Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University recently announced the discovery of a moat that once protected the Temple Mount and the king’s palace in Jerusalem. Excavations in the Givati Parking Lot have revealed that the moat was at least nine meters (29 feet) deep and 30 meters (100 feet) wide. When scholars reexamined the reports from Kathleen Kenyon’s City of David excavations in the 1960s, they noticed that she too had found a part of the moat, but had mistaken it for a natural valley. The current archaeologists believe the moat in the Givati Parking Lot is the same as the one in Kenyon’s excavations, meaning that this monumental fortification was 70 meters (76 yards) across from east to west and separated the residential area in the lower city from the temple and palace areas in the upper city. The exact date of the moat’s construction is unknown, but it may have even been dug in the Middle Bronze Age. It is clear that it was in use during the ninth century BC in the period of the kings of Judah.
OFF-SITE LINKS:
- https://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologists-find-fortifying-moat-in-city-of-david-solving-150-year-mystery/
- https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-811223
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