(22 Feb 2010) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of Jerusalem Old City
2. Pan from wall said to date back to 10th century BC to Jerusalem Old City
3. Zoom into side of wall
4. Stones by wall
5. Mid of wall
6. Close of hole in wall
7. Structured stone findings
8. Wide of Jerusalem Old City
9. Zoom from photograph of The Ophel Ancient Jerusalem
10. Diagram illustrating The Solomonic Wall
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Eilat Mazar, Hebrew University
"This is the first time that we have got the chance to show and reveal a very magnificent fortification line of ancient Jerusalem that can be dated to the 10th century BC. It circles the area that''s called the Ophel, which connects the city of David and the Temple Mount. This is a new area that was constructed at that time and (it''s) most magnificent really - construction they preserved up to six metre height and we can see it now for a length of 70 metre long."
12. Pan of Old City walls
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Eilat Mazar, Hebrew University:
"It''s the first time that we have a city gate and fortification line from the time of King Solomon. This is a 10th century, most beautifully preserved section of the city wall and all the findings that we have in hand indicates about the 10th century, that sits so well with the biblical version."
14. Mazar holding picture of area
15. Quote from Bible describing area
16. Various of area
STORYLINE
An Israeli archaeologist on Monday claimed that excavated ancient fortifications in Jerusalem supported the accuracy of the biblical narrative.
Archaeologist Eilat Mazar said pottery shards found at the site dated the walls to the 10th century BC (Before Christ) - that''s three-thousand years
ago, when the Bible says Jerusalem was ruled by King Solomon.
One school of archaeologists, including Mazar, believes the Hebrew kings David and Solomon were 10th century rulers, but a second school argues that David''s monarchy was entirely mythical.
Mazar on Monday argued that the wall''s age and location supported the biblical account that the Hebrew kings ruled the city then.
Building city walls demanded great resources and organisation, indicating a strong central government in Jerusalem at that time, she said.
The fortifications, including a monumental gatehouse and a 70-metres (76.5 yards) long section of an ancient wall, were found just outside the present-day walls of Jerusalem''s Old City, next to the holy compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.
According to the Old Testament, it was Solomon who built the first Jewish temple on the site.
That temple was destroyed by Babylonians, rebuilt, renovated by King Herod two thousand years ago and then destroyed again, this time by Roman legions, in 70 AD (Anno Domini).
The compound now houses two important Islamic buildings, the golden-capped Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque.
Archaeologists excavated the fortifications in the past, first in the 1860s and most recently in the 1980s.
But Mazar said her dig was the first complete excavation and the first to provide strong evidence for the wall''s age: a large number of pottery shards, which archaeologists often use to figure out the age of findings.
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