The course of the first wall as thus described by Josephus does not appear to differ much from its course in Nehemiah’s time; and in all essentials it seems to be the wall of David’s day, preserved upon the old foundations. Josephus indeed states as much in the following passage:--“Now of these three walls, the old one was hard to be taken, both by reason of the valleys and of that hill on which it was built, and which was above them. But besides that great advantage as to the place where they were situated, it was also built very strong; because David and Solomon and the following kings were very zealous about this work.” [Illustration: SCHICK’S LINE OF SECOND WALL.] _The Second Wall._--The description of the second wall, given by Josephus, is short, and may be quoted entire: “It took its beginning from that gate which they called Gennath, which belonged to the first wall; it only encompassed the northern quarter of the city, and reached as far as the tower Antonia.” The necessity for this wall arose as follows. Through the increase of the population a suburb had sprung up, not only in the upper reach of the Tyropœon Valley, but on the hill beyond it. On the spur of this hill, which projected toward the Temple, stood the Akra fortress, but north-west of the fortress the ground was high and open, and unprotected by any deep valley. To protect this suburb it was necessary to carry a wall across the saddleback, sweeping round from the corner of the High Town to the north-west corner of the eastern hill; and this was probably done as early as David’s day.