33 BIBLICAL AND HISTORICAL JERUSALEM erected near the shrine and developed gradually over time. Since the early residence was built in a densely inhabited area which placed limitations on its growth, the centre was gradually shifted to the Temple Mount, which became the seat of the royal palace and the site of the central temple of the kingdom. The Book of Kings provides no further descriptions of the for- tification of Jerusalem after the time of David and Solomon. Even the construction of the ‘Broad Wall’ that surrounded the South- western Hill in the late eighth century BCE is mentioned nowhere. The reason is clear: The authors of the story cycles of David and Solomon attributed to the two kings the construction of the palace and temple in all their splendor, as well as the fortification of the Temple Mount and the City of David (in its limited scope). Hence, later kings were capable only of restoring the magnificent edifices already constructed, but not of initiating any new building projects. The picture of building operations in Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah has drastically changed in the Book of Chronicles, but this work was written hundreds of years later and reflects historio- graphical concepts of the time of its late author. IV. Biblical Jerusalem in the Persian Period I shall open the discussion by comparing the accounts of David’s building operations in Jerusalem in the books of Samuel and Chron- icles: “And he fortified ‘the city’ round about (sābîb) from the Millo in- wards (ābayǝtâ)” (2 Sam 5,9). “And he fortified the city round about (missābîb) from the Millo up to the surrounding wall (‛ad hassābîb); and Joab repaired (yehayyeh) . the rest of the city” (1 Chr 11,8). Sābîb is a hapax legomenon, derived from the noun sbb in the sense of “surrounding wall”. By a play of words with the adverb (missābîb) and noun (hassābîb), the Chronicler interpreted the text of his source, the Book of Samuel. First, he emphasized that David fortified the area from the Millo “up to the surrounding wall”. In my opinion, this “surrounding wall” (sābîb) designated the Ophel wall located north of the Millo that encompassed the northern quarter