Overview
- The Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery inside the Kishle prison complex during preparatory digs for the Tower of David Museum’s new Schulich Wing.
- The exposed section exceeds 40 meters in length and roughly five meters in width, identified as part of the Second Temple–period 'First Wall' from the late 2nd century BCE.
- Excavation directors report stratigraphic evidence of systematic demolition, indicating an organized teardown rather than destruction in battle.
- Two leading hypotheses are under review: removal as part of an armistice demanded by Antiochus VII or a later leveling under Herod to efface Hasmonean projects.
- Earlier digs at the wall’s base yielded Hellenistic catapult stones, arrowheads and slingstones linked to a Seleucid siege, and the museum plans to preserve and display the remains with a transparent-floor viewing feature in the new wing.