Millo

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The Millo was a structure in Jerusalem mentioned by the Books of Kings, and corresponding passages in the Books of Chronicles. The texts simply describe the Millo as having been built by Solomon[1] and repaired by Hezekiah,[2] without giving an explanation of what exactly the Millo was, and hence there is some debate among scholars as to its specific nature. The most common assumption among archaeologists and historians of ancient Israel is that the Millo is the Stepped Stone Structure uncovered by Kathleen Kenyon and demonstrated by Eilat Mazar to be connected to the recently uncovered Large Stone Structure.[dubious – discuss]

In the Book of Samuel, Millo is mentioned as boundary of King David's construction while building up the City of David after the capture of Jerusalem from the Jebusites[3]. The King James Version (translation into English) footnotes Millo as literally, "The Landfill,"[4] while the New International Version translates it to "supporting terraces" [5]

Hezekiah's repair of the Millo is mentioned within a list of repairs to military fortifications, and several scholars generally believe that it was something connected to military activity, such as a tower, citadel, or simply a significant part of a wall[6]. However, taking into account that the potentially cognate term mulu, from Assyrian, refers to earthworks,[7] it is considered more likely that it was an embankment which flattened the slope between Ophel and the Temple Mount.[8]


[edit] Citations and notes

  1. ^ 1 Kings 9:24
  2. ^ 2 Chronicles 32:4-5
  3. ^ 2 Samuel 5:9
  4. ^ 2 Samuel 5:9 (NKJV)
  5. ^ 2 Samuel 5:9 (NIV)
  6. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible; Jewish Encyclopedia
  7. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  8. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible

[edit] See also