Digging in the Dirt

A report on an archaeological find just outside the Temple Mount area of Jerusalem.  A fortress erected by the Greeks during their possession of Jerusalem roughly 167 years before the birth of Jesus is being excavated, and in the process, a historical discrepancy might be settled.

The fortress of Acra was reportedly destroyed, as per the Jewish-Roman historian Titus Flavius Josephus, immediately following the success of the Maccabeean revolt in 164BC.  However 1 Maccabees indicates that it wasn’t destroyed, but was rather maintained for some time by Simon Maccabee.  Thus far, the archaeological dig supports the latter assertion, as there is no evidence of a hasty, short-term destruction or dismantlement.