Archaeologists Uncover Moat Dating Back to Reign of Biblical King Josiah
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Israeli archaeologists excavating in Jerusalem’s City of David announced Sunday that they have uncovered a 3,000-year-old moat that dates back to the time when Jerusalem was the capital of the Kingdom of Judah under King Josiah, The Media Line reports. The discovery was made by researchers from the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University.
According to the researchers, the moat likely acted as a northern fortification line of the lower city, separating the king’s palace and residential areas in the south from the Temple Mount in the north, The Media Line reports.
“We know about ancient fortifications from the south, east, and west,” excavation director Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University told The Media Line. “But the north has always been an enigma.”
“Typically, when excavating, you assume you’ll eventually reach bedrock, which is where structures are built,” Gadot explained.
“The bedrock should appear higher on the summit and lower in the surrounding valley of the City of David. However, we never found the rock. So, we kept digging deeper and deeper and gradually realized we were working within a man-made gorge.”
“How could the city protect itself from the north, especially with the Temple Mount being higher than the ridge the city was built on? This has been a question everyone has asked for the past century while excavating Jerusalem. I believe we have resolved it by finding the moat,” Gadot said.
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