Why is a broken-down wall such a big deal? The walls contain 34 watchtowers and seven main gates . 2006. K. A. Ristau, Reconstructing Jerusalem: Persian Period Prophetic Perspectives, University Park, Pa, 2016. who destroyed the walls of jerusalem When Titus conquered and destroyed Jerusalem, he was putting an end to many decades of rebellion that had erupted long before his time. An accurate analysis of the material found during excavations shows, in my opinion, a more nuanced picture. After some two centuries without walls, a new set was erected around the city, probably during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, sometime between 289 and the turn of the century. 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). It is home to nearly 40,000 people and hosts dozens of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish holy sites. The trip continues to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool. God allowed most of Judah to be conquered but protected Jerusalem because of Hezekiahs obedience to Him. No other biblical text is as explicit about the walls of Jerusalem as Nehemiah 3. The Walls that Nehemiah Built: The Town of Jerusalem in the Persian Period, Many biblical scholars have been allured by these texts to sketch a map of the city based on the descriptions therein - see for instance, https://medium.com/@chrisvonada/the-courage-and-calling-of-nehemiah-1b64df490373. This made it necessary to reinforce western Palestine, especially the provinces of Yehud and Samaria and the coastal areas (Carter 1999, 293). Nehemiah receives His Commission 1. . 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. Hezekiahs Broad Wall Expansion of the Western Hill. The many Yehud stamp impressions indicate inclusion in an economic network, the exact nature of which still eludes us. 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. 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. M. L. Steiner, `The City of David as a Palimpsest, in L. Niesioowski-Span and E. Pfoh (eds. King Darius is mentioned by name in the Bible in the books Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah. 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. Eventually he returns through the Valley Gate. You're . 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. Submitted by Jason Silverman on Sun, 11/28/2021 - 12:20. 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. A series by Phil & Kath Henry. Suffice to say there is hardly any archaeological evidence of a large population growth as a result of immigration. But perhaps there is more factuality in the picture the book of Nehemiah sketches than is sometimes suggested. 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. 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. 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 Late Hellenistic period that construction then was rebuilt or restored and the older wall was not visible anymore. One of Sultan Suleimans greatest projects was the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem. 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. This hill is now commonly referred to as the City of David, but that is a fairly recent name (Steiner 2019). Later - in Persian times - the temple would have been provisionally restored and Jerusalem would have been a non-walled, largely empty settlement where some priests lived who maintained the temple services. Nehemiah, a servant of King Artaxerxes, was an Israelite who lived in the Persian city of Shushan. The call to action is the third element of Nehemiahs speech & in it Nehemiahs confidence is contagious. 16 Nehemiah son of Azbuk ruled half of the district of Beth-Zur, and he rebuilt the next section of the wall. 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. May the joy of the Lord be your strength. King David's son, Solomon, enlarged the city northward to include the area of the Temple Mount. After the Babylonian captivity and the Persian conquest of Babylonia, Cyrus II of Persia allowed the Jews to return to Judea and rebuild the Temple. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. [6] Some remains of this wall are located today near the Mandelbaum Gate gas station. 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. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. Spoiler alert: there are as many opinions as there are scholars, and the archaeological evidence is meagre. on The Man Who Rebuilt Jerusalem Nehemiah 2:11-20, https://brewsterbaptistchurch.org/audio/08032014.mp3. Nehemiah is commissioned to return to Jerusalem to oversee the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem that still laid in ruin. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer. The rebuilding and repair of the wall was a miracle. 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. 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. You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. Its not enough to know what needs to be done; we also need the motivation to make it happen. 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. Nehemiah Report from Jerusalem. At the beginning, he also told no one the vision God had given him for building Jerusalems walls. We don't know that Jerusalem was a gubernatorial seat. Villages still supplied grain and other products, governors were appointed, residing first in Mizpa and later in Jerusalem, and for many people life will have taken its traditional course. After the return from exile, the small Jewish populationunder Nehemiah's leadershiprebuilt the walls of Jerusalem with dimensions similar to Solomon's day. Arabic inscription inside Lions Gate. Although the Persian town walls have not been found, there are indications that they may be hidden under the later Maccabean fortifications. 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). JUST WONDERING. Nehemiah 2:1-11. These ambiguities renders the reconstructions uncertain, and with it our view of Jerusalem in the Persian period. The work took some four years, between 1537 and 1541. Independent Archaeologist Today, this water tunnel is known as Hezekiahs Tunnel. Nisan] See note on Nehemiah 1:1.This name only occurs elsewhere in the O.T. One of the keys to rebuilding not only the wall but rebuilding community is a sense of the common good. When a church makes a positive influence in a community it is because the people who comprise it are committed to the common good & not just to their particular group or ministry. October 2021. I have been to Jerusalem but did not walk the walls. I am aware that this is only indirect evidence. The walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. Some people might think, our church is fine the way it is, why worry about ten years from now? 1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. This would be the largest area the city walls would encompass. Dig into the illuminating world of the Bible with a BAS All-Access membership. Some attention, but how much? Reconstruction of one of the Ketef Hinnom tombs. