JERUSALEM: BIBLE FORTRESS

This was how Jerusalem looked - an inaccessible fortress built on a rock

Jerusalem's ancient name was "Jebus". This is not, of course, a photograph of Jebus (the original name of Jerusalem) or the ridge attacked by David.

But it shows the sort of rock formation on which the fortress of Jebus stood - a small spur of land jutting out from a flat rock plateau to its north.

See the plan below. The top, larger enclosure contained the threshing floor and the village/town of Jebus.

The small enclosure in the bottom right of the plan shows the fortress.

WHAT WAS AN ANCIENT FORTRESS LIKE?

Fortresses at this period in history usually had the following tactical features:

• their position was easily defended, often on a steep hill or hill top
• they had a reliable water supply
• they were in a flanking, rather than blocking, position; they could leave the fortress, skirt the enemy and attack from behind
• they had fortifications that an enemy would find difficult to undermine without exposing his own soldiers to attack from above

Jebus had all these features.

The fortress looked impregnable, and technically it was. According to the Bible, the townspeople taunted David and his soldiers with the fact that even the blind and lame could hold the city/fortress against him. They were right - if he had tried to scale the cliffs.

But David used his wits.

He looked for its weak spot - in this case, the underground water shaft that led from the walled town down to its water supply.

Note:  One of the greatest problems faced by ancient cities was supplying water during a siege. Fortresses had to be built high up on hills, for defense. But water was usually in the valley below. An enemy could easily cut off the water supply and let the people within the citadel die of thirst.
The most common solution was to create a covered passage from the city to the spring, usually through an underground tunnel.

This was the set-up at Jerusalem. David knew this, and managed to penetrate the tunnel. He was then able to scale the water shaft and attack Jebus from the shaft of the well. He was, as we know, successful.

The spring at Jebus (shown in blue) ran underneath the rock spur.
Shafts (orange) were cut down into the rock so that
water could be drawn from the spring in times of siege.