jan 1, 1150 BC - Large Stone & Stepped Stone Structures

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Jerusalem’s Stepped-Stone Structure
Jerusalem in David and Solomon’s Time
By Jane Cahill West
2011 Biblical Archaeology Society
Ten Top Biblical Archaeology Discoveries

The dating of this complex structure is nothing if not contentious. Both Kenyon and Shiloh regarded the substructural terraces and the superstructural mantle as separate free-standing architectural units. They dated the substructural terraces to the 14th-13th century B.C.E. (the Late Bronze Age). Kenyon dated the uppermost courses of the superstructural mantle discovered by Macalister and Duncan to the second century B.C.E. (Hellenistic period); one part of the stepped mantle courses that she discovered to the tenth century B.C.E., the time of the United Monarchy; and another part that she discovered to the end of the eighth century B.C.E., the time of the Judahite king Hezekiah. Shiloh discovered that all the various parts of the stepped mantle belonged to a single structure that he dated to the tenth century B.C.E.

Both Kenyon and Shiloh died without completing their final reports. Kenyon’s archaeological heir responsible for publishing the final report on this part of her excavation is Dutch archaeologist Margreet Steiner. I serve that same function with respect to Shiloh’s excavation.

Steiner, like Kenyon and Shiloh before her, has concluded that the substructural terraces and the superstructural mantle are separate, independent architectural elements. However, Steiner dates the substructural terraces somewhat later than Kenyon and Shiloh—to the 12th century B.C.E. (the beginning of Iron Age I). She dates the stepped superstructural mantle to the tenth century (the United Monarchy, i.e., beginning of Iron Age IIA).

My own view is different. From my experience supervising the excavation of the Stepped- Stone Structure under Shiloh’s direction and from a careful and detailed examination of Shiloh’s excavation records—and as much of Kenyon’s material as has been published—I am firmly convinced that the substructural terraces and the stepped mantle were built at the same time.

The evidence for this comes from a vertical section and a rectangular probe that Shiloh dug into the Stepped-Stone Structure. Both the section and the probe yielded architectural evidence demonstrating that the stepped mantle of the superstructure and the substructural terraces were built together as a single architectural unit. The rectangular probe (about 8 by 13 feet), revealed that the stepped mantle capped and sealed the superstructure’s rubble core, which, in turn, capped and sealed the substructural terraces below. Moreover, in this rectangular probe, the rubble core immediately below the mantle was bonded—that is structurally integrated—with a stone fill retained by one of the spine walls that enclosed one of the substructural terraces. The vertical section revealed the same stratigraphic sequence of architectural elements, from the top down: stepped mantle, rubble core, soil- and stone-filled compartments.
There is also ceramic evidence that the Stepped-Stone Structure’s substructural terraces and superstructural mantle are one architectural unit, built at the same time. Shiloh’s excavation produced approximately 500 potsherds from the Stepped-Stone Structure, including roughly 100 potsherds from the substructural stone fills, 350 potsherds from the substructural soil fills and 50 potsherds from the rubble core. The composition and character of these ceramic assemblages are identical. The latest of these potsherds date to the transition between the Late Bronze Age II and the Iron Age I, about the 13th-12th century B.C.E.

While the evidence is complicated, technical and controversial—and it has only been briefly described here—I am confident that the analysis I have presented in more detail elsewhere is correct.2 The mantle of the Stepped-Stone Structure, its rubble core and the interlocking substructural terraces must have been contemporary and must be identified as component parts of a single structure during the transition from the Late Bronze to the Iron Age (13th-12th century B.C.E.). That such extraordinary architectural phenomena would be preserved within similar boundaries, contain identical pottery and yet represent the remains of two distinct structures separated in time by three to four centuries, as advocated by Kenyon and Shiloh (and to a lesser extent, by Steiner as well), seems very unlikely.


The size and complexity of this monumental structure indicates that it was an integral part of the city’s fortification system. It probably skirted and supported a fortress or citadel that housed the pre-Davidic city’s administrative-religious complex at the highest point of the town.

Because the pottery recovered from inside the Stepped-Stone Structure’s internal fills indicates that it was built during the transition from the Late Bronze to the Iron Age it is difficult to understand Tel Aviv University archaeologist Israel Finkelstein’s contention that, although there are indications of habitation in Jerusalem in Iron Age I, there are “almost no signs of monumental building operations.”3 Although almost 200 years appear to have passed before Jerusalem was captured by the Israelites under David, the construction of the monumental Stepped-Stone Structure at the dawn of the Iron Age set the stage for Jerusalem’s future development as capital of the United Monarchy.

If I may be allowed to mention the Bible, the Stepped-Stone Structure seems to me an excellent candidate for the Fortress of Zion (Mestudat Tsion) that we are told defended the city before David captured it (2 Samuel 5:7). Its imposing presence on the eastern slope may well have inspired Jerusalem’s residents to taunt David and his men that they would not enter the city without first removing the blind and the lame because the city was so well fortified that only someone capable of curing the blind and the lame could breach its defenses.

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Did I Find King David’s Palace? Eilat Mazar May 21, 2022

To my mind, however, choosing a site for his palace adjacent to the northern side of the Jebusite fortress would have been a very logical step for someone who was already planning a northern expansion of the city—an expansion for the Temple on what was to become the Temple Mount, for which David bought land from Araunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:18–25). In peaceful times, the palace inhabitants would not be exposed to danger, and in the unlikely event of a threatening military assault, such as a Philistine offensive, the palace could be abandoned and the occupants could descend to the stronghold within the barricaded city. And in fact that is what 2 Samuel 5:17 (and the chapter generally) refers to when it says that David went down to the fortress to protect himself against the Philistines, who attacked after he had been crowned king of all Israel.

When I told my grandfather of my idea about the possible location of David’s palace, he was enthusiastic about it. “Where, exactly,” he asked me, “did Kenyon find the piles of ashlars [nicely hewn rectangular stones] together with the proto-Aeolic (sometimes called proto-Ionic) capital? Wasn’t it right next to the place you’re talking about?” Indeed, it was. When I ran to check Kenyon’s reports, I confirmed that ashlar stones and an elegant proto-Aeolic capital had been found literally at the foot of the scarp at the southeastern edge of the structure in Area H. And this was just the kind of impressive remains that one would expect to come from a tenth-century B.C.E. king’s palace.

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King David’s Palace and the Millo
Nadav Na’aman explores the biblical and archaeological evidence
Robin Ngo January 14, 2023

That King David’s palace is prominent and prominently located is referenced in the Book of Samuel (2 Samuel 5:11; 2 Samuel 11; 2 Samuel 16:22). When Nehemiah returned from Babylonian exile half a millennium after the reign of David, he repaired the city wall and organized a dedication procession. One group on the east side of the city was described as having gone “up the steps of the City of David, on the ascent to the wall, past the House of David, and up to the Water Gate on the east” (Nehemiah 12:37). Nadav Na’aman suggests that King David’s Palace must be found at the top of the city’s northeastern slope, just above the Stepped Stone Structure that would have provided an ascent to the summit on the east. The location, date and scale of the Large Stone Structure, Nadav Na’aman believes, matches the biblical descriptions of King David’s Palace.

After David conquered the Jebusite “stronghold of Zion,” he is said to have renamed the area the City of David and fortified it “from the Millo inward” (2 Samuel 5:7–9). The etymology of the Hebrew word “millo” may be derived from the verb ml’, to “fill up.” Nadav Na’aman suggests that the Stepped Stone Structure, which extends down the slope from the Large Stone Structure and is built of a fill of stones and earth, may be the Millo referenced in the Book of Samuel.

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