Archaeological Discovery [No. 7 ]

Nehemiah's Wall Discovered..??!!!

"So the wall was finished on the 25th day of Elul, in 52 days. And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, & all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God" -written by Nehemiah, a governor of Judea of 5th century BC [BCE], as recorded in Nehemiah 6:15-16.


Until now, few remains from Nehemiah's time in Jerusalem (444-432 BC)have been uncovered. But now, Eilat Mazar, a Hebrew University archaeologist digging in the city, believes she has identified remnants of that famous wall that protected Jerusalem after the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity.

While the Wall had been uncovered earlier, archaeologists had assumed it dated to the Hasmonean Period (141-37 BC)- well after Nehemiah's time. But in stabilizing a tower that was a part of that Wall to prevent its collapse, excavators found immediately under it pottery & arrowheads dating to the Babylonian destruction of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) in 586 BC. & pottery & a seal impression dating the Persian period (6th -5th century BC)

No later remains were found, which indicates that the tower & Wall dated to the time of Nehemiah's building of defensive walls around the city as described in the Biblical book that bears his name.Judah at that time was a province of the Persian Empire, which is why archaeological remains from this time are referred to as being from the Persian Period.

"This find opens a new chapter in the history of Jerusalem", Dr. Mazar said. "Until now we have never had such an archaeological wealth of finds from Nehemiah's period." { "Nehemiah's Wall uncovered", The Jerusalem Post, 28th Nov. 2007}

The Bible records that Nehemiah, cup bearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes , received permission from the king to rebuild the Walls around Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians a century & half earlier. He also repopulated Jerusalem & restored it as capital of Judea.

By the excavations & discoveries of ancient walls & towers, we can get assurence in one thing; that is in Jerusalem on that period of Persian domination, a strong city Wall had been build. While conclusions are still preliminary, these finds appear to further strengthen the historical accuracy of the accounts given in Holy Bible.

let His Name alone shall be glorified...

Baruc.h HaShem...


shalom