Evidence found of the destruction of First Temple-era Jerusalem

Burned First Temple-era wooden beams uncovered in Jerusalem’s City of David, testifying to the city’s destruction at the hands of the Babylonians 2,600 years ago.

By World Israel News Staff

Archaeologists excavating in Jerusalem’s City of David have uncovered large wooden beams believed to have burned during the Babylonian destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Monday.

The charred beams were found in the Givati Parking Lot excavation, conducted jointly by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University within the Jerusalem Walls National Park.

Researchers said the beams were discovered inside a First Temple-period building that collapsed during an intense fire. They believe melted wall plaster covered the burned wood after the structure fell, sealing it and helping preserve it for approximately 2,600 years.

“The beams appear to have served as the roof of an inner courtyard in a building from the First Temple period,” excavation director Efrat Bocher said. “During the destruction, they collapsed onto the floor. We believe that the plaster cladding of the building’s walls, melted by the fire, covered the charred wooden beams and ultimately enabled their exceptional preservation.”

The discovery could provide researchers with an unusually precise method of dating archaeological remains from ancient Jerusalem.

“It is very rare in Israel to find wood with such a large number of growth rings,” said Dr. Johanna Regev of the Israel Antiquities Authority, who is studying the beams.

“Here, in the City of David, we found thick beams with many rings, offering significant research potential, with more growth rings enabling higher dating resolution,” she said. “Until now, we could date finds within a range of hundreds of years. Now we can attain much greater precision, narrowing the dating range down to as little as 10 years.”

Excavation officials also suggested that residents who returned to Jerusalem after its destruction may have intentionally left some of the ruins in place while rebuilding the city, preserving evidence of the catastrophe as a form of collective memory.

“The concept of a landscape of memory is familiar from many cultures around the world,” said Dr. Yiftah Shalev, who directs the excavation for the Israel Antiquities Authority alongside Prof. Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University.

“Preserving memory is a human need, seeking to preserve what once existed,” Shalev said. “Here we see it in its clearest form: a deliberate choice to leave ruins in place as a testament to the destruction and build the new layer over them.”

Bocher said the timing of the discovery, shortly before the Jewish fast of Tisha B’Av, gave it additional significance.

“We are just before Tisha B’Av,” she said. “This discovery makes you feel that you are witnessing the very moment of destruction, the moment when it all happened. It’s deeply moving.”

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said the beams offered physical evidence of ancient Jewish life in Jerusalem.

“Jerusalem’s soil continues to provide tangible evidence of the city’s ancient past,” Eliyahu said. “The wooden beams burned in the destruction of the First Temple stand as a powerful reminder of the Jewish people’s presence in Jerusalem some 2,600 years ago.

“On the eve of Tisha B’Av, this discovery underscores that our connection to Jerusalem is rooted not only in faith but also in history, archaeology, and collective memory,” he added. “It is our responsibility to continue uncovering, preserving, and passing this heritage on to future generations.”