Ophel

Ophel (Hebrew: עֹפֶל, romanized: ʿōp̄el)[1][2] is the biblical term given to a certain part of a settlement or city that is elevated from its surroundings, and probably means fortified hill or risen area.

The Mesha Stele, written in Moabite, a Canaanite language closely related to Biblical Hebrew, is the only extra-biblical source using the word, also in connection to a fortified place.

[3] When used as a common noun, it has been translated as "tumors" (1 Samuel 5:9, 12; 6:5), and in a verbal form it was taken to mean "puffed up" (Habakkuk 2:4), this indicating that the root might be associated with "swelling".

[4] The location of the ophel of the Hebrew Bible is easy to make out from the references from 2 Chronicles and Nehemiah: it was on the eastern ridge, which descended south of Solomon's Temple, and probably near the middle of it.

[3] In current terms, the still extant Herodian cased-in Temple Mount is bordered to the south by a saddle, followed by the ridge in case, also known as the southeastern hill, which stretches down to the King's Garden and the lower Pool of Siloam.

[3] Two kings of Judah, Jotham and Manasseh, are described to have massively strengthened the ophel fortifications in 2 Chronicles 27:3 and 33:14, leading to the conclusion that this must have been an area of great strategic importance, and either very close to or identical with the "stronghold of Zion" conquered and reused by David in 2 Samuel 5:7).

[9] Eilat Mazar, who re-excavated the remains in 2010, believes them to date to the late 10th century BCE,[13] associating them with King Solomon, which is controversial and not supported by past and contemporary archaeologists.

In 1867 Charles Warren conducted an underground survey in the area, describing the outline of a large tower but without attributing it to the era of Solomon.

[13] Israel Finkelstein and other archaeologists from Tel Aviv University have flagged concern that, with reference to her 2006 dating of the "Solomonic city wall" in the area to the south of the Temple Mount known as the ophel, "the biblical text dominates this field operation, not archaeology.