Digging Down

Six Centuries of Fortresses, One Beneath the Other

Israelites occupied the hill of Arad for about 500 years, building, rebuilding and modifying a series of six walled fortresses. Here we show those fortresses in different ways: Above is a plan on which the remains of the fortresses are shown as archaeologists found them, a jumble of wall fragments, many built at one time and re-used at later periods. Below—reconstructed to show the outer walls complete—the fortresses are lined up with the latest fortress on top and the earliest on the bottom, in the order they were found. Following the reconstruction drawings is a stratigraphic section drawing, showing architectural features as they would appear if the mound were sliced in half vertically.