Jerusalem was taken by David, circa 1044 B.C. He took the castle of Zion, which is the City of David, and dwelt in the castle (2 Sam. v. 6; 1 Chron. xi. 4). Then David built round about, from Millo and inward, and Joab repaired the rest of the city.
As long as Solomon lived the visits of foreign powers to Jerusalem were those of courtesy and amity; but with his death this was changed. Rehoboam had only been on the throne four years when Shishak, king of Egypt, invaded Judah, and advanced against the capital. Rehoboam opened the gates to him, and Shishak did not depart without plundering the temple and the palace. B.C. 886.
In the reign of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, the Philistines and Arabians attacked Jerusalem, broke into the palace, spoiled it of all its treasures, sacked the royal harem, and killed or carried off the king’s wives and all his sons but one. This was the fourth siege. B.C. 881.
Amaziah, king of Judah, victorious over the Edomites, was foolish enough to challenge Jehoash, king of Israel. The battle took place at Bethshemesh of Judah, 12 miles west of Jerusalem. Amaziah was routed, and the victorious Jehoash, after the gates of Jerusalem had been thrown open to him, broke down 400 cubits length of wall, from the Corner Gate to the Gate of Ephraim. (This must have been at the north-west part of the city walls, the favourite point of attack in after times.) B.C. 857.
King Uzziah, after some campaigns against foreign princes, devoted himself to the care of Jerusalem. He rebuilt the wall broken down by Jehoash, and fortified it with towers. In Uzziah’s reign the city suffered from an earthquake; a serious breach was made in the Temple, and below the city a large fragment was detached from one of the hills and rolled down the slope, overwhelming the king’s paradise or park. B.C. 770.
The hill above En Rogel was called Ophel, and might be otherwise described as the slope south of the Temple. The royal palaces were there, and it was protected by a strong wall. We have no record of the first erection of this wall; but Jotham, the son of Uzziah, built much upon it, and also built the upper gateway to the Temple (2 Chron. xxvii. 3). According to Josephus, he also repaired the city walls wherever they were dilapidated, and strengthened them by very large and strong towers. B.C. 740.
Before the death of Jotham the clouds of the Syrian invasion began to gather, and they broke on the head of Ahaz, his successor. Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, joined their armies and invested Jerusalem (2 Kings xvi. 5). In a battle which took place outside the walls Ahaz was defeated. This induced him to send to Assyria and obtain help from Tiglath Pileser, whose vassal he became, and whose sun-worship he adopted. B.C. 730.
And now approached the greatest crisis that had yet occurred in the history of the city. Hezekiah reformed the worship and declined to be a dependent on Assyria. Sennacherib had succeeded Tiglath Pileser, and the dreaded Assyrian army approached. Hezekiah stopped the springs round Jerusalem, repaired the walls of the city, breaking down houses to get the material—even raised the wall in some places up to the towers; and built a second wall at some exposed part, and strengthened Millo (2 Kings xx. 20; 2 Chron. xxxii. 3–5, 30; Isaiah xxii. 10). On this occasion it would appear that the city escaped, but at the cost of the treasures of the palace and the temple. B.C. 700.
In the middle of the long reign of Manasseh Jerusalem was taken by Assur-bani-pal, the grandson of Sennacherib, B.C. 650.