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Boaz Zissu

In 1913 French archaeologist Raymond Weill excavated the remains of a round structure at the southern end of the City of David. Weill interpreted the circle of stones as the base of a tower, and many sought to identify it as the “tower of Siloam” that Jesus mentions in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 13:3–4). Yet it made no sense for a watchtower to be located so close to the valley floor; a higher spot would be much more strategic. As author Boaz Zissu explains, this tower was not a watchtower but a columbarium, or dovecote, for raising pigeons.