Ophel

The Ophel (Hebrew: עֹ֫פֶל‎ ‘ōp̄el), also Graecised to Ophlas,[1][2] is the biblical name apparently given to a certain part of a settlement or city that is elevated from its surroundings, and probably means fortified hill or risen area. In the Hebrew Bible the Ophel refers to a specific part in two cities: the extended City of David (the oldest part of Jerusalem), as in the Book of Chronicles and the Book of Nehemiah (2 Chronicles 27:3; 33:14, Nehemiah 3:26; 11:21), and at Samaria, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Israel, mentioned in the Second Book of Kings (2 Book of Kings 5:24). The Mesha Stele, written in Moabite, a Canaanite language closely related to Biblical Hebrew, is the only extra-biblical source using the word, also in connection to a fortified place.[3]

Ophel (City of David), Jerusalem, Israel. The Kidron Valley and Mount of Olives are in the background.

Meaning of the term

Ophel, with the definite article ha-ophel, is a common noun known from two Ancient Semitic languages, Biblical Hebrew and Moabitic.[3] As a place name or description it appears several times in the Hebrew Bible and once on the Mesha Stele from Moab.[3] There is no ultimate agreement as to its exact meaning, and scholars have long been trying to deduce it from the different contexts it appears in.[3] When used as a common noun, it has been translated as "tumors" (1 Samuel 5:9, 12; 6:5), and in a verbal form it was taken to mean "puffed up" (Habakkuk 2:4), this indicating that the root might be associated with "swelling".[3] When referring to a place, it seems from the context to mean either hill, or fortified place, or a mixture of the two, i.e., a fortified hill, and by considering the presumed meaning of the root, it might signify a "bulging or rounded" fortification.[3]

Biblical verses in which it has been translated either as "fortified place " (tower, citadel, stronghold etc.) or "hill" are 2 Kings 5:24, 2 Chronicles 27:3; 33:14, Isaiah 32:14, Nehemiah 3:26; 11:21, and Micah 4:8.[3] On the Mesha Stele, named for the king of Moab who erected it, Mesha says: "I built Q-R-CH-H (Karhah?), the wall of ye'arim [forests], and the wall of ophel and I built its gates and I built its towers."[3] Here ophel is commonly translated as "citadel".[4]

Jerusalem Ophel

Hebrew Bible

The location of the Ophel of the Hebrew Bible is easy to make out from the references from 2 Chronicles 27:3; 33:14 and Nehemiah 3:26, 27: it was on the eastern ridge, which descends south of the Temple, and probably near the middle of it.[3] In current terms, the still extant Herodian cased-in Temple Mount is bordered to the south by a saddle, followed by the ridge in case, also known as the southeastern hill, which stretches down to the King's Garden and the (lower) Siloam Pool.[3] If the Ophel was, as it seems, close to its centre, the use of the term "Ophel ridge" for the entire southeastern hill including the saddle, seems to be wrong.[3]

Two kings of Judah, Jotham and Manasseh, are described to have massively strengthened the fortifications at "Ophel" (2 Chronicles 27:3; 33:14), leading to the conclusion that this must have been an area of great strategic importance, and either very close to or identical with the "stronghold of Zion" conquered and reused by King David (2 Samuel 5:7).[3]

Josephus' "Ophlas"

Josephus, writing about the First Jewish–Roman War (66–70 CE), uses the Graecised form "Ophlas", and places it slightly higher up the eastern ridge from the First Temple-period Ophel, touching the "eastern cloister of the temple" (Jewish Wars, V, iv, 2 [5]) and in the context of "the temple and the parts thereto adjoining, .... and the .... 'Valley of the Cedron'" (Jewish Wars, V, iv, 1 [6]).[3] This takes us to the area of the saddle right next to the southeast corner of Herod's Temple Mount.

