=The Original City.= The rounded ridge of rock between the Tyropœon and Kidron valleys was clearly the original site of Jerusalem. It is the so-called Ophel, on which the ancient Jebusite fortress was reared. The southern end rises rapidly from the valley below where the Tyropœon and Kidron join. Its northern continuation is the temple area. Excavations have shown that immediately north of the present temple area there was a rock cutting, from the Tyropœon Valley on the west to the Kidron Valley on the east, leaving a precipice of native rock twenty-five feet high as a barrier against attack from the north. At the southeastern corner of the temple area traces have also been found of the well-built wall which ran along the edge of the Kidron Valley, probably encircling the ancient Jebusite city. Thus it was surrounded on three sides with rapidly descending valleys from one to three hundred feet deep, while immediately below was the perennial spring, essential to the life of its early inhabitants. It is easy, therefore, to understand why the early Jebusites regarded their city as impregnable. =Its Extent.= The hill Ophel contains an area of between sixteen and eighteen acres, which was amply sufficient for a crowded village of ancient times. This was also, without reasonable doubt, the site of David's city. As the Israelite city grew it probably extended almost to the level of the valley in the south, near the modern Pool of Siloam. At present the northern end of the hill Ophel is higher than the southern. It also broadens into the temple area, which is two thousand four hundred and forty feet above the sea-level. It is not improbable, however, that the site of the old Jebusite fortress was once higher than the temple rock to the north. If the fortress of Akra, which figures prominently in Maccabean history, was identical with the ancient citadel of Ophel, then, according to the testimony of Josephus (_Jew. Wars_, V, 4:1), Simon the Maccabean ruler cut down this southern eminence to make it lower than the adjoining temple area. =The Western Hill.= It is not clear when the western hill was included within the bounds of Jerusalem; possibly in the days of Solomon; certainly some time before the Babylonian exile. On the south and west this hill descends rapidly to the Valley of Hinnom, on the east to the Tyropœon Valley; while on the north it is connected by a narrow neck of rock with the northern hill of Jerusalem. It is about seven hundred yards long from north to south and four hundred from east to west. It is highest on the west, where it is two thousand five hundred and twenty feet above the sea-level. It is therefore about eighty feet higher than the temple area to the east.