ANITE CITY, MEGIDDO] |
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| [Illustration: PART OF CITY WALL AND GATE, SAMARIA] |
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| Cuts on this page used by permission of the Palestine Exploration |
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=Why walls were greatly needed.=--All cities in those days were
surrounded by walls. These were necessary, because no government had
yet been strong enough to rid the country of the bands of robbers who
made their dens in almost every cave or lonely valley. Not only the
road between Jerusalem and Jericho, of which Jesus tells, but on
almost all roads one was in danger of falling among thieves. In the
deserts on the edge of Palestine whole tribes lived by robbery, and
were large enough and well enough organized to defeat good-sized
armies. Hence no city was safe unless it was well fortified.

Nehemiah's request was granted by the king of Persia. So, with letters
to the governors of the provinces through which he was to pass, the
young leader set out, perhaps on camel-back, to Jerusalem. After
looking about and seeing for himself the condition of the city, and
the work which needed to be done, he called the people together and
proposed that they rebuild the walls. His energy carried the day. They
answered, "Let us rise up and build."

THE WALLS REBUILT

The task which Nehemiah had undertaken was a difficult one. Jerusalem
is situated on a ridge, with deep valleys on all sides except the
north. The walls did not need to be high where there were cliffs or
steep slopes falling away into the valley. But along the entire north
side, and in many other places also, they had to be at least thirty
feet high, and fifteen or twenty feet thick at the base. The stones
and bricks for this were buried in the rubbish where the old walls
had been battered down. They had to be dug up and dragged into their
places, stone by stone. Most of the work had to be done by hand,
although they perhaps used asses with basket-paniers for carrying lime
and sand. They may have constructed small cranes for lifting the
heaviest stones, but they had very little machinery.

=Difficulties overcome.=--For a time the work went merrily forward.
But soon their rapid progress became known and those who had prospe