Benjamin and Eilat Mazar's "Ophel"

Benjamin Mazar and Eilat Mazar have excavated in the area between Herod's boxed-in Temple Mount and what is known as the City of David, consisting mainly of a saddle between the Southern Wall of Herod's Temple and the steep ridge of the City of David, and have termed this area "Ophel".[7] The term is commonly used by archaeologists with this meaning.[7][8] Since c. 2000, Eilat Mazar has renewed excavation work in the Ophel area.

Notable structures found during these excavations include architectural remains and a variety of movable objects, some dated to the First Temple period, many to the Second Temple period, as well as the Byzantine and Early Muslim periods, the latter including major findings from the Umayyad and Fatimid periods. Here a few selected findings:

Canaanite or First Temple period
  • The Ophel inscription. It is a 3000 years old pottery shard, which bears the earliest alphabetical inscription found in Jerusalem. It was discovered during Eilat Mazar's renewed excavation.[9]

First Temple period
  • Remains interpreted by archaeologist Eilat Mazar to be a 70 or 79 metres long segment of city wall including a gatehouse leading to a royal structure, and a watchtower overlooking the Kidron Valley.[10][9] Eilat Mazar believes these are the remains of the fortifications that, according to the biblical First Book of Kings, once encompassed the city.[10] Eilat Mazar, who re-excavated the remains in 2010, believes them to date to the late 10th century BCE,[11] associating them with King Solomon, which is controversial and not supported by past and contemporary archaeologists.[10][11]

Biblical reference: According to 1 Kings 3:1, King Solomon "took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David, until he had finished building ... the wall around Jerusalem." (New Revised Standard Version).

The dig: The excavation work was a joint project of Hebrew University, in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and the East Jerusalem Development Company, with funding provided by Jewish American couple, Daniel Mintz and Meredith Berkman.[10][12][13]

Dating of the wall: Although consensus on the dating of the wall has not been reached by the archaeological community, Mazar maintains that, "It's the most significant construction we have from First Temple days in Israel," and "It means that at that time, the 10th century (BCE), in Jerusalem there was a regime capable of carrying out such construction." The 10th century is the period the Bible describes as the reign of King Solomon.[10] Claiming that broken pottery in the "royal structure" enabled the team to date the building. One storage jar bears an inscription in Hebrew. Mazar told the Jerusalem Post that "The jars that were found are the largest ever found in Jerusalem," and "the inscription found on one of them shows that it belonged to a government official, apparently the person responsible for overseeing the provision of baked goods to the royal court." [10]

Aren Maeir, an archeology professor at Bar Ilan University said he has yet to see evidence that the fortifications are as old as Mazar claims. Whilst acknowledging that 10th century remains have been found in Jerusalem, he describes proof of a strong, centralized kingdom at that time as "tenuous".[10]

Structural features: A section of wall 79 metres (259 ft) long and 6 metres (20 ft) high has been uncovered. The discoveries include an inner gatehouse, a "royal structure" and a corner tower with a base measuring 23 metres (75 ft) by 18 metres (59 ft) from which watchmen could keep watch on the Kidron Valley. According to Mazar, the built structures are similar to the First Temple era fortifications of Megiddo, Beersheba and Ashdod. Mazar told reporters that "A comparison of this latest finding with city walls and gates from the period of the First Temple, as well as pottery found at the site," enable her to "postulate, with a great degree of assurance" that the wall dates form the late 10th-century BCE.[10]

Mazar told reporters that "A comparison of this latest finding with city walls and gates from the period of the First Temple, as well as pottery found at the site, enable us to postulate, with a great degree of assurance, that the wall that has been revealed is that which was built by King Solomon in Jerusalem in the latter part of the tenth century BCE." [10]

Previous excavations: The wall has been excavated twice before, once in the 1860s and again in the 1980s. In 1867 Charles Warren conducted an underground survey in the area, describing the outline of a large tower but without attributing it to the era of Solomon.[11]

Criticism of approach: Israel Finkelstein and other archaeologists from Tel Aviv University have flagged concern that, with reference to her 2006 dating of the "Solomonic city wall" in the area to the south of the Temple Mount known as the Ophel,

