hardships with the people. After this destruction the wider area was largely, but not entirely, abandoned. on The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem Nehemiah 2:11-20, https://brewsterbaptistchurch.org/audio/08032014.mp3. ), who carried out lavish building activities throughout Jerusalem and the region, including the construction of the Temple Mount, the site of Herodium, and the port city of Caesarea Maritima. The stories as recorded in Nehemiah 3 can therefore not be correct and must date from a later period. A book about Judah in the Babylonian era is aptly subtitled The Archaeology of Desolation (Faust 2012). What a wealth of information on the lay-out of Jerusalem in Persian times! 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). Plan of Jerusalem in the Iron Age. The Byzantine walls mostly followed the lines and foundations of the earlier walls from the Second Temple period. 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). in length. Many of the places mentioned cannot be identified. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.". The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.". Since then, the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times. News and Interpretations on the Bible and Ancient Near East History. Another problem: if this list includes only the walls around the southeastern hill and the Temple Mount, then nine city gates seem to be an extravaganza for such a small area. Supported by: PayPal does not require you to create a PayPal account to use your credit card. 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. Some scholars, however, do not allow themselves to be discouraged by this and draw with confidence a map of Jerusalem based on the biblical texts. He can see that rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem is a restoration job on several levels. While the ancient city was mostly limited to the City of David, the walls were greatly expanded under King Hezekiah during preparations for the Assyrian invasion (c. 701 B.C.E.). In the 19th century, many building updates were made to the Old City, including the construction of New Gate and the filling in of the moat that surrounds the Tower of David. He can see that rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem is a restoration job on several levels. Hezekiahs new wall measured about 22 feet wide (7 m.) by 25 feet high (8 m.). These ambiguities renders the reconstructions uncertain, and with it our view of Jerusalem in the Persian period. 1km2). 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. He was born in exile and grew to become the Cupbearer of King Artaxerses of the Medo-Persian empire. 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? Herod Agrippa (r. 4144 C.E.) The curving tunnel is 583 yards (533 m.) long and has a fall of 12 inches (30 cm.) In 54 bce, however, Crassus plundered the Temple treasury. According to Jewish tradition, as expressed in the Tanakh, Jerusalem remained a Jebusite city until the rise of David, who conquered Jebus, renamed it City of David and started expanding it. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. The Old City is home to three major shrines of the world\\'s religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Do you know the difference between Noahs Ark & the Titanic? M. L. Steiner, `The Palace of David Reconsidered in the Light of Earlier Excavations, op http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/palace_2468.shtml (2009). 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. The finds do not disprove my dating of the tower in the Maccabean era. Nehemiah Inspects the Walls 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers. Not only nine gates are mentioned, but also other characteristic parts of the town such as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hanael, the Broad Wall, the Pool of Siloam, the Kings Garden, the steps going down from the City of David, the tombs of David, the artificial pool, the House of the Heroes and many more. All in all, archaeological research has not found any actual Persian fortifications but at most indirect evidence for their construction.