THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM AT VARIOUS PERIODS 



133 



(the Siloam aqueduct) which brought the waters of Gihon down 

 on the west side of the city of David " (2 Chron. xxxii, 30) and the 

 statement that Manasseh built " an outer wall to the city of 

 David on the west side of Gihon in the Nahal," i.e., the Kidron 

 Valley (2 Chron. xxxiii, 14). One may add that while excavators 

 have found here greater quantities of the most ancient pottery 

 than on the w^hole Jerusalem site, this has not been found at all 

 on the south-west hill. We picture, then, this strong and compact 

 fortress-city mth probably a single gate to the north (2 Sam. 

 XV, 2). During David's reign the neighbouring hillsides became 

 dotted over with unwalled settlements. It fell to the lot of 

 Solomon to build what Josephus describes as the " first " wall 

 to link up the City of David, the temple and palace precincts 

 and, without much doubt, the summit of the left south-west 

 hill. Josephus describes the first wall as running from what is 

 now the Jaffa Gate along the southern edge of the lateral branch 

 of the Tyropcean eastwards to the temple. Then from the 

 same spot (i.e., Jaffa Gate) he traces it to the " tower of the 

 furnaces" (Neh. iii, 11). 



From here we know from Bliss's excavations as well as 

 Josephus' description that the wall ran downwards along the 

 edge of the Valley of Hinnom to the Pool of Siloam. It is, 

 however, quite possible that the shorter line running along the 

 edge of the south-west hill to the Burj el Kebrit (see above) 

 was the original course of Solomon's wall. If so, it crossed the 

 Tyropcean somewhere near the position of the present southern 

 wall and then bent down southwards to link into the old wall 

 of the City of David. Solomon must also have carried the wall 

 on the edge of the Kidron Valley to connect up with the temple 

 and palace enclosure. Whether this is so or not, it is certain 

 that the later kings followed the whole southern course as 

 excavated by Bliss. This, too, was the line of wall which is 

 described, in its ruined condition, in the Book of Nehemiah. 

 The relevant passages are, Neh. ii, 13-15, the account of the 

 night ride ; iii, 1-32, the description of the rebuilding ; and xii, 

 31-39, the routes of the two processions at the dedication of the 

 walls. Nehemiah went out by the Valley Gate, the gate found 

 by Bliss in the Anglo-German cemetery ; he passed from it to 

 the Dung Gate (also found by Bliss, see above) and from here he 

 viewed the walls of the city. He then proceeded to the Fountain 

 Gate, which would seem to have been completely destroyed, 

 but was probably near where the overflow from the Pool of 



