FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER III

[96] 2 Sam. v. 6–9; see LXX. The Greek reads “and his house” for “and inwards.”

[97] 2 Sam. v. 7; 1 Kings viii. 1; 1 Chron. xi. 5; 2 Chron v. 2. Josephus, “Ant.,” VII. iii. 1; “Wars,” V. iv. 1.

[98] Septuagint of 2 Sam. v. 9; 1 Kings xi. 27 (1 Chron. xi. 5–8 differs in the Greek).

[99] Ps. xlviii. 2.

[100] Zeph. i. 11.

[101] Neh. iii. 8. See LXX., tou plateos.

[102] Some references seem to make the city of David include the lower town—see 1 Kings viii. 1, ix. 24; 2 Chron. v. 2, viii. 11; 1 Macc. i. 33, ii. 31, vii. 32—but these are of late date. Stairs ascended from near Siloam to the city of David (Neh. iii. 15, xii. 37).

[103] 2 Sam. v. 11; 1 Kings viii. 1, ix. 24; 1 Chron. xv. 29; 2 Chron. v. 2, viii. 11.

[104] Wellhausen’s views as to a double narrative have nothing convincing to support them.

[105] 2 Sam. iii. 36.

[106] 2 Sam. xv. 12, xxiii. 34; cf. xi. 3.

[107] 2 Sam. xv. 13–30, xvii. 17, xviii. 18.

[108] 1 Kings i. 5–53. The Hebrew eben means “a rock” as well as “a stone” (Gesenius, “Lex.”). Gen. xlix. 24; Job xxviii. 3.

[109] The learned fancy which makes the Cherethites (“hewers”) and Pelethites (“swift ones”)—who are otherwise called Kāri (“stabbers”) and “runners”—to have been mercenary Philistines and Carians, has no solid foundation in any ancient statement. A “Gittite” was a dweller in Gath—like David himself—but not of necessity a Philistine.

[110] 1 Kings i. 33, 38, 45; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14. The naḥal is noticed in the latter passage; and, in 2 Sam. xv. 23, the term applies to the Kidron, as also in 1 Kings ii. 37, xv. 13; 2 Kings xxiii. 6, 12; 2 Chron. xv. 16, xxix. 16, xxx. 14; Neh. ii. 15; Jer. xxxi. 40; and probably 2 Chron. xxxii. 4. Josephus (“Wars,” V. iv. 2) calls the Kidron spring “Solomon’s Pool.”

[111] Ezek. xliii. 12; Micah iv. i. Josephus, “Ant.,” VIII. iii. 9, XI. iv. 1; “Wars,” V. v. 1, tô anôtatô khthamalon autou.

[112] “Ant.,” XIV. iv. 2; “Wars” V. v. i.

[113] Yoma, v. 2.

[114] The Bîr el Arwâḥ, or “Well of Souls.”

[115] See my account of the rock granary at Yâfa, near Nazareth (“Mem. West Pal. Survey,” i. pp. 353, 354). It is a cave with inner chambers, and two tiers of grain wells under the floor.

[116] Bordeaux Pilgrim, 333 A. D., “Sunt ibi et statuæ duæ Hadriani, et non est longe a statuis lapis pertusus, ad quem veniunt Judæi singulis annis et unguent eum et lamentant se cum gemitu,” etc.

[117] 1 Kings vi. 1–35.

[118] 1 Kings vi. 36.

[119] See Exod. xxvii. 9, 12.

[120] 2 Chron. iv. 9; see 2 Kings xxi. 5. The “Higher Gate” (2 Kings xv. 35) is perhaps the “High Gate of Benjamin” (Jer. xx. 2; see Ezek. ix. 2); the Gate Sur (“of departure”), 2 Kings xi. 6, may be Shallecheth (“casting out”), 1 Chron. xxvi. 16, on west; the “Foundation” or “Middle” Gate (2 Chron. xxiii. 5; Jer. xxxix. 3), the Gate of the “Muster” (Miphkad, Neh. iii. 31) or “Guard” (Neh. xii. 39; 2 Kings xi. 19, “of Runners”), and the “New Gate of the Higher Court” (Jer. xxvi. 10, xxxvi. 10) are doubtfully placed. The “King’s Gate” (1 Chron. ix. 18) was on the east.

