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in Esther 3:7, 'in the first month, which is the month Nisan,' cf. . 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 can see that rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem is a restoration job on several levels. The city walls and its fortress provided additional protection. 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). 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. 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. After Jerusalem fell to the Umayyads in 638 C.E., the citys Byzantine walls saw major repairs, and large parts of the Tower of David and the walls around the Temple Mount were constructed. The high priest Eliashib, for example, rebuilds the Sheep Gate together with his fellow priests, while the sons of Hassenaah tackle the Fish Gate. There were lots of people who tried to stop them. Even if we accept it becoming a birta' at some point, a birta' is not necessarily the seat of a governor, only of a garrison commander. Spoiler alert: there are as many opinions as there are scholars, and the archaeological evidence is meagre. between its two ends. 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. 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. The identification of Jebus with Jerusalem has been disputed, principally by Niels Peter Lemche. This paper investigates the facts `on the ground. Suffice to say there is hardly any archaeological evidence of a large population growth as a result of immigration. Who destroyed the wall that Nehemiah rebuilt? Jerusalem would remain in ruins for some six decades and without protective walls for over two centuries. (Perhaps it is noteworthy that TAD A.7 makes no mention of where in Yehud Bagavahya was but mentions priests in Jerusalem). Get insights SPL Payroll Outsourcing Pvt. Upon hearing that the wall of Jerusalem was down and destroyed, along with the gates being burned down, Nehemiah cried. The Byzantine walls mostly followed the lines and foundations of the earlier walls from the Second Temple period. Judah and her capital were mostly in ruins, its population decimated, the economy destroyed. Nehemiah's brother came from Judah with bad news: 'The people who returned to Jerusalem are not safe. D. Edelman, The Origins of the Second Temple: Persian Imperial Policy and the Rebuilding of Jerusalem, London 2005. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. We have all met people whose defenses have . Nehemiah, a servant of King Artaxerxes, was an Israelite who lived in the Persian city of Shushan. He was what we might call today a top security agent, like a member of the Secret Service. 4th March Saturday <br>Nehemiah. 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. the southern kingdom was conquered by the Babylonians, and Solomon's Temple was destroyed. Long before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, the Jebusites lived securely within the walls of Jerusalem. King Hezekiah fortified the existing walls of the city and built a new wall in a rapid manner to protect those living outside the city walls. Nisan] See note on Nehemiah 1:1.This name only occurs elsewhere in the O.T. 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. Noah was not a professional ship builder, but he was motivated by the dark storm clouds overhead & the knowledge that he was building a boat that would carry his loved ones, himself, & his future. Explore this wonder for yourself with this short video tour atop the walls of Jerusalem, led by Biblical Archaeology Review assistant editor Nathan Steinmeyer. that Jerusalem was the seat of a Persian governor then we also know that it wasnt a complete desolation or the sort of place for which Donald Trump would have had a pungent name. ALSO, I LIKE THE WRITE-UPS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE HOLY LAND. This meant building new defenses. He was able to rebuild . Nehemiah believed in the power of prayer & perseverance in solving problems. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, & the rest that were to do the work. 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. Next, we learn about Ezra's trip back to Jerusalem to beautify the temple. No other biblical text is as explicit about the walls of Jerusalem as Nehemiah 3. The "gate" is a large, L-shaped open space. 2011, 307-17. Not every section was completed, however, and many towers were left unfinished. Inside the fosse moat of the Tower of David. Hes going to share the risks & the hardships with the people. 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 walls in 586. The Jerusalem that King David conquered from the Jebusites covered only about 12 acres and was defined on three sides by high ridges and deep valleys. The many Yehud stamp impressions indicate inclusion in an economic network, the exact nature of which still eludes us. Submitted by Jason Silverman on Sun, 11/28/2021 - 12:20. H. Lernau, `Fish Bones, in E. Mazar (ed. 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 are demolished, the gates reduced to ashes. October 2021. 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.. But he is a man of vision. 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). Although little has been found of the town itself, some finds suggest the presence of wealthy inhabitants, such as the rich elite graves that have been uncovered. 