Rebuilding of Jerusalem Walls

In −445 Nehemiah came to Jerusalem as governor with the authorization of Artaxerxes I. He inspected the ruined walls by night and divided the rebuilding among families, priests and guilds, each assigned a stretch near gates such as the Sheep Gate, Fish Gate, Dung Gate and Fountain Gate (Nehemiah 2–3). Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab mocked the work, plotted attacks and spread rumors of rebellion, so the builders worked with a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other (Nehemiah 4). The Bible says the wall was finished in 52 days, on 25 Elul (Nehemiah 6:15), and dedicated with two thanksgiving choirs marching on top of it (Nehemiah 12).

Nehemiah's opponents are known outside the Bible: an Elephantine papyrus of −407 names the sons of Sanballat, governor of Samaria, and a silver bowl from Tell el-Maskhuta in Egypt mentions "Qaynu son of Geshem, king of Qedar." Eilat Mazar identified a wall and tower in the City of David as Nehemiah's work, a claim still debated. The walls made Jerusalem a defensible city again and the center of Jewish life in Persian Yehud.