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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

FORT, FORTIFICATION

Walls, citadels, and sometimes moats protecting most cities in the ancient world. Fortifications followed the natural contour of the area encircling a city. Early city defenses consisted of simple banks of earth tossed against the walls and outer structures to make it difficult for hostile forces to approach and enter the city. Wherever possible, the site chosen for the location of a city would be a naturally favorable topographical situation, such as a steep elevation in an isolated place or a hill that afforded natural protection. Some sites were chosen because of their ample water supply, good navigation, or central location at a crossroads of traveled highways, even if they had no natural defenses. The difficulty and cost of fortifications were then obviously much more serious.

In general, whatever materials were available were used for construction of fortifications, including debris, rubble, and beaten earth. Those materials were faced with hard-packed clay or lime plaster to prevent an enemy from knowing the quality of the underlying filling. Commonly a ditch or moat was dug or cut out of solid rock in front of the walls. This hindered an enemy’s advance and made any attempt to tunnel under the walls and into the city more difficult.

Towers were built for added strength and protection at potentially weak spots, such as corners, gateways, or openings for water supplies. Towers had inner access stairways and chambers for use by soldiers who manned the structures and for use by watchmen who announced the approach of danger. Gateways were provided with massive piers and bronze or iron bars and bolts. Gates were hung on pivots driven into the pavement below and into the lintel above and had to be strongly fortified and carefully protected. Often they consisted of a series of entrances, one inside the other, with guardrooms between them.

Excavations of ancient forts reveal the development of fortifications from primitive beginnings to NT times. Earliest strongholds were constructed with crude brick and rough stone work. Masonry was irregular, and large stones of various sizes and shapes were roughly trimmed and crudely placed into the wall structures. Stone facings and wall joints were packed with pebbles or limestone chippings. During later times, carefully prepared mortar was used to cover the walls to give greater strength and support to the fortifications. Not until late in the Hebrew period were stones with ornamentation and skilled drafting used.

Scripture uses the imagery of a fortress or high tower to picture the confidence that believers can have in God’s strength and protection. The prophets realized that the strength and defense of the nation lay not in fortifications of brick and stone but in God, and they urged the people to put their trust in him as a secure refuge (2 Sm 22:2-3, 33; Prv 10:29; Is 25:4; Jer 16:19; Hos 8:14; Jl 3:16; Na 1:7).