40 NADAV NA’AMAN An important source regarding the city of Jerusalem’s condition in the Persian period is the Book of Chronicles, which on occasion ― while ostensibly describing the situation in the First Temple pe- riod ― in fact depicts that of its author’s time. I already discussed the term sābîb (1 Chr 11,8), which designates the surrounding wall of the Ophel. The Chronicler attributed to Jotham the repair of the Ophel wall (2 Chr 27,3), referring anachronistically to the fortifi- cation of the quarter of his own time. Of particular interest is his description of the wall built by Man- asseh (2 Chr 33,14) 42. The Chronicler first described an “outer wall of the City of David” that passed near the Kidron gully, which turned west near the Gihon Spring and joined the “mid-slope city wall” dis- covered in the excavations 43. The wall then surrounded the Temple Mount as far as the Fish Gate, located in the northwestern corner of the Temple Mount, and continued along the Ophel western wall. At some point south of the Valley Gate, it turned eastward and passed along the Ophel’s southern wall, reaching the point of departure above the gulley of Kidron. The Chronicler was probably acquainted with the vestiges of the eastern wall unearthed by Reich and Shukron at the lowermost end of the city’s eastern slope, which was indeed an “outer wall” and passed “in the wadi” 44. He combined this ancient external wall with the two fortified quarters of his time, the Temple Mount and the Ophel, and attributed the fortification (verb bnh) of the wall to Manasseh as reward for his penitence. Throughout his work, the Chronicler distinguished between the City of David ― the more desolated quarter which was probably fortified by a thin wall ― and the two more populated and better fortified quarters to its north. Finally, according to 2 Chr 26,9, King Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem “at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the but- tress, and fortified them”. The Corner Gate was located in the north- 42 For detailed discussions, see WELTEN, Geschichte, 72-78, with earlier literature; N. NA’AMAN, “When and How Did Jerusalem Become a Great City? The Rise of Jerusalem as Judah’s Premier City in the Eighth-Seventh Centu- ries B.C.E”, BASOR 347 (2007) 45b-46a; I. Himbaza, “Le mur de Manassé (2 Ch xxxiii 14) entre archéologues et théologiens”, VT 57 (2007) 283-294. 43 See note 26 above. 44 REICH – SHUKRON, “Urban Development”, 209-218; idem, “The Date of City-Wall 501 in Jerusalem”, Tel Aviv 35 (2008) 114-122; NA’AMAN, “When and How”, 45b and n. 27.