[121] 1 Kings iii. 1, ix. 24 (see vii. 8); 2 Chron. viii. 11; Josephus, “Ant.,” VIII. v. 2 (see 1 Kings vii. 1–12); Isa. xxii. 8; “Middle Court,” 2 Kings xx. 4; the “throne,” 1 Kings x. 18; “Great Court,” 1 Kings vii. 9; “Horse Gate,” 2 Kings xi. 16; 2 Chron. xxiii. 15; Neh. iii. 25, 28; “High House,” Neh. iii. 25; “House of David,” Neh. xii. 37.

[122] Stade’s plan, given by Dr. G. A. Smith (“Jerusalem,” vol. ii. p. 59), is purely conjectural, and the Temple is wrongly placed on the west slope of the hill.

[123] 2 Kings xxv. 4; Neh. iii. 15; Jer. xxxix. 4; see 2 Kings xxi. 18, 26; Zech. xiv. 10; Ezek. xliii. 8: see LXX., “in the midst,” for “in high places.”

[124] 1 Kings xi. 5, 7; 2 Kings xxiii. 10, 13; Isa. xxx. 33.

[125] 2 Kings xiv. 13; 2 Chron. xxv. 23.

[126] 2 Chron. xxvi. 15, 20.

[127] 2 Chron. xxvii. 3.

[128] Isa. vii. 1.

[129] Isa. vii. 3, viii. 6, xxii. 9, 11, xxxvi. 2.

[130] Josephus, “Wars,” V. xii. 2.

[131] 2 Kings xvi. 10–16.

[132] 2 Kings xvi. 18.

[133] Now Tell en Naṣbeh; see Isa. x. 32, xx. 1.

[134] 2 Kings xx. 20; 2 Chron. xxxii. 4, 5, 30.

[135] The level of the bottom is 2,080 feet above sea-level, or 7 feet lower than that of the commencement of the tunnel.

[136] See my report, “Mem. West Pal. Survey,” Jerusalem vol., 1883, pp. 345–65. The inscription was copied by me on July 15, 1881.

[137] See my article “Weights and Measures” in “Murray’s Bible Dictionary,” 1908, p. 944, for details.

[138] Taylor cylinder; 2 Kings xviii. 17.

[139] 2 Kings, xviii. 14. The Assyrian reads: Sasu kima iṣṣuri kuuppi kirib ali Urusalimmu alu sarrutisu esir-su: khalsi ilisu urakisma, aṣie abulli ali-su utirra ikkibus, etc.

[140] 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14.

[141] 2 Chron. xvi. 14, xxvi. 23, xxviii. 27, xxxiii. 20; Neh. iii. 16. See for the suggested tomb of David my “Handbook to the Bible,” 1879 (3rd edit. 1882, p. 341). Rev. Selah Merrill has recently adopted this suggestion: “Anct. Jer.,” 1908, p. 258.

[142] 2 Chron. xxxii. 33; Tosiphta, Baba Bathra, ch. i.; Josephus, “Ant.,” VII. xv. 3, XIII. viii. 4, XVI. vii. 1. The kings elsewhere buried were Asa, Jehoram, Uzziah, Ahaziah, Joash, Ahaz, and Manasseh. See Acts ii. 29. The Mishnah (Baba Bathra, ii. 9) says that tombs should be 50 cubits outside the city, but the Tosiphta says that those of the family of David were inside it.

[143] “Mem. West Pal. Survey,” Jerusalem vol., 1883, pp. 319–31.

[144] This pit is too short to have been a grave.

[145] 2 Chron. xxvi. 23. This tomb is again noticed in chap. x.

[146] Hilprecht, “Nippur Memoir,” I. i. plate 32.

[147] Hilprecht, “Nippur Memoir,” I. i. plate 34. This translation of these two texts is from the original.

[148] 2 Kings xxv. 2, 12; Jer. xxxii. 1.

[149] Jer. xi. 13. It is very doubtful whether Bosheth means “shame.” Jeremiah refers to Topheth (vii. 32, xix. 6), to the tower Hananeel and the Corner Gate (xxxi. 38), to Gareb (“the plantation”) and Goath (ver. 39), to the valley of dead bodies and ashes, and the “enclosures” of Kidron, with the “corner of the Horse Gate” (ver. 40), to the “East Gate” or “Pottery Gate” (xix. 2), and to “the graves of the common people” (xxvi. 23), as well as the “Higher Court” and “New Gate” of the Temple (xxxvi. 10), and the “Gate of Benjamin” (xxxvii. 13) already noticed. See also Ezek. viii. 3; Joel iii. 2; Zech. xiv. 10. There was also a baker’s bazaar in Jerusalem (Jer. xxxvii. 21).

