im, to keep them under close surveillance, and to command
their co-operation. In the second place he appealed to them and to the
people by means of eloquent addresses which reveal his enthusiasm and
devotion. Furthermore, he did not depend upon the reports of others, but
personally studied the situation. His secret mid-night ride down through
the Valley Gate to the southwest of Jerusalem and thence eastward along
the Hinnom Valley to the point where it joins the Kidron, and from there
up the valley, gave him most accurate information regarding conditions. In
most cases the ancient foundations of the city walls still remained. The
first need was to remove the rubbish and where stones had fallen to
replace them. The towers required certain timbers, which were cut probably
from the royal domains to the south of the city. Nehemiah enlisted all
members of the community both within and without Jerusalem. He organized
them under their local leaders and set them to the task in which each was
most interested. Thus the heads of the different villages, the elders of
the leading families, the guilds of workmen, and even the priests, were
all put to work and inspired by the spirit of natural rivalry as well as
common loyalty. Nehemiah himself with his immediate followers directed the
work, and instituted a strict military rule which secured both efficiency
and protection.

V. The Restored Walls. In the light of recent excavations at Jerusalem
it is possible to follow Nehemiah's work in detail. In the destruction of
the walls by the Chaldeans the city had suffered most on the north where
it was nearly level and protected by no descending valleys. Just north of
the temple area a little valley ran up from the Kidron, leaving but a
narrow neck of land connected directly with the plateau on the north. Here
two great towers were restored that probably occupied the site of the
later Roman tower of Antonia. Thence the wall ran westward across the
upper Tyropoean Valley, which was here comparatively level. Numerous
bands of workmen were assigned to this part of the work. The gate of the
old wall was probably identical with the corner gate at the northwestern
end of the city. The Ephraim Gate a little further to the southwest
apparently corresponded to the modern Joppa Gate. From this point a broad
wall ran to the western side of the city where the hill descended rapidly
into the Valley of Hinnom, making its defence easy. At the southwestern
e