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GIVATI PARKING LOT EXPEDITION, COURTESY YUVAL GADOT

DEFENSIVE DITCH. Separating the ancient Temple Mount and the Ophel from the City of David to their south was this man-made trough. Constructed during the time of the first kings of Judah, if not earlier, it is nearly 100 feet wide and 30 feet deep. Although the moat was first detected 60 years ago, its full extent and function are only now becoming apparent: Running across the entire northern limit of the City of David, it initially functioned as a moat that defended the city on the north. In around 800 BCE, enigmatic channels were carved into the bedrock of this ditch, likely for industrial use. By that time, the moat served to limit movement between the City of David and the Temple Mount.