Tyropoeon Valley
Encyclopedia
Tyropoeon Valley is the name given by Josephus
the historian (Wars 5.140) to the valley
or rugged ravine
, in the Old City of Jerusalem, which in ancient times separated Mount Moriah
from Mount Zion
and emptied into the valley of Hinnom. The Tyropoeon, now filled up with a vast accumulation of debris, and almost a plain, was spanned by bridges, the most noted of which was Zion
Bridge, which was probably the ordinary means of communication between the royal palace on Zion and the temple.
The western wall
of the Temple Mount
rose up from the bottom of this valley to the height of 84 feet, where it was on a level with the area, and above this, and as a continuance of it, the wall of Solomon
's cloister rose to the height of about 50 feet, "so that this section of the wall would originally present to view a stupendous mass of masonry scarcely to be surpassed by any mural masonry in the world."
In the Copper Scroll
this valley is called in Hebrew the Outer Valley (3Q15 col.8, line 4). The name "Tyropoiōn" possibly arose as an ancient mistranslation from Hebrew to the Greek of Josephus's book; Semitic
languages use the same root
for "outer" and "congeal".
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
the historian (Wars 5.140) to the valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
or rugged ravine
Ravine
A ravine is a landform narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. A ravine is generally a fluvial slope landform of relatively steep sides, on the order of twenty to...
, in the Old City of Jerusalem, which in ancient times separated Mount Moriah
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...
from Mount Zion
Mount Zion
Mount Zion is a place name for a site in Jerusalem, the location of which has shifted several times in history. According to the Hebrew Bible's Book of Samuel, it was the site of the Jebusite fortress called the "stronghold of Zion" that was conquered by King David, becoming his palace in the City...
and emptied into the valley of Hinnom. The Tyropoeon, now filled up with a vast accumulation of debris, and almost a plain, was spanned by bridges, the most noted of which was Zion
Zion
Zion is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE...
Bridge, which was probably the ordinary means of communication between the royal palace on Zion and the temple.
The western wall
Western Wall
The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...
of the Temple Mount
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...
rose up from the bottom of this valley to the height of 84 feet, where it was on a level with the area, and above this, and as a continuance of it, the wall of Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
's cloister rose to the height of about 50 feet, "so that this section of the wall would originally present to view a stupendous mass of masonry scarcely to be surpassed by any mural masonry in the world."
In the Copper Scroll
Copper Scroll
The Copper Scroll is one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Cave 3 near Khirbet Qumran, but differs significantly from the others. Whereas the other scrolls are written on parchment or papyrus, this scroll is written on metal: copper mixed with about 1 percent tin...
this valley is called in Hebrew the Outer Valley (3Q15 col.8, line 4). The name "Tyropoiōn" possibly arose as an ancient mistranslation from Hebrew to the Greek of Josephus's book; Semitic
Semitic
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
languages use the same root
Root (linguistics)
The root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family , which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
for "outer" and "congeal".