Bible Dictionary
Tyropoeon Valley
The Tyropoeon Valley, or Valley of the Cheesemakers, was the ravine that separated Mount Zion from the temple hill in Jerusalem. Bridges connected the two elevations, including the structure known as Robinson’s Arch.
Definition
The Tyropoeon Valley, meaning Valley of the Cheesemakers, was the rugged ravine that formerly separated Mount Moriah, where the temple stood, from Mount Zion. In later times it was largely filled with accumulated debris and became almost level ground.
Biblical Usage
The valley is not presented as a distinct biblical event or doctrine in the supplied material. Its bridges provided communication between the temple area and the royal palace on Zion.
Historical Background
The most notable bridge was Zion Bridge, whose surviving fragment was identified as Robinson’s Arch. The Romans destroyed the bridge when Jerusalem was captured. The temple-area wall rose from the valley floor to a great height.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(i.e., “Valley of the Cheesemongers”), the name given by Josephus the historian to the valley or rugged ravine which in ancient times separated Mount Moriah from Mount Zion. This valley, now filled up with a vast accumulation of rubbish, and almost a plain, was spanned by bridges, the most noted of which was Zion Bridge, which was probably the ordinary means of communication between the royal palace on Zion and the temple. A fragment of the arch (q.v.) of this bridge (called “Robinson’s Arch”), where it projects from the sanctuary wall, was discovered by Robinson in 1839. This arch was destroyed by the Romans when Jerusalem was taken. The western wall of the temple area rose up from the bottom of this valley to the height of 84 feet, where it was on a level with the area, and above this, and as a continuance of it, the wall of Solomon’s cloister rose to the height of about 50 feet, “so that this section of the wall would originally present to view a stupendous mass of masonry scarcely to be surpassed by any mural masonry in the world.”