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Maccabean-Period City Wall Segment Unearthed in Jerusalem
(Ha'aretz) Ruth Schuster - A 40-meter-long section of the ancient city wall of Jerusalem, five meters thick, has been unearthed within the grounds of the Kishle prison complex near David's Citadel in the Old City, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday. The wall dates to the Hasmonean period, which began in the second century BCE, the period of the Second Temple. The excavation was being done ahead of the construction of an archaeology and art wing. The Roman-Jewish historian Josephus wrote in detail about the "impregnable" Jerusalem wall with 60 guard towers. It originally rose to a height of ten meters, well above the present city wall which dates to the Ottoman period.