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Uncovering the
CITYOF
by Richard Paige
Major new discoveries highUght tbird season of excavations
in the City of David, Jerusalem.
S
OUTH
of Je–
ru sa lem 's
Temple
Mount, near the
Gihon spri n g,
lies the biblically
farnous City of
David. Here, as–
tounding discov–
e ries are being
revea l ed each
new season.
between 1923 and
1925 the arcbaeolo–
gists MacAlister and
Dur¡can excavated in
this area. They un–
covered parts of the
city's fortification
system, made up of a
wall, towers and a
stepped stone "gla–
cis." This complex
of fortifications was
at fi rst attributed to
the time of the [sra–
elite monarchy.
Dame Kathleen
:;: Kenyon, who exca–
J,
vated in the City of
5"
David from 1961 to
~
1967 , reexamined
More t han 250
volu nt eers from
I srael and from
abroad-including
studen ts
f rom
Ambassador Col–
lege, Pasadena,
Ca l iforn ia-have
,____.....___"'--'.:..:...:-'-'-........
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~
th is com plex. She
helped uncover hitherto un–
known evidence of the c ity in
the time of D avid and his son
Solomon. Dr. Yigal Shi loh , of
the Institute of Archaeology at
Hebrew Unive r s i ty, directs
the work.
The Surprising 1980 Season
This past year ·especially surpris–
ing discoveries occurred, in the
22
LA TEST
excavations reveal house
foundations from First Temple period at
base of most monumental construction
uncovered in any biblical city.
northernmost area of the City of
David approximately 2300 feet
from the Temple Mount. Evi–
dence is now accumulating that
will reverse sorne long accepted
basic assumptions in the research
of J erusalem. For example,
carne to completely
different conclusions. She fixed
the date of most of the elements
in this fortification system to the
Second Temple Period- not ear–
lier than the time of Nehemiah.
T his season's excavation uncov–
ered more of the stepped-stone
glacis, whose date according to
Miss Kenyon belonged to the
Hellenistic period. I t's an impres–
sive monument in its dimensions
and in the size of· its stones. The
The
PLAIN TRUTH