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Bible Encyclopedias
Fortress
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or Principal Fortresses.
A permanent fort or fortified place. The Israelites, when advancing into the country west of the Jordan, found a considerable number of walled cities and fortresses which they could not conquer (Numbers 13:28; Deuteronomy 1:28; Joshua 14:12). They were compelled, therefore, to settle in open places; and when attacked they retired into forests and caves (1 Samuel 13:6). Becoming more proficient in the art of war, they succeededâespecially in the time of the Kingsâin conquering the fortresses of the Canaanites, among them Jerusalem. David fortified the captured city anew, e., the socalled "city of David," on the steep eastern hill (2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Kings 3:1, 9:15, 11:27). According to 2 Chronicles 32:5, 33:14, Hezekiah and Manasseh were the first to surround with a wall the rest of the city also. Later the Maccabeans and Herodians built a third wall around it on the north and northwest. The Israelites built new fortresses ("mibáºar," "ḳiryah beáºurah," "ḳiryat 'oz") after the pattern of the Canaanite fortresses, especially for the protection of the frontiers and the approaches to the country. Thus Solomon erected Hazor and Megiddo as a protection against enemies from the northeast; Gezer, Beth-horon, and Baalath against those from the coast on the west; and Tadmor (Tamar) against those from Idumea (1 Kings 9:15,17 et seq.). Asa fortified Geba and Mizpah against the northern kingdom (1 Kings 15:21 et seq.). According to 2 Chronicles 11:5 et seq., Rehoboam fortified fifteen cities to the south and west of Jerusalem as a protection against Egypt. In the northern kingdom Jeroboam fortified Shechem and Penuel (1 Kings 12:25). Baasha tried to fortify Ramah as a point of attack on the southern kingdom; but Asa pulled down the half-finished fortification-walls and used the material for fortifying Geba and Mizpah (1 Kings 15:16 et seq.). The strongest fortress of the northern kingdom was undoubtedly Samaria, which had been built by Omri on top of a mountain, and which the Assyrians were able to capture only after a three years' siege (2 Kings 17:5). In later times the Maccabeans especially built a number of fortresses, some of which, as Beth-zur, played an important part in the wars of the Maccabees; and others, as Jotapata, Masada, and Machærus, in the great Jewish war (66-73).
The Towers.
All these fortresses were surrounded by walls ("ḥomah") composed of large blocks of rock, often without any cement. These walls were generally so wide that not only the guards could stand upon them, but also large numbers of people (Isaiah 36:11; Nehemiah 12:31 et seq.; I Macc. 13:45). Frequently they had battlements ("pinnot," 2 Chronicles 26:15; "shemashot," Isaiah 54:12), behind which the archers could secure cover; and at certain intervals there were towers built of large square stones ("migdal"). At the corners and above the gates were placed the strongest towers (2 Chronicles 26:9), from which the guards could overlook the surrounding country (2 Samuel 18:24 et seq.). The gates were closed by heavy wooden folding-doors (Judges 16:3), perhaps covered with brass (Isaiah 45:2), and provided with bolts of brass or iron (Deuteronomy 3:5, 33:25; 1 Kings 4:13). There was often a second wall outside of the principal wall, with exposed glacis ("ḥel"; 1 Kings 21:23; Lamentations 2:8; Isaiah 26:1). The most favorable situation for a fortress was on the edge of a precipice, as in the case of Jerusalem, or in that of Samaria, where it loomed up free on all sides on top of a mountain. No ditches with water surrounded the fortresses of the Israelites (compare Isaiah 33:21; Nahum 3:8), who, however, seem to have followed the custom of the Syrians of building strong castles or citadels in fortified cities, as in the case of Jerusalem, Shechem, and Thebez (compare Judges 9:46 et seq., 51; 8:9,17). These castles were generally located in the center of the city.
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Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Fortress'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/f/fortress.html. 1901.