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. The city walls and gates that the Babylonians destroyed have never been rebuilt.' Nehemiah was upset. Just like their builder, however, the modern walls can only be described as magnificent. At the bottom of the slope she found the city walls from the Middle Bronze Age (18th century BC) and the Late Iron Age (around 700 BC). Looking out over the walls of Jerusalem. An accurate analysis of the material found during excavations shows, in my opinion, a more nuanced picture. Ancient foundations of the walls of Jerusalem. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. Then he erected the temple upon it and added walls from the City of David to encompass the Temple Mount and temple. (Photo Chamberi / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)). Nehemiah Report from Jerusalem. 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. Nehemiah 2:1-11. According to an Assyrian stele found in the ruins of the royal palace of Nineveh, Sennacherib conquered 46 cities in Judea prior to attempting to conquer Jerusalem. 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). G. Barkay, Excavations at Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem, in: In: H. Geva, (ed. The oldest settlement of Jerusalem was not located in what is now called the Old City, but on the hill southeast of it. Archaeologist have not been silent either. It was a massive undertaking and measured around 2.5 miles (4 km.) Other than the Tower of David, the city of Jerusalem would remain an open city until its conquest by the Ottoman empire in 1517. The walls were still in ruin 140 years later when Nehemiah came to Jerusalem. When the moment comes, Nehemiah offers one last brief prayer & shares his desire with the king & its granted. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. km.). H. Lernau, `Fish Bones, in E. Mazar (ed. The section of wall, about 230 feet long (70 meters) and 19 feet (6 meters) high, is located in the area known as the Ophel, between the City of David and the southern wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. How large was Nehemiahs Jerusalem and how did it function within the Persian empire? Just like their builder, however, the modern walls can only be described as magnificent. Moriah upon the threshing floor of Araunah. Many of the places mentioned cannot be identified. When that happens, the result is often that people like Josephs brothers try to kill the visionary. It would be this city layout that would exist during the time of Christ. The Persian Empire rose to power, and they overthrew the Babylonians as the world superpower. 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. PayPal does not require you to create a PayPal account to use your credit card. During the time of Hezekiah, Jerusalems urban population had grown far outside the old walls of the city and were unprotected. 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. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. Upon hearing that the wall of Jerusalem was down and destroyed, along with the gates being burned down, Nehemiah cried. . 1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. Hezekiahs Broad Wall Expansion of the Western Hill. night | 74 views, 3 likes, 0 loves, 3 comments, 1 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Historic Baptist Church: Sunday Night 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. Supporting his case, every non-biblical mention of Jerusalem found in the ancient Near East refers to the city as 'Jerusalem'. Was any town wall of the Persian period ever excavated? It's an invitation to all who read it to be inspired by one person's faith and passion to rebuild a community of people. Nehemiah 3:1 in all English translations. Nehemiahs life was marked by availability as a servant to an earthly ruler but in a deeper way as a servant of God. Under his leadership and with a small Jewish population, the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt to dimensions similar to Solomons day. These texts have clearly been written for people who lived in Jerusalem and knew exactly where the constructions mentioned were located, not for later generations not acquainted with the town. `The Borders and de Facto Size of Jerusalem in the Persian Period, in O. Lipschits and M. Oeming (eds. 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). 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. Nehemiah begins with a moonlit tour of the walls to assess the damage & the scope of the work to be done. 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. How many times was the Temple in Jerusalem destroyed and rebuilt? We don't know that Jerusalem was a gubernatorial seat. What a wealth of information on the lay-out of Jerusalem in Persian times! Nehemiah 2:11-20, The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem ), Ancient Jerusalem Revealed, Jerusalem 1994, 111-118. 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. General Allenby famously entered the city through this gate when the British captured Jerusalem during the First World War in 1917. Click here to take a video tour atop Jerusalems ancient walls. The walls of the Old City encompass an area of roughly 250 acres and extend for more than 2.5 miles. This hill is now commonly referred to as the City of David, but that is a fairly recent name (Steiner 2019). Independent Archaeologist In the 16th century, during the reign of the Ottoman Empire in the region, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent decided to rebuild the city walls fully, partly on the remains of the ancient walls. But is it plausible that these were repaired too by the small group of people who lived in the city after the Exile? Virtually any citizen of the ancient world could tick off three reasons why a wall was far more than just a pile of rocks. Although eight gates can be seen along the walls, only seven are in use today. He was born in exile and grew to become the Cupbearer of King Artaxerses of the Medo-Persian empire. in length. on The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem Nehemiah 2:11-20, https://brewsterbaptistchurch.org/audio/08032014.mp3. Your email address will not be published. The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. O. Lipschits, `Persian Period Finds from Jerusalem: Facts and Interpretations. The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 9 (2009), 2-30. Remains of its walls are located above the Siloam Tunnel. Although the walls size varies at different points, on average, it stands 40 feet tall and measures 8 feet thick. 