page_title: Millo
section_title: Hebrew Bible
hierarchical_section_title: Millo / Hebrew Bible
caption_attribution_description: English: View of the Kidron Valley from the Old City of Jerusalem.
context_page_description: The Millo was a structure in Jerusalem referred to in the Hebrew Bible, first mentioned as being part of the city of David in 2 Samuel 5:9 and the corresponding passage in the Books of Chronicles, and later in the Books of Kings. However it previously seems to have been a rampart built by the Jebusites prior to Jerusalem's being conquered by the Israelites. The texts also describe the Millo built by Solomon and repaired by Hezekiah, without giving an explanation of what exactly the Millo was: there is therefore some debate among scholars as to the Millo's specific nature. The most common assumption among archaeologists and historians of ancient Israel is that the Millo is the Stepped Stone Structure uncovered by Kathleen Kenyon and demonstrated by Eilat Mazar to be connected to a Large Stone Structure which she discovered in 2005.
context_section_description: In the Books of Samuel, Millo is mentioned as the boundary of David's construction while building up the City of David after the capture of Jerusalem from the Jebusites. The New King James Version identifies Millo as literally "The Landfill", while the New International Version translates it to "supporting terraces".
  Hezekiah's repair of the Millo is mentioned within a list of repairs to military fortifications, and several scholars generally believe that it was something connected to military activity, such as a tower, citadel, or simply a significant part of a wall. However, taking into account that the potentially cognate term mulu, from Assyrian, refers to earthworks, it is considered more likely that it was an embankment which flattened the slope between Ophel and the Temple Mount.
caption: Kidron Valley viewed from the Old City of Jerusalem, with Millo (Area G) to the lower right.
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