An Early Iron Age Moat in Jerusalem between the Ophel and the Southeastern Ridge/City of David

Excavations on Jerusalem’s Southeastern Ridge, in the GivꜤati Parking Lot excavations, have exposed a man-made ditch, some 30 m wide and at least 6 m in depth, close to the hill’s summit. This paper presents the technical features of the ditch, including the rock scarps that delineate it from the no...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Gadot, Yuval (Author) ; Bocher, Efrat (Author) ; Freud, Liora (Author) ; Shalev, Yiftah (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group 2023
In: Tel Aviv
Year: 2023, Volume: 50, Issue: 2, Pages: 147-170
Further subjects:B Moat
B City of David
B Iron Age
B Jerusalem
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:Excavations on Jerusalem’s Southeastern Ridge, in the GivꜤati Parking Lot excavations, have exposed a man-made ditch, some 30 m wide and at least 6 m in depth, close to the hill’s summit. This paper presents the technical features of the ditch, including the rock scarps that delineate it from the north and south, as well as an enigmatic installation composed of a series of intertwined channels. Through comparison with data from previous excavations farther east, it is clear that this ditch traversed the entire width of the ridge, creating a disconnect between the Southeastern Ridge and the Ophel. Although the initial cutting of the ditch cannot be determined, it is clear that by the Late Iron IIA, the ditch served as a moat between the acropolis—possibly including the Temple Mount—and the city. This continued until the Late Hellenistic period, when construction activities backfilled the ditch, leading to its disappearance from the cityscape.
ISSN:2040-4786
Contains:Enthalten in: Tel Aviv
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/03344355.2023.2246811