The Broad Wall is a massive 8th-century BCE fortification wall discovered in the Jewish Quarter, one of the most important biblical-period finds in Jerusalem. The wall, 7 meters wide and preserved to a height of over 3 meters, was built by King Hezekiah of Judah in preparation for the Assyrian invasion of 701 BCE, confirming the biblical account in detail that is almost unprecedented.
Biblical Connection
The Bible describes Hezekiah’s emergency fortification of Jerusalem in several passages. The Book of Isaiah records: “You counted the buildings in Jerusalem and tore down houses to strengthen the wall” (Isaiah 22:10). The Second Book of Chronicles adds: “He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it, and outside it he built another wall” (2 Chronicles 32:5). The Broad Wall is that “another wall,” the outer wall that Hezekiah built to enclose the neighborhoods that had grown outside the original city walls.
Evidence
Excavations at the wall revealed exactly what the Bible describes: houses that had been demolished to make way for the wall. The foundations of these houses are visible beneath the wall’s course, cut through and built over, confirming Isaiah’s account of buildings being torn down to strengthen the defenses. The wall was built in haste, using whatever materials were available, and the urgency of the construction is visible in the rough masonry.
Assyrian Threat
In 701 BCE, the Assyrian king Sennacherib invaded Judah with a massive army, destroying 46 fortified cities and besieging Jerusalem. Hezekiah’s preparations, including the Broad Wall, Hezekiah’s Tunnel (which brought water inside the walls), and the Siloam Pool, were desperate measures to survive the siege. Jerusalem did survive, the only city in Judah that did, and the Assyrian withdrawal is described in the Bible as divine intervention: “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp” (2 Kings 19:35).
Visit with Hoshen Tours
The Broad Wall is a short stop in the Jewish Quarter that packs an enormous amount of biblical history into a single archaeological feature. Hoshen Tours connects it to Hezekiah’s Tunnel and the Siloam Pool to tell the full story of the Assyrian crisis.