The biblical text dominates this field operation, not archaeology. Had it not been for Mazar's literal reading of the biblical text, she never would have dated the remains to the 10th century BCE with such confidence.[7]

Hellenistic period
  • Several Hellenistic-period buildings[9]

Roman Period (Herodian Temple-related)

Byzantine period

Umayyad period
  • Several large residential and administrative structures (qasr-type "palaces"), probably Umayyad, to the south (Ophel) and southwest of the Haram/Temple Mount

Ophel of Samaria

2 Kings 5:24 speaks of the ophel of Samaria, where Gehazi took the presents he received from Naaman of Aram. Traditionally translated as "hill", it can as well have meant "tower" and can quite likely be understood as a spot in the city wall or its citadel.[3]

King Mesha's Ophel

Here, too, the context indicates part of a fortification - either a fortified hill, or something like a tower or enceinte and, judging by the root of the word, probably a bulging or rounded one.[3]

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See also
  • Acropolis — similar concept in ancient Greek architecture
For the Jerusalem Ophel
  • Bible Hub: Ophel. Excellent overview, based on critical analysis of the texts; only partially outdated (article predates most excavations on the eastern hill).
  • Jerusalem Archaeological Park. History of archaeological investigation 1838-2000. Does not include important new findings by Eilat Mazar.
  • Jerusalem 101: Ophel. Location of the Ophel: plans, models, some photos. Some mix-up of slightly differing First and Second Temple-period locations.
  • George Wesley Buchanan, Misunderstandings About Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, August 2011, Pages 16, 64. Supports the very controversial "southern location" theory placing both Jerusalem Temples above the Gihon Spring, rather than on the Temple Mount.
  • Another "southern location" theory article (dead link, as of August 2016)

References
  1. Lightfoot, John. 2007. From the Talmud and Hebraica, Vol. 1 (reprint). New York, New York: Cosimo. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-60206-406-5
  2. Freedman, David Noel; editor. 2000. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., p. 990. ISBN 0-8028-2400-5
  3. Masterman, Ernest William Gurney (1915). "Ophel". In James Orr (ed.). International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (first ed.). Chicago: Howard-Severance Co. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  4. "The Mesha Stele: Traduction du texte". Louvre, official website (in French). Translated by André Lemaire, 1986. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  5. The Wars Of The Jews, Book V, Chapter IV, paragraph 2. At sacred-texts.com
  6. The Wars Of The Jews, Book V, Chapter IV, paragraph 1. At sacred-texts.com
  7. Finkelstein, Israel; Herzog, Ze'ev; Singer-Avitz, Lily; Ussishkin, David (2007). "Has King David's Palace in Jerusalem Been Found?" (PDF). Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. 34 (2): 142–164. doi:10.1179/tav.2007.2007.2.142. The so-called 'Ophel' area to the south of the Temple Mount (E. Mazar and B. Mazar 1989). / References: Mazar, E. and Mazar, B. 1989. Excavations in the South of the Temple Mount: The Ophel of Biblical Jerusalem (Qedem 29). Jerusalem.
  8. Daniel K. Eisenbud, Ophel Excavation Director Discusses Biblical Discoveries, Temple Mount, The Jerusalem Post, 26 February 2018, accessed 27 July 2019
  9. "Jerusalem Ophel". Madain Project. Archived from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  10. Selig, Abe (February 23, 2010). "J'lem city wall dates back to King Solomon". The Jerusalem Post.
  11. "Archaeologist discovers Jerusalem city wall from tenth century B.C.E." ScienceDaily. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  12. Weddings: Meredith Berkman, Daniel Mintz. New York Times, 3 November 1996.
  13. Nir Hasson (23 February 2010). "Archaeologist Finds Jerusalem Wall Matching Biblical Story". Haaretz. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  14. "Mikveh of the Priests". Madain Project. Archived from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  15. "Southern Steps". Madain Project. Archived from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.

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