Tyropceon

Tyropceon (Τυροποιῶν, of the cheese-makers), the name of a valley (φάραξ) in Jerusalem, mentioned only by Josephus, who says that the city "was built, one quarter facing another, upon two hills, separated by an intervening valley, at which over against each other the houses terminated." Again, "The valley of the Tyropoeon, which, I have said, divided the hill of the upper town from that of the lower, extended as far as Siloamar, a fountain whose waters are sweet and copious" (War, 5, 4, 1). He also tells us that the "other hill called Akra, which sustained the lower city," lay opposite to Mount Moriah, from which it was separated by "another broad valley;" and, further, that the whole city, situated on these two hills, "lay over against the Temple in the manner of a theatre" (Ant. 15:11, 5). Notwithstanding this repeated and seemingly definite notice, the position of the valley is still a matter of dispute. Dr. Robinson, in accordance with his theory of the site of Akra (q.v.), and of the topography of ancient Jerusalem in general, maintains that it is the small valley on the north of Zion; and the English engineers have determined that this chasm, although now inconsiderable, was formerly much deeper, being filled up with the rubbish of ages. Most archaeologists, however, have regarded the "Valley of the Cheese mongers" as identical with, the conspicuous and important one leading from the Damascus gate to the Pool of Siloam, which in all ages has been the principal drain of the internal waters of the city (Thomson, Land handbook, 2, 470; Pierotti). Jerusalem Restored, 1, 19). SEE JERUSALEM.