Posted on 12/08/25
| News Source: JPost
Researchers unearthed a significant section of a Maccabean-period city wall on the grounds of the Tower of David, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday.
Still less than half its original height, at over 40 meters long and about five meters high, the wall section is one of the longest and most intact walls of its type discovered in Jerusalem.
“The wall is meticulously built of large, heavy stones, with a chiseled boss typical of this period,” said Dr. Amit Re’im and Dr. Marion Zindel, Excavation Directors on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. "Originally, the massive wall rose to a height of more than ten meters! But today, only a stump remains. During the Second Temple period, the Hasmonean city wall also surrounded Mount Zion, where sections of it have been found, as well as in the City of David, in the Citadel of David courtyard, and alongside the outer façade of the western city wall of Jerusalem’s Old City.”
The archaeological discovery raises questions for researchers and historians.
“There is much more to this wall than meets the eye,” said Dr. Re’im and Dr. Zindel. “It is clear that it was systematically destroyed and razed to the ground. This is predetermined destruction, not the result of the ravages of time, nor of a random enemy attack, but a deliberate execution of a well-planned action. This raises questions about who was responsible for the wall’s destruction.”
The researchers have offered two primary theories for the wall’s destroyers. One is that it was dismantled by the Maccabees themselves, as part of a settlement with Antiochus VII Sidetes. Alternatively, King Herod may have destroyed the Maccabean structure as a political statement.