Broad Wall (Jerusalem)

Marker (on the wall to the left) showing possible height of the wall

Map of Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter, showing the Broad Wall

The Broad Wall (Hebrew: החומה הרחבהcode: he is deprecated HaChoma HaRechava) is an old wall. It was made for defense. The wall is in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. The wall was found in the 1970s by Israeli archaeologist Nahman Avigad. The wall was originally thought to be from the reign of King Hezekiah (late 8th century BCE). However, in 2024, carbon-dating found that it was from the reign of King Uzziah, several decades earlier.^[1]

The Broad Wall is very large. It is 6 metres thick. The wall was 65 metres (71.1 yd) long. The wall is still there as a height of 3.3 metres (3.6 yd).^[2]^[3]

References

↑ New carbon-dating techniques enable 'absolute chronology' of First Temple-era Jerusalem, Gavriel Fiske for The Times of Israel, 30 April 2024. Accessed 6 July 2024.
↑ Jerusalem: an archaeological biography, Hershel Shanks, Random House, 1995, p. 80.
↑ Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem: The finds from areas A, W and X-2 : final report. Volume 2 of Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem: Conducted by Nahman Avigad, 1969–1982, Nahman Avigad, Hillel Geva, Israel Exploration Society, 2000.

Other websites

Media related to Broad Wall (Jerusalem) at Wikimedia Commons

The Broad Wall: photos, illustrations and archaeological information

[C14-1] New carbon-dating techniques enable 'absolute chronology' of First Temple-era Jerusalem, Gavriel Fiske for The Times of Israel, 30 April 2024. Accessed 6 July 2024.

[2] Jerusalem: an archaeological biography, Hershel Shanks, Random House, 1995, p. 80.

[3] Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem: The finds from areas A, W and X-2 : final report. Volume 2 of Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem: Conducted by Nahman Avigad, 1969–1982, Nahman Avigad, Hillel Geva, Israel Exploration Society, 2000.

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