CHAPTER IV
EZRA AND NEHEMIAH

SANBALLAT

The seventy years of Babylonian oppression reckon from the accession of Nebuchadnezzar to the first year of Cyrus in 538 B. C., when the cruel policy of transplanting the population of the empire was abandoned, and the Jews were permitted to return to Jerusalem. We do not as yet know what the religious beliefs of Cyrus may have been. A Babylonian text represents him to have been a worshipper of Babylonian gods. The first known monumental notice of Ahuramazda, the Persian “All-wise Being,” occurs in the famous texts of Darius I. This deity was regarded by him as the maker of heaven and earth, and the Hebrews—speaking to Persian kings—made use of the title “god of heaven,” which would be understood by Persians as referring to the deity they themselves adored.[150] The first Persian kings were famed for their justice and tolerance, and Darius I. not only permitted the building of the Jerusalem Temple, but equally permitted the restoration of the temple of the goddess Neith, which Cambyses had respected, but which had fallen into ruin. He sent an Egyptian priest from Persia to carry out this work, just as his descendant sent Ezra and Nehemiah to Jerusalem. It has also quite recently been discovered that Darius II. was memorialised, by Jewish priests in Egypt, to permit the restoration of a house of Jehovah at Elephantine, which was built before Cambyses conquered Egypt in 529 B. C. In this Aramaic petition the title “god of heaven” is used as meaning Jehovah, just as in the Bible, and the ancient spelling of the divine name as Iahu is preserved just as it occurs in the text of Sennacherib, and on early Hebrew signet-rings. The letter, moreover, mentions Delaya and Shelemya, the sons of Sanballat, “governor of Samaria,” side by side with the Persian officials Bagohi and Arshama, thus serving to show that Ezra and Nehemiah lived in the time of Artaxerxes I.[151] We see from such records that the restoration of the Jews was part of the settled policy of the Persian kings in dealing with their foreign subjects.

Zerubbabel began the rebuilding of the Temple in 536 B. C. The old men “that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes wept with a loud voice, and many shouted for joy.” Haggai the prophet, who urged on this work, says, “Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory, and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison to it as nothing?”[152] We may conclude that it was but an humble edifice, without any of the adornment with precious metals and carvings that had existed in Solomon’s Temple. But it stood on the old site, and probably followed the old dimensions. The building was suspended in the time of Cambyses, and resumed in 520 B. C., after the accession of Darius I., being completed four years later. Ezra arrived in 459 B. C.—the seventh year of Artaxerxes I.—and brought with him vessels and treasures granted by the king. But it appears that the city walls still remained in ruins, till Nehemiah was made governor of Jerusalem fifteen years later. On his departure, in 433 B. C., the enemies of the Jews renewed their activity.[153] They had already obstructed the building of the Temple in the time of Xerxes, and had given much trouble to the patriotic Nehemiah. Rehum the “master of edicts” and Shimshai the scribe complain to Artaxerxes I. that the Jews have come to Jerusalem, “building the rebellious and bad city, and have set up the walls and joined the foundations.” They obtained a decree “that this city be not builded,” which remained in force for nine years. All work on the Temple was also suspended for the same period, or to the second year of Darius II., which was 423 B. C. This monarch was apparently a degenerate descendant of his great ancestors, and his reign was troubled by many intrigues, assassinations, and rebellions. But the Persians had by this time intermarried with the Babylonians and other Semitic races,[154] and he appears to have been regarded as a friend by the Jews in Palestine and in Egypt alike. The great satraps of the western provinces were, however, almost independent rulers, and the letter of Yedonya—the Jewish priest in Egypt above noticed—was addressed to “my Lord Bagohi of Judah,” the Persian governor of Judea a generation later than Sanballat, the Babylonian “governor of Samaria.” Darius II. may have desired to control the power of such Persian satraps by his protection of Semitic subjects, and the power of the Semitic race in his age is witnessed by the coins of the satraps in Asia Minor inscribed in Aramaic.[155]