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer suffer disgrace. Nehemiah is one of them. The Byzantine walls mostly followed the lines and foundations of the earlier walls from the Second Temple period. Upon hearing that the wall of Jerusalem was down and destroyed, along with the gates being burned down, Nehemiah cried. Such tombs belonged to wealthy families, who buried their dead there for centuries. 3 And they said to me, The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. 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. R. Reich, `The Ancient Burial Ground in the Mamilla Neighborhood, Jerusalem, in H. Geva (ed. D. Ussishkin,. Click here to take a video tour atop Jerusalems ancient walls. Nehemiah 6:1516: So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 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. 3 And they said to me, The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. When Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, he asked the king's permission to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. Upon regaining the city from the Crusaders, Saladin began refortifying the walls in 1192. 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. News and Interpretations on the Bible and Ancient Near East History. 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. Who destroyed the wall that Nehemiah rebuilt? In a famous speech, he promised the British nothing but blood, toil, tears, & sweat. Perhaps no speech has ever united a nation more. There were lots of people who tried to stop them. Hold up one of the paper bricks and explain the following: The wall of Jerusalem is about 40 feet high and 2.5 miles long! 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. Ltd. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram. Jerusalem would remain in ruins for some six decades and without protective walls for over two centuries. "The survivors there in the province who escaped exile are in great trouble and shame; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire" (Neh 1:3; cf. 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. This was some 47 years after the temple was finished. Yet in 1219, the Ayyubids, fearing the Crusaders would regain the city, demolished the walls of Jerusalem to keep such a fortified position from falling into Crusader hands. He sees not only the reality of what is, but what can be. Very interesting. A century after the Roman Empires conversion to Christianity, the city was renamed Jerusalem and its walls were greatly expanded by Empress Aelia Eudocia. 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. This, however, is a methodological error. 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. The only animal I took was the animal I rode. Were seeking to build our community and to impact many more lives as we add two new full-time pastors. Several tombs have been found here with finds from the Iron Age unto the Hellenistic period. Archaeological and radiocarbon dating suggests to some that this was carried out as early as the 18th century B.C.E. The church faces a similar challenge. Perhaps it rather encompasses all the destroyed city gates of Jerusalem, including those around the western hill. In 586 BC the Babylonians left behind a town largely destroyed. 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. 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. However, it is not easy to find out what exactly has been excavated and how biblical texts and archaeological finds relate to each other. 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). M. L. Steiner, `One Hundred and Fifty Years of Excavating Jerusalem, in B. Wagemakers (ed. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. talked to God and prayed for it What are the 4 Reasons why the Israelites were discouraged to rebuild the walls? Hezekiah's new wall measured about 22 feet wide (7 m.) by 25 feet high (8 m.). Very little material has been unearthed from Persian times, and what has been found is difficult to date with precision. (Courtesy Ancient Jerusalem Project). Often when we face a challenge, information can be plentiful but motivation is lacking. The stories as recorded in Nehemiah 3 can therefore not be correct and must date from a later period. Returning Exiles Rebuild the Walls444 BC - 442 BC. Hes not afraid to use words like trouble, ruins, disgrace. No good comes from minimizing the difficulties of a task or situation that lies before us whether it is physical, relational, spiritual, financial, emotional, political or something else. 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 walls were still in ruin 140 years later when Nehemiah came to Jerusalem. Excavations at the Summit of the City of David. The city walls and gates that the Babylonians destroyed have never been rebuilt.' Nehemiah was upset. Why did Nehemiah rebuild the walls of Jerusalem? . Nehemiah is the account of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. What Nehemiah lacked in technical knowledge, he more than makes up for with his ability to motivate and unite people to share in the challenge of rebuilding the walls. These are the same walls that surround Jerusalem today. According to Oded Lipschits (2009) Jerusalem was a temple city. 3They replied, The survivors there in the province who escaped captivity are in great trouble and shame; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been destroyed by fire., August 3, 2014 This opposition doesn't stop the children of Israel, as they work with weapons in hand. The book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament of the Bible is more than an account of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah 2. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. 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. Hezekiah also built a water tunnel in order to keep the water from the Gihon Spring inside the city walls so the Assyrians couldnt cut off the water supply (2 Chron. night | 74 views, 3 likes, 0 loves, 3 comments, 1 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Historic Baptist Church: Sunday Night The Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem by the end of the 5th B.C. The biblical sources are largely silent on what happened in Judah and Jerusalem after the Babylonian destruction. H. Lernau, `Fish Bones, in E. Mazar (ed. 