Fraternity-Testvériség, 1964 (42. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1964-12-01 / 12. szám

FRATERNITY

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water flows down the valley except for a little while in the rainy seasons. The valley level has been raised at least 90 feet by the stone and other debris dumped into it at different times when the city walls have been demolished.

At the southeast corner of the Temple Area the wall is the highest above ground, 75 feet, but it reaches down fully 80 feet below the

surface to the solid rock foundation. Excavations at this corner revealed marks of the ancient Phoenician masons on the lower courses, which may have been placed there by Hiram, King of Tyre when

Solomon’s Temple was erected. An experienced archeologist can trace

the stones of succesive centuries from Solomon’s time. So it may be

that Jesus looked upon some of them. On the west side of the Temple Area are some massive stones which date back to Jesus’ time. They

are in the Jews’ Wailing Wall at a point where we get down nearer to the old level of the city than at any other place. The first nine courses are very large blocks, some 20 or 30 feet long, which were there before Jesus was born.

Walls of the City of David

South of the Temple Area and the present Southern wall, but within the walled city in Jesus’ time, was the hill Ophel. Here lay

buried the old City of David of a thousand years before Christ . . . really the ancient Jerusalem, which David captured from the Jebusites. Although this Jebusite fortress was considered impregnable, with steep sides of the ravines on the east, south and west, and seemingly no possibility of attack except from the north; it was taken by David’s soldiers without destroying any of its strong and well placed walls. This was accomplished by Jcab, a favorite nephew of David, who led a small group of men up through the “Dragon Shaft”, a secret passage from the Gihon spring to a place within the wall. They took

the guards by surprise and captured the city, from within those impregnable walls.

Here David established his capital, built his palace and greatly strengthened the walls, with strong defensive towers. The city prospered and grew until the hill was covered and began to overflow onto the western hill, Mt. Zion. So the city wall had to be extended along the Valley of Hinnom to take in both hills. In the reign of Solomon, a few years later, a new wall on the north side was built far enough to the north to take in the new Solomon’s Temple, and this has been

generally referred to as the “First Wall”.

Of course, none of these walls are now standing, but excavations made in 1927 revealed parts of the old Jebusite wall and a gate with towers so strong and well built that they were made the main fortification of David’s city.

It is difficult to trace walls built at different times, as one can

well understand when we are told that between 1500 B. C. and the great destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in A. D. 70, the city was besieged seventeen times; twice it was razed to the ground and four