NEHEMIAH’S RIDE

The book of Nehemiah contains the fullest account of Jerusalem topography to be found in the Bible, and casts light on the condition of the city in earlier times, since his work consisted in rebuilding the walls which appear to have stood in ruins, for nearly a century and a half, since their destruction by Nebuchadnezzar. On arrival, in 444 B. C., Nehemiah’s abode was established in the “seat of the governor on this side the river” (Euphrates),[156] which seems to have been a house on the west side of the lower city. Thence he went out by night to view the walls[157]; and, leaving the city by the “Gate of the Gai,” somewhere near the present Jaffa Gate, he found the walls of the upper city broken down as far as the Dung Gate at the south-west corner, and the gates burned with fire. Thence he crossed over the hill eastwards,[158] and reached the “Gate of the Spring” near the “King’s Pool.” There is no doubt that the latter is the Pool of Siloam, which—though only a tank—is called a “spring” by Josephus also, because it was fed by spring water through the aqueduct. The “Gate of the Spring” appears to have been at the point where the wall of the upper city formed a re-entering angle, crossing the Tyropœon Valley above the Siloam Pool. Here Nehemiah found masses of ruins, among which “the beast that was under” him could not find footing. He viewed the east wall by going up the naḥal or Kidron Valley, and then returned by the same way to the Gate of the Gai and to his house.

THE WALLS

The whole account of the walls is twice repeated in describing their building and their consecration.[159] For the right understanding of these passages it is necessary to keep in mind certain practical considerations. In the first place, the lines of streets in a city are usually preserved from age to age by the fact that the ground on each side of the way is private property which can only be acquired at great cost, or by seizure in cases when a foreign power attempts the rebuilding of a town. Thus the modern streets are the same which we find described in the twelfth century; the same shown on the old mosaic map of the fifth century; the same which existed in Hadrian’s city; and very probably the same as in the days of Nehemiah. The west road approached Jerusalem at the point where the narrow neck of high ground was on the same level with that of this road outside the town. A street went straight down the Tyropœon, from the west gate to the Temple. The north road divided just outside the town of Nehemiah’s time into two lines. One of these, towards the east, led down the valley west of the Temple, and descended by steps to Siloam. These steps seem even to be shown on the fifth-century map, and the old pavements on this line—40 feet underground—have already been noticed. A gate must have existed in the south wall on this line. The western branch of the north road formed a street running due south through the middle of the city; and, ascending the steep slope of the upper city on the present line, it led probably to the gate near the south-west angle above the Hinnom Valley. Another line of street led east from a gate near the north-west side of the northern quarter, and passed north of the Temple to a gate in the east wall of the city. These are still the main streets of Jerusalem, and they lead us to suppose that the city had at least six gates, not counting those on Ophel and on the east wall of the Temple enclosure.

JERUSALEM IN 600 B. C.

REFERENCES

In the second place, we must remember that the walls must have run on the highest available ground, in order to give advantage to the defenders over their enemies outside. This is invariably the arrangement of a fortified town in any age, and it is impossible to suppose that ancient engineers—any more than those of our own time—would build walls in valleys, leaving high ground immediately outside, where the towers and engines of the besiegers could be placed in positions commanding the town within. At Jerusalem the wall had to be carried across the head of a narrow valley on the north side, down which valley ran the street west of the Temple leading to Siloam. At Siloam also the wall had to be carried across a wider valley—the south part of the Tyropœon; but, unless it was desired to enclose that pool, it would here be kept as high as possible on the ground above the pool to the north. It is certain—at all events in the time of Josephus—that the Pool of Siloam was outside the wall; but, since it was flanked by scarps within easy bowshot, it would be sufficiently defended if the wall was built on these scarps. The same consideration makes it certain that the wall defending Jerusalem on the north-west and west must have stood on the higher ground which defends the lower city on two sides. It would therefore join the wall of the upper city near the north-west corner of the latter, and would run on the narrow saddle, or neck of high land, which separates the heads of the Tyropœon and Hinnom Valleys. No other position can be conceived, since if it began east of this saddle, it would have stretched through the Tyropœon, leaving the saddle outside with a command of at least 50 feet above the base of the wall. Farther to the north-west the wall must also have enclosed, or run over, the high knoll of rock which was shown later as the site of Calvary—a rock which is nearly as high as the level ground of the upper city, and which formed the natural defence of the lower city which lay in the Tyropœon Valley. The wall might have run farther to the west and north, where the rock is close to the present surface, but it could not run farther east or south without leaving high ground immediately outside the fortress; for the north slope of the broad Tyropœon hollow sinks very rapidly south of the knoll now shown as Calvary, while not far to the east of this knoll it also fell about 50 feet to the confluent valley coming from the present Damascus Gate.