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. The high priest Eliashib, for example, rebuilds the Sheep Gate together with his fellow priests, while the sons of Hassenaah tackle the Fish Gate. Your email address will not be published. 3. It would be this city layout that would exist during the time of Christ. Why take the risk and expense of hiring new people? And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. That the order of the buildings in the text is the same as the order `on the ground' is likely but not certain. 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. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 15201566), the city of Jerusalem regained its splendor and recovered from centuries of neglect. Upon their reconstruction, much of the southern part of the ancient city, including the City of David, was left outside the new walls. In 19 BC, the master-builder, King Herod the Great, began his life's most ambitious building project. 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. R. Reich, `The Ancient Burial Ground in the Mamilla Neighborhood, Jerusalem, in H. Geva (ed. At our church, we face a similar task but on a smaller scale than the one Nehemiah faced. Sometimes its not seeing the difficulties that prevent our taking action; its a failure to see the resources & means to a creative solution. The construction was finished in 516 BCE or 430 BCE. And those interpretations can be quite diverse. 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) Answer (1 of 3): We know that there is a period of some thirteen years between the closing scene of Ezra and the prayer of Nehemiah in the first chapter of his book ( compare Ezra 7:8 with Nehemiah 1:1 ; 2:1 ). Despite evidence of permanent settlement dating back to at least the Early Bronze Age (c. 33002300 B.C.E. How far does - or can - archaeology render this plausible? The destruction of Jerusalem's walls left its people exposed to great trouble and shame. 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. And so Nehemiah travels west to Jerusalem. The walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. . 4th March Saturday <br>Nehemiah. He was available to God & answered the call to lead in a crisis & he did it effectively. ), A. M. L. Steiner, `The City of David as a Palimpsest, in L. Niesioowski-Span and E. Pfoh (eds.). 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. Nehemiah is not a professional builder or contractor. 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. In 722 B.C., Assyria conquered the northern kingdom, then in 605 B.C. The walls contain 34 watchtowers and seven main gates open for traffic, with two minor gates reopened by archaeologists. 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. Fatigue (Pagkapagod) Herod the Great added what Josephus called the Second Wall somewhere in the area between today's Jaffa Gate and Temple Mount. Jerusalems walls were largely neglected by the Crusader kingdom, although moderate rebuilding activities attempted to close breaches in the walls. M. L. Steiner, `The Palace of David Reconsidered in the Light of Earlier Excavations, op http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/palace_2468.shtml (2009). Due to this dearth of material, interpretations are becoming increasingly important. (Photo Chamberi / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)). The curving tunnel is 583 yards (533 m.) long and has a fall of 12 inches (30 cm.) Unfortunately, the Bible texts remain vague on the exact location of these structures. About ten feet thick and up to fifty feet high, Suleiman's wall is dotted with forty-two defensive lookout posts. The narrow cobbled streets, majestic walls, Roman columns, and ancient buildings hold memories of the numerous legendary events. 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. Whoever wandered around the old city walls had to climb over a mass of stone and sometimes could not continue at all; large piles of rubble blocked the way. The fish bones analysed come from fish from the Mediterranean Sea and Lake Tiberias. (Courtesy Ancient Jerusalem Project). The temple was restored, and the temple gave the town its raison d'tre. Blessing: Now may you go from this time of worship to serve the God who is ready to forgive, gracious & merciful, slow to anger & abounding in steadfast love. He was born in exile and grew to become the Cupbearer of King Artaxerses of the Medo-Persian empire. By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. 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 . 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. For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 4:1-14). These walls were largely destroyed in 1033, however, when a major earthquake struck the city. However, the debris only contained pottery from the Babylonian and Early Persian periods. Then they said, Let us start building! So they committed themselves to the common good.. 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. 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. They were completed in 1538 and are the walls that exist today. 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.. 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. 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 is the kind of leader we need in our nation & in the world today. 2:3). ), 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. 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. Upon hearing that the wall of Jerusalem was down and destroyed, along with the gates being burned down, Nehemiah cried. Another point is the size and function of Jerusalem during the Persian period. 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. During this time, known as the Hasmonean period (16463 BC), Jerusalem was rebuilt along with its walls. ), M. L. Steiner, `One Hundred and Fifty Years of Excavating Jerusalem, in B. Wagemakers (ed. How many times was the Temple in Jerusalem destroyed and rebuilt? When the moment comes, Nehemiah offers one last brief prayer & shares his desire with the king & its granted. Sign up to receive our email newsletter and never miss an update. 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. But did he do it? [1] [2] The walls are visible on most old maps of Jerusalem over the last 1,500 years.