Is Jerusalem the city in Rome's mural?

Sir

Earlier this year, the archaeologist Elisabeta Carnabuci discovered a remarkable painting on the wall of an ancient building in Rome. This mural, which has been described by Nicholas Purcell (Nature 392, 545–547; 1998), may date from about 50 years after the Christian era (AD50); it shows an aerial view of an unidentified great walled city. There are towers on the walls, and what appears to be a bridge at the upper left of the mural (Fig. 1a). The enclosed city appears to have large open spaces.

Figure 1: Comparison of the Roman wall painting with a map of Jerusalem dating from about the same time.

AP/MASSIMO SAMBUCETTI/CARTA, JERUSALEM

a, The city depicted in the mural. b, A map of Jerusalem before the destruction of the second Temple in AD70 (map is inverted with respect to a). The small arrows indicate the positions of the towers on the wall; the large arrow shows the aqueduct corresponding to the bridge-like structure in the painting (top left in a). Reproduced from Encyclopaedia Judaica (Ketner, Jerusalem, 1996), with permission.

But which city can this be? For various reasons, it appears that it is not Rome: for example, Rome did not acquire a wall until 300 years after the Christian era, and, as Purcell notes, the topography of the city in the mural is different from that of Rome — indeed, it is unlike that of any typical Roman city. Purcell has suggested that the city might be one of the other metropolises of the time, such as Alexandria, Antioch or Carthage. I propose that the city might be Jerusalem, on the basis of several similarities between the city in the painting and a map of Jerusalem dating from about the same time (Fig. 1b). If the city really is Jerusalem, then the bridge-like structure is actually an aqueduct (large arrow in Fig. 1b).

Jerusalem, like the city in the mural, is enclosed by a wall adorned by towers (small arrows in Fig. 1b). In particular, notice that both Jerusalem and the unknown city (Fig. 1a) have one tower on one side of the aqueduct or bridge-like structure, respectively, and several towers on the other. Aligning the walls of the two cities, and the aqueduct with the bridge-like structure, it can be seen that the Temple in Jerusalem and the prominent structure on the left of the mural are both at a similar angle.

Further excavation of the mural may reveal the true identity of the city, if indeed it does portray a real city. But, of the ancient cities proposed so far, Jerusalem is the best fit. This mural may turn out to be one of the finest depictions of the Holy City.