THE GATES

The natural lines of defence, and the position of the streets and gates, have thus been considered without any reference to literary statements. As to the upper city there is a general consensus of opinion, and the scarps on which the ancient walls stood have been examined, both here and on the Ophel spur farther east. It is on the north that differences of opinion arise, according as the writer accepts the traditional site of Calvary, and endeavours to show that it might have been outside the city, or, on the other hand, disregards this hampering condition, and relies on the ascertained levels of the hills and valleys. The present writer feels no hesitation in concluding that rocks on which he has so often set his feet, whether on the surface or deep down in the great tanks of the Hospice of St. John, cannot be removed, nor valleys which—though much shallower than of old—are still traceable inside the city be exalted, on account of the mistake which Bishop Macarius made as to Calvary in the fourth century. If there were any indication that Christians preserved the traditional site in earlier times, due respect should be paid to such indication. But we do not even know for certain that there were any Christians at Jerusalem till the third century, or about 170 years after the great destruction by Titus, and none of the Christian Fathers before about 330 A. D. show any acquaintance with Jerusalem topography, or mention any tradition as to the situation of Calvary. Fortresses are built on hills, not under them, unless when a citadel is occupied, with outer walls on the slopes. Ancient walls do not run in deep ravines, leaving a commanding ridge just outside. It is on these principles that we may most safely rest in considering the walls of Jerusalem.

A fortress (birah) defending the temple is said to have existed even in the time of Solomon, and it is incidentally noticed by Nehemiah. It seems to be the same as the later Baris, which Herod renamed Antonia.[160] To this fortress the tower of Hananeel and the tower of Meah (perhaps “the place of observation”) seem to have belonged.[161] The former is noticed as marking the north-east corner of the city, which did not extend north of the Birah in Nehemiah’s time. The “Sheep Gate”[162] thus seems to have been a gate, in the north wall of the Temple enclosure, by which no doubt the sacrifices were brought in. The description of the walls begins from this point, and runs west and south, returning to the same gate by the east and northwards. This description is easily understood, and agrees with what has been said above as to the natural sites for the fortifications. The first gate west of the Temple fortress was the “Fish Gate,” which we may place on the east branch of the north road; the fish were no doubt brought to Jerusalem by the old Beth-horon road from the seaside plain, and we learn that the fishermen were Tyrians.[163] The “Old Gate,” or more correctly the “Gate of the Old” (quarter), may be placed at the point where the wall crossed the line of the west branch of the north road. This term seems to show that part at least of the north quarter belonged to the oldest city, whereas a “second” district—which the English version calls “the college”—is noticed with the Fish Gate.[164] The next gate is called “the Gate of Ephraim,” and it may be placed on the north-west, at the end of the street that ran east to the north side of the Temple. This gate was some 400 cubits from the Corner Gate.[165] The measurement brings us to about the requisite position if the corner was that near which the wall of the north quarter joined that of the upper city. Near the Gate of Ephraim, a little farther south perhaps, was the “Seat of the Governor.” We thus reach the “Wall of the Broad Place”[166] and the “Tower of the Furnaces”—or perhaps of the “Cressets.” The “broad place” was no doubt a square on the flat ground near to where the rock isthmus, already often noticed, leads to the hill of the upper city.

