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TOWER

Central tower at ar-Rumayl, SE of Madaba, one of several strategically located Iron Age
watchtowers in the region (M. P. Michèle Daviau)

A defensive structure either built into a city wall or located on a hill as a watchtower. Towers (Heb. migdāl) were built into city walls at strategic positions such as corners, city gates, and vulnerable locations. Massive towers built as part of the city gate structure (e.g., Megiddo, Samaria, Hazor, Dan, Beer-sheba, Timnah) increased defense capabilities at a city’s most vulnerable location.

Towers, built into the walls at intervals to increase defense capabilities, usually jutted out beyond the city wall giving defenders a clear view of the wall’s foundation and anyone attempting to breech the wall. This type of tower is typically taller than the adjoining city wall. Defense towers built into walls can be rectangular (Late Bronze Tell Beit Mirsim and Megiddo), semicircular (Early Bronze Arad), or round (Khirbet eš-Šaqq), but are usually square. Two square towers in Jerusalem, dating to the second temple period, extended several meters from the city wall. They were built of roughly hewn stones and spaced ca. 20 m. (66 ft.) apart. These towers are three-sided, being open to the inner city. Three massive 1st-century towers built by Herod into the western city walls in Jerusalem were large, fully enclosed, and contained several rooms; these towers, named after Herod’s relatives, also served as small fortresses. Reliefs from Sennacherib’s palace in Nineveh depict square towers projecting out from the city walls of Lachish. Nehemiah gives the names of several towers built into the Jerusalem walls: Tower of the Hundred, Hananel (Neh. 3:1), the Ovens (v. 11), and Furnaces (12:38). Jer. 31:38; Zech. 14:10 also name a Jerusalem tower, Hananel. Ezekiel predicted the destruction of the towers of Tyre (Ezek. 26:4, 9) and describes the defenders as placing their shields on the walls (27:11). Isaiah refers to a Babylonian guard standing watch on a watchtower (miṣpeh; Isa. 21:8).

Independent watchtowers on hilltops served as observation posts and forward defense stations. These small self-contained structures look more like small fortresses than towers. Small fortresses (towers) in the Negeb usually were built with casemate walls (two parallel walls intervally connected by transverse walls), gates, and internal structures. The smaller fortresses are generally square, ca. 20 m. (66 ft.) on a side. The larger fortresses have towers built into the walls and are shaped to conform to the terrain. Archaeologists have discovered three Iron Age circular towers in the desert of Samaria, measuring 19-19.5 m. (62-64 ft.) and built of three concentric stone walls. A rectangular building (guard quarters?) and a casemate parameter wall accompanies each tower. These towers guarded major Transjordanian roads. Watchtowers are also connected to agriculture, especially vineyards. Such towers functioned as lookout stations to protect crops (Isa. 5:2; Matt. 21:33 = Mark 12:1; Gk. pýrgos).

Uzziah built towers in the wilderness (2 Chr. 26:10), and Jotham on wooded hills (27:4). Evidently villages sprang up around some watchtowers, as reflected in names such as Migdal-gad (Josh. 15:37) and Migdal-el (19:38).

A migdāl can also be an inner citadel or a temple built as a fortress. A woman on a tower in the center of Thebez killed Abimelech by throwing down a millstone (Judg. 9:50-53). A thousand people in the Tower of Shechem died in the inner chamber of a temple-fortress (Judg. 9:46-49). Gideon tore down the tower of Penuel (Judg. 8:9, 17), an inner city fortress. Israel sinned by building high places in its watchtowers (2 Kgs. 17:9). Although not a defensive structure, the Tower of Babel is a migdāl (Gen. 11:4-5).

Temporary towers, constructed for offensive besieging of cities, allowed observers to see into a city and gave archers better angles for shooting at defenders. The Babylonians built such towers at Tyre (Isa. 23:13), and Joab set up similar siege works against Abel-beth-maacah (2 Sam. 20:15). The Lachish reliefs depict Assyrian mobile towers containing archers on the upper level and a battering ram with operators on the lower level.

Metaphorically, towers illustrate the beauty of human body parts: the neck (Cant. 4:4; 7:4), nose (7:4), and breasts (8:10). God is described as a strong tower (Ps. 61:3[MT 4]; Prov. 18:10).

Bibliography. A. Zertal, “Three Iron Age Fortresses in the Jordan Valley and the Origin of the Ammonite Circular Towers,” IEJ 45 (1995): 253-73.

Terry W. Eddinger

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

TOWER

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)