xiii.  6.  4).  Under  this  great  priest-king,  not
only  were  the  walls  of  the  city  built,  but  the
foreign  garrison  was  forced  in  the  year  142
B.  c.  to  evacuate  the  Acra  (1  Mac.  xiii.  49-51).
I


Exterior  of  the  Damascus  Gate.
During  the  interval  between  Nehemiah
and  Christ  the  fortifications  of  Jerusalem
suffered  many  vicissitudes.  About  150  years
after  the  building  of  Nehemiah's  wall,  the
high  priest,  Simon  the  Just,  found  it  neces
sary  to  fortify  the  temple  and  the  city  so  that


After  a  time  the  fortress  was  demolished  and
the  hill  on  which  it  had  stood  was  graded
down  so  as  to  be  lower  than  the  level  of  the
temple  (1  Mac.  xiv.  36  ;  xv.  28 ;  Antiq.  xiii.
6,  7).  Simon  appears  also  to  have  taken  up
his  residence  in  the  fortress  Baris,  which


Jerusalem


358


Jerusalem


protected  the  temple  on  the  north  (1  Mac.
xiii.  52  ;  cp.  Neh.  ii.  8).  In  the  reign  of  John
Hyrcanus  a  portion  of  the  fortifications  of  the
city  was  dismantled  by  Autiochus  Sidetes,
but  the  ruin  seems  to  have  been  repaired  by
John  (Antiq.  xiii.  8,  3  ;  1  Mac.  xvi.23).  John
also  remodeled  and  strengthened  the  fortress
Baris  (Antiq.  xviii.  4,  3  ;  cp.  xv.  11,  4).  Pom-
pey  found  the  defenses  of  Jerusalem  strong.
On  finally  capturing  the  city  in  63  B.  c.,  he
demolished  the  walls  (Tacitus,  Hist.  v.  9;
and  next  two  references).  Csesar  allowed
them  to  be  rebuilt  (Antiq.  xiv.  8,  5 ;  War  i.
10,  3  and  4).  On  the  north  they  consisted  of
two  walls  which  Herod  and  his  Roman  allies
took,  in  the  year  37  B.  c.,  but  did  not  destroy
(Antiq.  xiv.  16,*2  and  4  ;  cp.  xv.  1,  2).
