An exceptionally long and well-preserved section of Jerusalem’s Hasmonean-period “First Wall” was uncovered in December beneath the Tower of David Museum complex by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Dating to the late second century BCE, the wall measures more than 130 feet in length, about 16 feet in width, and is estimated to have been more than 30 feet tall. Constructed from massive stones with characteristic chiseled bosses, it was a key part of Jerusalem’s formidable defensive system during the Hasmonean period (141–37 BCE), a time of Jewish political independence and urban expansion. Ancient sources, especially the first-century CE historian Flavius […]