THE STAIRS

We thus arrive at the west road, where was the “Gate of the Gai” at the head of the Hinnom Valley. Whether this was identical with the “Corner Gate,” or merely near it, depends on whether we should read (in 2 Chron. xxvi. 9) “the Corner Gate even the Valley Gate”; but Jeremiah describes the breadth of Jerusalem, east and west, by the expression, “from the Tower of Hananeel to the Gate of the Corner.” The description next follows the west wall of the upper city to the Dung Gate, which was 1,000 cubits from the Valley Gate, or more if the whole of the wall was not in ruins. To the present day the dung-hills outside the city are found in this direction. It is generally agreed that the wall extended south to the great rock scarp by the English school, which was explored by Mr. Henry Maudeslay in 1874, and which formed the south-west angle of ancient Jerusalem, where a square tower projected at the corner.[167] From this angle the scarp runs south-east for about 350 feet, to where a broad entrance between two lower scarps cuts the line. There was probably a gate at this point, which may have been the Dung Gate, though it is more than 1,000 cubits from the west road, and thus from the Gate of the Valley. No other ancient gate is noticed on the south side of the upper city, nor was one required, as no road led across the deep Hinnom gorge. The wall ran east—perhaps on the line of the later Byzantine wall—and the next points mentioned are “the Gate of the Spring,” “the wall of the Pool of Siloah by the king’s garden,” and “the stairs that go down from the city of David,”[168] which were at “the going up of the wall.” An artificial rock scarp runs northwards on the west side of the Pool of Siloam, about 20 feet above the level of the flat walk which existed on each side of the pool; and between this and the pool is a broad flight of rock-cut steps. These steps have been traced for 700 feet northwards, ascending the Tyropœon Valley in the direction of the south-west angle of the Ḥaram enclosure. They seem to be indicated also, near this latter point, on the old fifth-century mosaic map, and are noticed again in 570 A. D., as will appear later. We can hardly doubt that they represent the “stairs that go down from the city of David”—that is, from the quarter immediately west of the Temple. The “Gate of the Spring” is noticed before the “wall of Siloah,” which would stand on the scarp to the west of the pool, and it may best be placed at the angle where the south wall of the upper city now turned north, and where a path still exists. The term “going up of the wall” obliges us to suppose that it crossed the Tyropœon Valley north of the Siloam Pool, where the level was about 100 feet higher than at the corner; and here, passing the stairs, it ran east to a scarp visible above the surface, and about 120 feet higher than the ground round the pool. The wall passed the “King’s Garden” and the “sepulchres of David,” already noticed,[169] and reached a tower called “the House of Heroes,” turning again north along the east side of the Ophel spur, at the “going up of the Armoury,” or otherwise of the “junction.” For the wall ran up-hill all the way to the Temple from this point. The line thus traced is the same that Josephus describes in later times, excluding, but yet defending, the Pool of Siloam. As regards the stairs, it is possible that we have another allusion to them where the “going down to Silla” (or “the stairway”) is connected with the “house of Millo,” probably a building in the lower city. We also read of a “causeway of going up” (more correctly an “ascent of steps”) in connection with the west gate of the Temple, but this may have been a distinct flight.[170]

THE OPHEL WALL

On the Ophel spur the east wall, south of the Temple, had another “turning” close to the palace or “king’s high house,” and a projecting tower near the “Water Gate” which—as explained already—must have been above the Kidron spring.[171] It ran north-east, on the line already noticed as fortified by Manasseh, to the “Horse Gate” which was at a corner. This part was called especially “the wall of the Ophel,” a term which does not signify a “tower” but a “mound,” such as ancient cities were built on, and a “place,” as Josephus calls it later, where were the houses of the Nethinim.[172] The rest of the course, on the east side of the Temple, is briefly described from the “Gate of the Muster” (Miphkad), or “of the Guard” (the “Prison” Gate), to the “going up of the corner” at the north-east angle of Jerusalem, and thus to the “Sheep Gate” where the description begins.[173]

Jerusalem thus described was a city of about 200 acres—that is, of the same size as the modern town within the walls, but extending farther south and less far to the north. The account above given places each of the main gates on a main road still existing. The gate on the line of the stairs from the city of David is not named in the book of Nehemiah, but it is clearly the “gate between the two walls by the king’s garden,” which we have already seen to be the one by which Zedekiah fled down the Kidron Valley to Jericho. The “two walls” were the two flanks of the city wall, which defended the Pool of Siloah (lying outside the city) on the west and on the north-east.

Such was the Jerusalem not only of Nehemiah but of Nebuchadnezzar’s time, and with this description we close the account of the Hebrew city: for after the departure of Nehemiah, in 433 B. C., we have no further notice of Jerusalem during about two centuries and a half of Jewish history.