Jerusalem PostHasmonean era 'first wall' section revealed at Tower of David museum excavationJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Mon, December 8, 2025 at 2:59 PM EST
5 min read
Archaeologist Amit Re“Archaeological discoveries allow us to connect to the historical continuity that binds us – generations of Jews, to Jerusalem,” said Israel’s Heritage Minister, Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu.
A definitive section of the most massive wall ever built in Jerusalem, known as the “First Wall,” was uncovered late last week and revealed to the press on Monday at the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum.
The wall was discovered during excavations in the Kishle, a one-time military compound and jail, where Jewish resistance members caught by the British were jailed during their Mandate for Palestine.
Archaeological excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) began there in 1999, at first revealing a Medieval dyeing factory. Many years later, as layer after layer was excavated, experts reached what they believed to be a stone pathway.
On Monday, the museum announced the surprise results of the renewed excavations that began a couple of years ago and gained momentum in recent months, ahead of the museum’s new Schulich Wing of Archaeology being completed in accordance with IAA requirements.
The revealed section of the wall has been confirmed as part of a wall built during the time of the Hebrew Hasmonean king Hyrkanos I and the last Seleucid king Antiochos VII Sidetes (not to be confused with the Hanukkah story’s Antiochos IV Epiphanes).
Close up of a Selecid Greek arrowhead on display at the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum. (credit: Oded Antman)Historical mysteries
It perfectly matches other sections of the Hasmonean-era wall beyond the Kishle building on the museum grounds, linking up with three surviving towers in the Tower of David complex.
First-century Jewish-Roman historian Josephus clearly describes the once “impregnable” wall’s extension, its gates, and the 60 towers raised along its length.
“This was the most massive wall ever built in Jerusalem,” Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Amit Re’em excitedly told The Jerusalem Post.
“It was razed to the ground, not as the result of a battle, but rather in a strategic, surgical operation.” He pointed out that no fallen stones had been found in its vicinity, nor were there any signs of rampant destruction.
“It is clear that it was systematically destroyed and razed to the ground. This is predetermined destruction – not the result of the ravages of time, nor of a random enemy attack, but a deliberate execution of a well-planned action. This raises questions about who was responsible for the wall’s destruction,” Re’em noted.
The Hasmoneans may have deconstructed the wall as part of a peace treaty with Antiochus VII Sidetes, who besieged Jerusalem in 134-132 BCE, Re’em said.
Josephus recounts that dismantling it was likely a precondition for lifting the siege.
Physical evidence of the struggles between the two kings, discovered very close to this newly uncovered section, has survived in the cache of catapult stones, arrowheads, and slingstones that were already discovered in 1980 while excavating at the base of a section of the Hamonean wall, which was known in ancient historical sources as the “First Wall.”
Similar arrowheads, unearthed near the wall at the Kishle, are further evidence of the connection between the structure's parts.
This surviving military equipment is considered clear evidence of Antiochus VII’s siege, during which those bellicose artefacts failed to breach the Hasmonean wall and fell at its base.
Some of the weapons are on display at the Tower of David Museum, including precisely shaped arrowheads with the Greek letters B and Y, which are ostensibly identifying an elite fighting unit, Tower of David Museum archaeologist Reut Kozak told the Post.
She also pointed to cannonballs, most made from Jerusalem stone and a few from a darker stone. “They come from up North,” she said. “You can tell by the color. We don’t have that color stone in Jerusalem.
According to Re’em, the massive wall once stood over 10 meters tall. He said that during the Second Temple period, “the Hasmonean city wall also surrounded Mount Zion, where sections of it have been found, as well as in the City of David, in the Citadel of David courtyard, and alongside the outer façade of the western city wall of Jerusalem’s Old City.”
Re’em told the Post that it was “a privilege,” both for himself and for the Israel Antiquities Authority, to be part of a discovery that not only links up sections of the Hasmonean wall but also reflects the claims of historical literary sources, such as Josephus, Re’em said.
“We are making history, we are writing the books of Jerusalem,” he concluded.
Israel’s Heritage Minister, Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, called the discovery “tangible and moving evidence of Jerusalem’s might and stature during the Hasmonean period.”
He added: “Archaeological discoveries allow us to connect to the historical continuity that binds us – generations of Jews, to Jerusalem, and demonstrate and exhibit our proud heritage to the world.”
Eilat Lieber, director of the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum, told the Post that once the new Schulich foundation wing was constructed, “a floating glass floor above the wall will incorporate the ancient stones into the new area of the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum.”
Based in Toronto, Canada, the Schulich Foundation was established by Canadian philanthropist Seymour Schulich. Supports high-achieving individuals and organizations to improve the quality of life for Israelis and Canadians.
Over Hanukkah, the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum will host the family experience “Hanukkah of Heroes,” as well as guided tours and a variety of activities throughout the citadel.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/massive-40-meter-long-maccabean-195946900.html
Random quote
