5,000 years ago, the ancient settlement of Jerusalem was established. The name of Jerusalem appears in ancient Egyptian texts as a very important city. Archeological excavations of the last years have discovered huge fortifications, which demonstrate its important status.

3,000 years ago, King David conquered Jerusalem, which continued to function as a central city in the Kingdom. He did not destroy it, but continued to build it. The archeological excavations have uncovered a part of the wall of Jerusalem built by King Solomon along with one of the city gates.

The name "wall of Jerusalem" was used only for the wall built by Solomon, which surrounded the new building that was built by King David and King Solomon, including the Temple and King David's and King Solomon's castle, as described in Psalms.

Jerusalem existed this way until Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylonia, conquered Jerusalem and exiled Joachim, King of Judah. This is confirmed by Babylonian chronicles that describe the mass exile to Babylonia and Joachim's exile there.

Ten years later, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, including the king's castle, and the Temple. Jerusalem remained in ruin for 50 years until Koresh, King of Persia, allowed the Jews to return to the city and to rebuild the temple. This came as part of his policy to rebuild the holy cities in the Babylonian Kingdom. According to this policy, Nehemiah, who was a minister in the Persian king's court, received authorization to rebuild the ruins of the wall of Jerusalem.

Archeological excavations have revealed a portion of the wall and the tower that were built by Nehemia. Under the tower, hundreds of artifacts were discovered. Dozens of bronze and iron arrows were found among these artifacts from the 5^th century BCE. They demonstrate the biblical description of the reconstruction that took place in Jerusalem, done while defending from enemies.

Among the hundreds of artifacts, a stone seal was found. It is presented here for the first time as part of a religious sect common to Nehemiah's period. The seal is inscribed with three Hebrew letters signifying one of the subject families working in the Temple that were exiled to Babylonia and returned to Jerusalem. Those families settled around the area in which the seal was found.            

We have seen in brief how the impressive constructions in Jerusalem were preserved, which demonstrate its magnificent past and the ups and downs it went through, and revealed the reliability of the exact written testimonies.