Situated in the City of David, at the upper northern end of the Stepped Stone Structure, the Northern Tower was a poorly constructed fortified structure. It had the remains of a mikveh (ritual purification bath) on top. The Northern Tower was largely unearthed in the 1920s. Until 2007, archaeologists, including Dr. Mazar, generally assumed the tower dated to the Hasmonean period (second century b.c.e.).

It was supposed to be a simple salvage operation to repair a crumbling Hasmonean tower. But after Dr. Eilat Mazar and her team started excavating, they soon realized that this project would be far more. By the time they were done, they had made a sensational discovery.

Situated in the City of David, at the upper northern end of the Stepped Stone Structure, the Northern Tower was a poorly constructed fortified structure. It had the remains of a mikveh (ritual purification bath) on top. The Northern Tower was largely unearthed in the 1920s. Until 2007, archaeologists, including Dr. Mazar, generally assumed the tower dated to the Hasmonean period (second century b.c.e.).

By 2007, the Northern Tower was in a perilous condition, at risk of collapse. The structure had clearly been built quickly in antiquity, with its stones loosely cobbled together. Most significantly, nearly a century of nearby archaeological digs had compromised its structural integrity. Without immediate intervention, the tower would collapse. Early that year, the Israel Antiquities Authority (iaa) attempted to carry out restoration work, yet the soundness of the tower continued to deteriorate. Thus, the iaa approved Dr. Mazar to lead a salvage excavation to repair the tower.

The repair process was theoretically simple: Mazar and her team would dismantle the tower, carefully numbering each rock and noting its place in the wall. Then, using modern mortar, they would rebuild it. However, with an edifice this ancient, things are rarely simple. What transpired was an unexpected, intensive six-week excavation that ended in a radical re-dating of the Northern Tower—and the revival of some extraordinary biblical history.

Persian Fingerprints

Dr. Mazar’s dismantling of the Northern Tower began in a straightforward manner. However, as the team got close to the bottom, it became clear that the foundation wasn’t sufficiently stable to support the tower’s reconstruction. After consulting with authorities and colleagues, Dr. Mazar began to excavate the strata under the tower to find a firm layer on which to rebuild. The material uncovered in this strata enabled a secure dating of the Northern Tower—and everyone was in for a surprise.

During the excavation it also became clear that the Northern Tower had been built at the same time as a straight section of wall atop the Stepped Stone Structure and that the tower and this section of wall were part of the same edifice.

Among the artifacts uncovered directly beneath the Northern Tower was a surprising discovery: two buried dogs. Studying the “epiphyseal closure” of the bones, as well as age-related wear, scientists determined that the dogs had died of old age. Comparing the finds with other excavations across Israel, Mazar noted that dog burials of this kind are characteristic of a specific historic setting: the Persian period. (The largest dog burial was found in Ashkelon; thousands of dogs were buried here, with a peak number during the Persian period. It appears that the Persian faith held dogs to have a holy status, and linked them to health and medicine.)

A large amount of pottery fragments were discovered under the dogs. These sherds dated unequivocally to the Persian period and supported the dating of the dogs to the late sixth and early fifth century b.c.e.

Finally, the absence of certain material helped Dr. Mazar date the tower and associated wall. Yehud seal impressions are very common during Persian period Judah. Yehud was what Judah was called during Persian rule. During Yigal Shiloh’s excavations in the City of David in the 1980s, many Yehud bullae had been found, all of which dated to the second half of the fifth century b.c.e. or later. But here, in this almost five-foot-thick Persian layer beneath the Northern Tower, Dr. Mazar didn’t find a single one. That meant this material must have been in place before the middle of the fifth
century b.c.e.

Using pottery typology and the dog burials, Dr. Mazar concluded that the Northern Tower and wall were constructed around 450 b.c.e.

The Biblical Record

Though the discovery of the Persian wall and tower was unexpected, when considering the historical sources, it is entirely unsurprising. The Bible discusses just such a wall, at length and in great detail.

The biblical account of “Nehemiah’s wall” is well known. Nehemiah was a Jew in Persian captivity. He was the cupbearer to the Persian King Artaxerxes. In 444 b.c.e., Nehemiah was granted permission to return to Judah and rebuild the dilapidated walls and gates of Jerusalem, which had been destroyed during the Babylonian invasions in the early sixth century.

The book of Nehemiah shows that Judah at the time was surrounded by enemies and under constant threat of attack. Nehemiah and his crew worked with great urgency and astonishing speed. Nehemiah 6:15 says the wall was built in just “fifty and two days.”

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