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Archaeologists say they've found evidence of a battlefield from the Roman emperor Titus' siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
Recent excavations revealed a section of the so-called "Third Wall" of
Jerusalem that Titus' army breached on its way to conquering the city,
according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
Outside the wall, the archaeologists found that the ground was littered
with large ballista stones (stones used as projectiles with a type of
crossbow) and sling stones, suggesting that this area had been under
heavy fire from Roman siege engines. [See Photos of the Ancient Roman Battlefield]
These archaeological remains were unearthed last winter at the site
where the campus of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design is to be
built, in an area of the city that is known today as the Russian
Compound, IAA officials said.
"This is a fascinating testimony of the intensive bombardment by the
Roman army, led by Titus, on their way to conquering the city and
destroying the Second Temple,"
the excavation directors, Rina Avner and Kfir Arbib, said in a
statement from the IAA. "The bombardment was intended to attack the
sentries guarding the wall and provide cover for the Roman forces so
they could approach the wall with battering rams and thereby breach the
city's defenses."
An eyewitness to the war, historian Flavius Josephus, wrote the seminal
account of the Roman siege of Jerusalem, which included key details
about the Third Wall.
Josephus said the wall was built to protect a neighborhood called Beit
Zeita, which was built outside the city's boundaries at the time. The
construction was started by Agrippa I, King of Judea, and was finished
two decades later to help fortify the city as Jewish rebels prepared to revolt against Rome in A.D. 66.
Ultimately, the uprising against Rome was unsuccessful, and in A.D. 70, the Romans took back Jerusalem and destroyed much of the city, including the Second Temple.
The newly uncovered section of the wall is 6.2 feet (1.9 meters) wide.
Pottery discovered at the site suggests that this battlefield dates back
to Roman times, the archaeologists said. They also discovered the
remains of a watchtower along the wall.
The new findings could help settle some debate about the exact location
of the Third Wall, which has been going on ever since archaeologist
Edward Robinson claimed to have found a portion of the wall in 1838. The
discoveries will be presented next week at the New Studies in the
Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Region conference.
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