How Large Was King David's Jerusalem?
One of the antisemetic memes going around is attempting to destroy the validity of our ancient culture and connection to Eretz Israel. Fortunately, facts speak otherwise:
A new and comprehensive radiocarbon study of First Temple Jerusalem—conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority, Tel Aviv University, and the Weizmann Institute of Science—has produced some intriguing results. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the results have challenged previous theories regarding Jerusalem’s size during the reigns of the earliest kings of Judah.
More than 100 radiocarbon dates were taken from four different excavation areas throughout the City of David, which is located on ancient Jerusalem’s southeastern ridge. Samples were taken from grape seeds, date pits, and even bat skeletons that were found in one of the excavated buildings. The results were used to reconstruct a first-of-its-kind chronology of ancient Jerusalem from 1200 BCE to its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.
“The new research allows us to study the development of the city,” said Professor Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University and one of the study’s lead researchers. “Until now, most researchers have linked Jerusalem’s growth to the west, to the period of King Hezekiah.” For decades, conventional scholarship has pointed towards an exponential growth of Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah following an influx of refugees from the Northern Kingdom after its destruction by the Assyrian Empire in the late eighth century BCE. Jerusalem, scholars argue, was no larger than the City of David and the Temple Mount, with only a modest population. Scholars critical of the biblical account are also quick to point out that the evidence from the ground does not match what one would expect of a royal capital as great as Solomon’s city is presented in the Book of Kings.
Much More: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/jerusalem/how-large-was-king-davids-jerusalem/