Archaeologists in Jerusalem say they have uncovered the remains of a large moat that once divided the city in half and protected the biblical kings from invaders. The massive moat, about 30 feet deep and at least 100 feet wide, was uncovered in Jerusalem Walls National Park by archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University, who said it was a fortification that would have helped repel enemies.

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said in a news release the moat was created by “extensive quarrying.” It would have formed a “massive channel separating the City of David from the Temple Mount and the Ophel area.” Perpendicular cliffs on both sides of the moat “rendered it impassable,” IAA said.

“It is not known when the moat was originally cut, but evidence suggests it was used during the centuries when Jerusalem was the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, almost 3,000 years ago, beginning with King Josiah,” Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University and Yiftah Shalev of the Israel Antiquities Authority said jointly. “During those years, the moat separated the southern residential part of the city from the ruling Acropolis in the north, the upper city where the palace and the temple were located.”

Construction would have been a “large-scale, monumental operation,” changing the natural topography in order to “demonstrate the power of Jerusalem’s rulers to those who come in its gates,” IAA said.

The date the moat was cut is unknown, Shalev said.

“Such significant construction plans and quarrying in Jerusalem are usually dated to the Middle Bronze Age -- about 3,800 years ago,” he said. “... If the moat was cut during this period, then it was intended to protect the city from the north -- the only weak point of the City of David slope. Either way, we are confident that it was used at the time of the First Temple and the Kingdom of Judah (ninth century BCE), so it created a clear buffer between the residential city in the south and the upper city in the north.”

Gadot labeled it a “dramatic discovery” that “opens up a renewed discussion about the terms from the biblical literature that refer to the topography of Jerusalem, such as the Ophel and the Millo.”

Ancient Jerusalem was constructed on a narrow, steep ridge, extending across hills and valleys that separated the city into distinct sections, complicating movement between different areas, IAA said.

“Therefore, it is not surprising that many of the royal construction enterprises in Jerusalem were connected with the need to reshape the topography,” IAA said. The archaeological organization referenced 1 Kings 11:27 as evidence of such earth-moving construction. The verse says, “Solomon built the Millo and closed up the breach of the city of David, his father.”

Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said he is continually amazed at what excavations uncover.

“When you stand at the bottom of this giant excavation,” he said, “surrounded by enormous hewn walls, it is impossible not to be filled with wonder and appreciation for those ancient people who, about 3,800 years ago, literally moved mountains and hills.”