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. M. L. Steiner, `One Hundred and Fifty Years of Excavating Jerusalem, in B. Wagemakers (ed. The city walls and gates that the Babylonians destroyed have never been rebuilt.' Nehemiah was upset. Sign up to receive our email newsletter and never miss an update. Reading an ancient text like this one which reflects the tension, division, and hostility over Jerusalem 2,500 years ago should humble anyone who thinks peace is easily made in the Middle East. During the First Temple period the city walls were extended to include the northwest hill as well, i.e. Do you know the difference between Noahs Ark & the Titanic? Required fields are marked *, COPYRIGHT 2023 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY 5614 Connecticut Ave NW #343, Washington DC 20015-2604. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0). The Jerusalem Wall That Shouldnt Be There, Jerusalem Down Under: Tunneling Along Herods Temple Mount Wall, Old, New Banquet Hall by the Temple Mount. These ambiguities renders the reconstructions uncertain, and with it our view of Jerusalem in the Persian period. It's an invitation to all who read it to be inspired by one person's faith and passion to rebuild a community of people. Nehemiah taught us how to battle discouragement (Neh. The late Eilat Mazar also suggested that King Solomon might have added to the defensive fortifications of Jerusalem (as mentioned in 1 Kings 3:1), but this interpretation is, again, debated among scholars. The call to action is the third element of Nehemiahs speech & in it Nehemiahs confidence is contagious. E. Mazar, The Palace of King David. So I came to Jerusalem & was there for three days. This would be the largest area the city walls would encompass. ), Judah and Judeans in the Persian Period, Winona Lake 2006, 147166. 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. ), M. L. Steiner, `One Hundred and Fifty Years of Excavating Jerusalem, in B. Wagemakers (ed. After this destruction the wider area was largely, but not entirely, abandoned. The story can speak to each of us today as we desire to rebuild communities of faith and hope in the wake of the . If our plans are not based on reality or the facts its highly unlikely our plans will be successful. 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. 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. The answer was given during the July 20th the television program 60 Minutes which included a fascinating segment on the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. 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. What he encounters is terrifying. 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. added to the walls of Jerusalem again with the construction of the Third Wall, which was completed shortly before the First Jewish Revolt, during which the walls were almost completely destroyed by the Romans. Nehemiah is the kind of leader we need in our nation & in the world today. It was chiseled from both ends to the middle at the same time. 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? 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. 32:34). The Persian material included a bronze mirror, silver rings, an Egyptian jar made of faience and an Attic jug - all luxury items, probably imported. 4:1-14). If HolyLandSite.com is helpful to you, and you would like to support our work, we would be deeply grateful. This expansion also included some additional wall construction on the north side of the city walls. The fish bones analysed come from fish from the Mediterranean Sea and Lake Tiberias. Others conclude from the archaeological finds (or rather, the dearth thereof) that Jerusalem in Persian times was a very small settlement, not including the western hill, impoverished, unwalled, insignificant. G. Barkay, Excavations at Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem, in: In: H. Geva, (ed.). 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. 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. Why take the risk and expense of hiring new people? Ready to walk around Jerusalems incredible walls yourself? [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]. Nehemiah 1:13: 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. Nehemiah, also spelled Nehemias, (flourished 5th century bc), Jewish leader who supervised the rebuilding of Jerusalem in the mid-5th century bc after his release from captivity by the Persian king Artaxerxes I.Cyrus II, founder of the Achaemenian dynasty of Persia and conqueror of Babylonia, in 538 bce issued an order allowing exiled Jews to This would indicate that rich families still lived in or around Jerusalem in the Persian period. Why did Nehemiah rebuild the walls of Jerusalem? 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.