30 NADAV NA’AMAN stated in the text of 2 Chr 32,5, which relates that in the course of his preparations for the impending Assyrian attack, Hezekiah “strengthened the Millo in the City of David”. Hence, the Millo’s identification with the Stepped Stone Structure rests on solid ground. Its construction required a lot of menial work, including the carrying of earth and stones, the filling of the steep slope with earth and the covering of its surface by stones. The hard work in- volved with the construction fits the biblical account of the “corvée (sēbel) of the House of Joseph”, mobilized to perform hard work and suffering to the extent of being pushed to rebellion (1 Kgs 11,27-28.40). After the work on the structure was completed, it ef- fectively defended the northeastern side of the City of David, where the early royal residence was built. It is thus clear that the authors of the histories of David and Solomon depicted a clear and coherent picture. First, David fortified the area located around the conquered Stronghold of Zion, except for a break left in its northeastern side. Next, Solomon surrounded the Temple Mount by a wall and built the temple and palace. Finally, Solomon constructed the Millo as massive support for the royal residence located just above it, thereby closing the northeastern breach in the fortification. The gap in space between the two quarters is tacitly ignored in the histories of David and Solomon. III. Discussion The details of David’s and Solomon’s building operations in Jerusalem reflect what the late authors observed at the time of writ- ing. They presented the Temple Mount and the City of David (in its limited scope) as two enclosed quarters, each surrounded by a sep- arate set of fortification. The short account of the building of a royal residence on the summit of the Southeastern Hill is thematically connected to two other accounts: the fortification of the City of David and the construction of the Millo. The author of the David story cycle was aware of the location of David’s residence and de- scribed the quarter around it as the focus of the king’s building op- erations. Detailed descriptions of the construction operations on the Temple Mount appear in the history of Solomon and reflect the re- ality of the time of the late author. Significantly, the histories of