{"id":61950,"date":"2025-08-27T21:49:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T19:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/?p=61950"},"modified":"2025-08-27T21:49:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T19:49:10","slug":"discovery-of-the-huge-jerusalem-dam-built-by-the-biblical-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2025\/08\/27\/discovery-of-the-huge-jerusalem-dam-built-by-the-biblical-kings\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovery of the Huge Jerusalem Dam Built by the Biblical Kings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-128263\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/diga_gerusalemme.webp\" alt=\"jerusalem dam\" width=\"602\" height=\"316\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><i>The monumental <strong>Jerusalem<\/strong> dam anticipates the greatness of the city, already placing it in the time of the biblical kings Josiah and Amaziah. It provides <strong>a historical framework<\/strong> for the biblical accounts.<\/i><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The <strong>biblical kings<\/strong> really knew what they were doing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The latest <strong>archaeological discovery<\/strong> in Jerusalem is among the most imposing and tells a story of foresight and <strong>advanced engineering<\/strong>, capable of strengthening the image of <strong>a biblical kingdom<\/strong>, vibrant and organized as early as the 9th century BC.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Exactly as described in the <strong>Old Testament<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The Jerusalem Dam Built by the Biblical Kings<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At the center of the excavation, <strong><mark>a monumental dam wall<\/mark><\/strong>, about 12 meters high and more than 8 meters thick, now fully uncovered and precisely dated to a period between <strong>805 and 795 BC<\/strong>. It is the largest in the entire region.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The decisive contribution came from <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2510396122\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a study<\/a><\/em><\/strong> just published in the peer-reviewed journal of the <i>National Academy of Sciences<\/i>, which revealed the results of the <strong>radiocarbon dating<\/strong> carried out by the Weizmann Institute of Science on some straw fragments found in the dam\u2019s concrete.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The rapid degradation of this organic material ensured a reliable chronology, an approach that required <strong>extreme care<\/strong> in sample selection.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is precisely this scientific precision that <strong>pushes back<\/strong> the beginning of <strong>Jerusalem\u2019s greatness<\/strong> by over a century, placing it already in the times of the biblical kings <strong>Josiah and Amaziah<\/strong>, even before the reign of <strong>Hezekiah<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The historical existence of <strong>King Hezekiah<\/strong> was confirmed <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/2015\/12\/12\/archeologia-confermata-lesistenza-del-re-biblico-ezechia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in 2015<\/a><\/em><\/strong> with the discovery of a royal seal bearing his name.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Defense of the City from Floods and Enemies<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The climatic scenario of the time completes the picture: Dead Sea sediments and stalagmites from the Soreq cave show a period marked by heightened aridity and brief but intense rainfall, capable of <strong>triggering sudden floods<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It was already known, for example, the famous <strong>&#8220;Tunnel of Hezekiah&#8221;<\/strong>, built around 700 BC to channel water from the Gihon spring to the Pool of Siloam.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The imposing dam in the lower part of Jerusalem and the related canals built by the biblical kings clearly responded to these natural elements: sophisticated <strong>water systems<\/strong> to contain floods and ensure water supplies in times of scarcity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A discovery, as we said, that confirms <strong>the numerous biblical passages<\/strong> referring to such constructions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the Old Testament, for example, <strong>King Hezekiah<\/strong> and his feats are mentioned, citing precisely the <i>\u00abconstruction of the reservoir and the aqueduct <strong>to bring water<\/strong> into the city\u00bb<\/i> (2 Kings 20:20).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In another biblical book, reference is made to his ability to <i>\u00ab<strong>block all the springs<\/strong> and the stream that flowed through the center\u00bb<\/i> of Jerusalem to prevent the siege of the Assyrian kings (2 Chronicles 32:2-4).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The presence of such infrastructure also indicates that <strong>the city possessed resources<\/strong>, technical expertise, and administrative capabilities until recently underestimated for that era.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Never before had a <strong>Jerusalem<\/strong> of the 9th century emerged so clearly as strong and projected towards the future.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The Biblical Kings Who Built the Dam<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The discovery urges historians and archaeologists to review bibliographic sources and learn more <strong>about the rulers preceding<\/strong> Hezekiah.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The dam, <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/huge-dam-shows-ancient-jerusalem-adapted-to-climate-change-with-advanced-engineering\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">say<\/a><\/em><\/strong> the authors of the discovery, may have been begun under the <strong>reign of Josiah<\/strong> and <strong>completed under the biblical king Amaziah<\/strong>, or entirely built by one of them. In any case, it promises new lines of research and, perhaps, new findings to bring to light.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This discovery adds a new piece to an already complex mosaic: <strong>Jerusalem<\/strong> of the Iron Age was not only a religious center but also a major administrative and technological hub.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-128263\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/rebiblici.webp\" alt=\"biblical kings jerusalem dam\" width=\"602\" height=\"316\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Within those stones is enclosed a civilization that knew how to <strong>build monumental works<\/strong> to protect itself from the environmental challenges of the time and to defend Jerusalem from its enemies, an image that <strong>matches<\/strong> the one in the historical books of the Bible.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">An archaeological discovery that therefore once again provides <strong>a historical framework<\/strong> to the Old Testament chronicles, often considered legendary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Jerusalem dam anticipates by a century the greatness of the city, already in the time of the biblical kings Josiah and Amaziah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":51,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1819,852,1823,1821,1820,1822],"class_list":["post-61950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-amasiah","tag-biblical-archaeology","tag-biblical-kings","tag-hezekiah","tag-jerusalem-dam","tag-josiah"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - 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