Huge Fortifications and Towers Reaching Skyward

In the eighteenth century BCE Jerusalem was built as a fortified city for the first time, by its Canaanite inhabitants. The location of the city was chosen because of its proximity to the Gihon Spring, the deep valleys that surrounded it (except, perhaps, on the north) and because it was fairly close to the main mountaintop road, the Way of the Patriarchs (see below, the period of the judges). Jerusalem had an impressive water system, which was fortified by gigantic walls and towers whose stones weighed as much as a few tons. Only King Herod in the Second Temple period outdid the building skills of the Canaanites. During this time, for the first time in history, Jerusalem is mentioned in archaeological sources from Egypt. The tombs of Jerusalemites from this period (including a baby buried in a jar underneath his home) were found in the City of David, on the Mount of Olives and elsewhere. In the picture: Jerusalem viewed from the east in the eighteenth century BCE according to Dr. Eyal Meiron. Illustration: Balage Balogh. The City of David was very small (about 7 hectares). It included only the City of David hill and left the Pool of Siloam outside the walls. Note the fortress built on the eastern slope, which protected the Gihon Spring.