Jerusalem’s Ancient Defenses: 150-Year Quest Reveals Royal Fortress in City of David

Dr. Yiftah Shalev of the Israel Antiquities Authority in front of a section of the moat Credit Eliyahu Yanai, City of David

Archaeologists have made a groundbreaking discovery at the City of David in Jerusalem’s Walls National Park. A massive moat discovered in the Givati Parking Lot excavations at the City of David in the Jerusalem Walls National Park at least nine meters deep and 30 meters wide, has been unearthed, solving a 150-year-old mystery: Who divided Jerusalem into two? This formidable fortification likely separated the upper city, home to the temple and palace, from the lower city, providing crucial protection.

Initially, the purpose of this rock carving was unclear, but further excavations, and linking it with past discoveries, help revealing it as the northern fortification line of the lower city.

According to the excavation’s directors Prof. Yuval Gadot from the Department of Archeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv University and Dr. Yiftah Shalev from the Israel Antiquities Authority, “it is not known when the moat was originally cut, but evidence suggests it was used during the centuries when Jerusalem was the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, almost 3,000 years ago, beginning with King Josiah. During those years, the moat separated the southern residential part of the city from the ruling Acropolis in the north; the upper city where the palace and the temple were located.”

The creation of the moat was a large-scale, monumental operation, designed to change and modify the natural topography to demonstrate the power of Jerusalem’s rulers to those who come in its gates. According to the researchers, this action, which required significant engineering skills and resources, emphasized the strength and capability of the city’s rulers at the time.

Over the past 150 years, numerous attempts by researchers and archaeologists to trace the route of Jerusalem’s northern fortification have been made, but it has only now been definitively revealed during the Givati Parking Lot excavations. These excavations are taking place in the City of David, managed by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University, and funded by the City of David Foundation.

According to Prof. Yuval Gadot, Excavation Director from the Department of Archeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv University, “following the dramatic discovery, we reexamined the past excavations reports written by the British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon, who excavated in the City of David in the 1960s, in an area located slightly east of today’s Givati Parking Lot. It became clear to us that Kenyon noticed that the natural rock slopes towards the north, in a place where it should naturally have risen. She thought it was a natural valley, but now it turns out that she had uncovered the continuation of the moat, carved to the west. The connection of the two uncovered sections creates a deep and wide moat that extends across at least 70 meters, from west to east.”

Ancient Jerusalem was built on top of a narrow and steep ridge, expanding over hills and valleys that divided it into distinct parts, making it difficult to move from one unit to the other. Therefore, it is not surprising that many of the royal construction enterprises in Jerusalem were connected with the need to reshape the topography. For example, in the first book of Kings (11:27), an action of this type that King Solomon performed is mentioned: “Solomon built up the ‘Millo’ and closed up the breach of the City of David, his father.”

Now it becomes clear that throughout the Iron Age (the days of the First Temple) – the period in which the books of the Bible were compiled- the city was divided into at least two distinct parts. This separation remained also during the Persian and Hellenistic periods.

The results of the excavation will be presented at the City of David’s “Jerusalem Studies Experience” Conference, taking place in early August.