Ophel

The location of the Ophel of the Hebrew Bible is easy to make out from the references from 2 Chronicles 27:3; 33:14 and Nehemiah 3:26, 27: it was on the eastern ridge, which descends south of the Temple, and probably near the middle of it.[3] In current terms, the still extant Herodian cased-in Temple Mount is bordered to the south by a saddle, followed by the ridge in case, also known as the southeastern hill, which stretches down to the King's Garden and the (lower) Siloam Pool.[3] If the Ophel was, as it seems, close to its centre, the use of the term "Ophel ridge" for the entire southeastern hill including the saddle, seems to be wrong.[3]

Two kings of Judah, Jotham and Manasseh, are described to have massively strengthened the fortifications at "Ophel" (2 Chronicles 27:3; 33:14), leading to the conclusion that this must have been an area of great strategic importance, and either very close to or identical with the "stronghold of Zion" conquered and reused by King David (2 Samuel 5:7).[3]

Josephus, writing about the First Jewish–Roman War (66–70 CE), uses the Graecised form "Ophlas", and places it slightly higher up the eastern ridge from the First Temple-period Ophel, touching the "eastern cloister of the temple" (Jewish Wars, V, iv, 2 [5]) and in the context of "the temple and the parts thereto adjoining, .... and the .... 'Valley of the Cedron'" (Jewish Wars, V, iv, 1 [6]).[3] This takes us to the area of the saddle right next to the southeast corner of Herod's Temple Mount.

Benjamin Mazar and Eilat Mazar have excavated in the area between Herod's boxed-in Temple Mount and what is known as the City of David, consisting mainly of a saddle between the Southern Wall of Herod's Temple and the steep ridge of the City of David, and have termed this area "Ophel".[7] The term is commonly used by archaeologists with this meaning.[7][8] Since c. 2000, Eilat Mazar has renewed excavation work in the Ophel area.

Notable structures found during these excavations include architectural remains and a variety of movable objects, some dated to the First Temple period, many to the Second Temple period, as well as the Byzantine and Early Muslim periods, the latter including major findings from the Umayyad and Fatimid periods. Here a few selected findings:

• The Ophel inscription. It is a 3000 years old pottery shard, which bears the earliest alphabetical inscription found in Jerusalem. It was discovered during Eilat Mazar's renewed excavation.[9]

• Remains interpreted by archaeologist Eilat Mazar to be a 70 or 79 metres long segment of city wall including a gatehouse leading to a royal structure, and a watchtower overlooking the Kidron Valley.[10][9] Eilat Mazar believes these are the remains of the fortifications that, according to the biblical First Book of Kings, once encompassed the city.[10] Eilat Mazar, who re-excavated the remains in 2010, believes them to date to the late 10th century BCE,[11] associating them with King Solomon, which is controversial and not supported by past and contemporary archaeologists.[10][11]

Biblical reference: According to 1 Kings 3:1, King Solomon "took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David, until he had finished building ... the wall around Jerusalem." (New Revised Standard Version).

The dig: The excavation work was a joint project of Hebrew University, in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and the East Jerusalem Development Company, with funding provided by Jewish American couple, Daniel Mintz and Meredith Berkman.[10][12][13]

Dating of the wall: Although consensus on the dating of the wall has not been reached by the archaeological community, Mazar maintains that, "It's the most significant construction we have from First Temple days in Israel," and "It means that at that time, the 10th century (BCE), in Jerusalem there was a regime capable of carrying out such construction." The 10th century is the period the Bible describes as the reign of King Solomon.[10] Claiming that broken pottery in the "royal structure" enabled the team to date the building. One storage jar bears an inscription in Hebrew. Mazar told the Jerusalem Post that "The jars that were found are the largest ever found in Jerusalem," and "the inscription found on one of them shows that it belonged to a government official, apparently the person responsible for overseeing the provision of baked goods to the royal court." [10]

Aren Maeir, an archeology professor at Bar Ilan University said he has yet to see evidence that the fortifications are as old as Mazar claims. Whilst acknowledging that 10th century remains have been found in Jerusalem, he describes proof of a strong, centralized kingdom at that time as "tenuous".[10]

Structural features: A section of wall 79 metres (259 ft) long and 6 metres (20 ft) high has been uncovered. The discoveries include an inner gatehouse, a "royal structure" and a corner tower with a base measuring 23 metres (75 ft) by 18 metres (59 ft) from which watchmen could keep watch on the Kidron Valley. According to Mazar, the built structures are similar to the First Temple era fortifications of Megiddo, Beersheba and Ashdod. Mazar told reporters that "A comparison of this latest finding with city walls and gates from the period of the First Temple, as well as pottery found at the site," enable her to "postulate, with a great degree of assurance" that the wall dates form the late 10th-century BCE.[10]

Mazar told reporters that "A comparison of this latest finding with city walls and gates from the period of the First Temple, as well as pottery found at the site, enable us to postulate, with a great degree of assurance, that the wall that has been revealed is that which was built by King Solomon in Jerusalem in the latter part of the tenth century BCE." [10]

Previous excavations: The wall has been excavated twice before, once in the 1860s and again in the 1980s. In 1867 Charles Warren conducted an underground survey in the area, describing the outline of a large tower but without attributing it to the era of Solomon.[11]

Criticism of approach: Israel Finkelstein and other archaeologists from Tel Aviv University have flagged concern that, with reference to her 2006 dating of the "Solomonic city wall" in the area to the south of the Temple Mount known as the Ophel,

The biblical text dominates this field operation, not archaeology. Had it not been for Mazar's literal reading of the biblical text, she never would have dated the remains to the 10th century BCE with such confidence.[7]

• Several Hellenistic-period buildings[9]

• A large mikvah[14]
• The southern steps to the Herodian Temple compound,[15] leading up to the Double and Triple Gates of the Temple compound.

• The Monastery of the Virgins, uncovered during Benjamin Mazar's digs

• Several large residential and administrative structures (qasr-type "palaces"), probably Umayyad, to the south (Ophel) and southwest of the Haram/Temple Mount