[Music] [Music] toward the end of the 7th century bce the babylonian empire quickly conquers the lands to the west of the euphrates river including the kingdom of judah when king jehoiachin of judah tries to rebel against babylon king nebuchadnezzar quashes the rebellion and exiles the rulers and generals just 10 years later jehoiakim's brother zedekiah the new king of judah rebels again against the babylonians [Music] nebuchadnezzar is furious he decides to teach judah a lesson it will never forget on the 10th of tibet 588 bce he arrives at the walls of jerusalem with a huge army and besieges the city i'm standing by the northern wall of the city this tower known as the israelite tower was uncovered by professor nachman avigad in 1970 from the top of the tower zedekiah soldiers watched in fear as hundreds of thousands of babylonian archers horsemen and infantrymen stood before the walls from here they saw the babylonian engineering corps close in on the city and lay siege to it cut off from the fields outside the walls the people of jerusalem now have no source of food hunger affects everybody especially the children the tongue of the suckling child cleaves to the root of his mouth for thirst the young children ask for bread and no one breaks it for them [Music] corpses pile up in the streets and disease rages as the siege drags on fear and desperation grow the harvest has passed summer has ended and we are not saved the terror reaches its peak when the babylonian battering rams advance toward the walls and begin to pound them the noise is deafening the earth trembles soon the conquering forces will break through the defenses and the city will be lost just at this most critical moment king zedekiah decides to abandon the battle along with his soldiers he sneaks through ali's undercover of night and escapes through the southern gate to the kidron valley and then from there to the desert and it came to pass that when king zedekiah of judah and all the men of war saw them they fled and went out of the city by night by way of the king's garden by the gate between the two walls and he went out by way of the plane zedekiah can't escape his fate soon afterwards on the plains of jericho he is caught by the babylonians and cruelly punished by nebuchadnezzar meanwhile the babylonian army increases its pressure on the northern gate right here near the tower adjacent to the city gate a fierce battle takes place babylonian archers shoot thousands of arrows at the israelite defenders providing cover for the babylonian infantry as they charge the city gate the israelite defenders fire back with all their might beneath the layer of ash here professor nachman avigad uncovered arrowhead shot by babylonian archers right next to israelite arrowhead shot by zedekiah soldiers in their desperate attempt to repel the enemy despite their efforts the israelite soldiers hungry and exhausted cannot stop the powerful organized troops spread out before them on the ninth of tammuz 586 bce after more than a year and a half under siege the northern wall is breached and the babylonian army bursts into the city the babylonian soldiers slaughter the people of the city and wreak destruction everywhere the cries of pain of the victims many of them women children and the elderly are heard from every corner but jerusalem will suffer its most deadly blow a month later on the seventh of nebusaridan the babylonian commander arrives in jerusalem and orders it raised to the ground and in the fifth month on the seventh day of the month the nineteenth year of nebuchadnezzar king of babylon nebu zaradan captain of the guard a servant of the king of babylon came to jerusalem and he burned the house of the lord and the king's house and all the houses of jerusalem every great man's house he burned with fire here in the royal compound in the city of david among buildings that collapsed in the horrific fire archaeologist igal shiloh uncovers a thick layer of black ash it turns out to be the destruction layer of jerusalem the digger's faces are black with the soot and dirt that covered the ruins from the burnt buildings excitedly the excavators unearthed 2 600 year old buildings one after another they also discovered eating utensils furniture and seals all buried under the ash of the great fire in the sweltering summer of 586 bce all of jerusalem is set ablaze on the 9th of of the temple the symbol of the spiritual covenant between the israelites and their god goes up in flames from that terrible day until now the ninth of has been a day of intense mourning for the entire jewish people nebuchadnezzar finishes off the destruction with an act that will ensure that jerusalem will never rebel again he raises the city walls to their foundations now their heads bowed the exiles marched to babylon carrying musical instruments among their meager possessions but the melody that played in jerusalem through countless turbulent days is now silenced in its place arise the hushed tones of the exiles lament by the rivers of babylon there we sat and wept as we remembered zion on its willows we hung our harps for there our captors demanded a song of us and our tormentors demanded mirth saying sing us one of the songs of zion how can we sing the lord's song on foreign soil [Music] you