The quarry from which the stones were brought for the expansion of the temple by Herod was discovered

The quarry was discovered during work to build a school in an ultra-orthodox neighborhood in the Shuafat Ridge * The buildings built from these stones survived for only about 70 years, until the destruction of the Temple in the Great Revolt * Just about a week ago, the Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of a drainage ditch where the residents of Jerusalem hid during the rebellion

Archaeologists of the Antiquities Authority discovered a quarry in Jerusalem where King Herod's workers cut the huge rocks that were used to rebuild the Second Temple in Jerusalem, about two thousand years ago.
The Antiquities Authority said on Sunday that the researchers believe that the rocks, 8 meters long and XNUMX meter wide, were produced from the pit in Shuafat and were dragged by oxen to the construction site of the Temple in Jerusalem.
The quarry was discovered during salvage excavations during the construction of a school in Ramat Shlomo, an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in the Shuafat Ridge north of the Old City. The site is near the place where the main road to Jerusalem was located in the Roman period and that the heavy stones were brought down to the Temple which is at a lower height of about 80 meters. "The construction included the walls of the Temple and other monumental buildings," said the announcement of the Antiquities Authority. For the first time, a complete splitting stake was found on the site, which was left on the spot by the unknown carvers, along with coins and fragments of pottery dating to the first century AD - the peak period of construction enterprises during the Second Temple period.
Some of the bricks that were discovered in the area are reminiscent of the rocks found to this day in the lower part of the Temple Mount complex. In a place where, according to Jewish tradition, the first Temple was built by Solomon around the year one thousand BC. There is little archaeological evidence from the First Temple period, but the Second Temple was recorded and left behind remains. At the end of his reign, in the last years before AD, King Herod renovated and expanded the Second Temple, which was destroyed in 70 AD after the failure of the Great Rebellion and its destruction by the Romans.

The drainage canal through which the city's residents escaped during the uprising
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The drainage ditch where the residents of Jerusalem hid. Photo: Antiquities Authority website

Just last week, the Antiquities Authority announced another important discovery in Jerusalem. The excavations of the Antiquities Authority in the City of David for the purpose of uncovering the main street of Jerusalem from the time of the Second Temple, the main drainage canal of the city was discovered according to evidence from the letters of Joseph ben Matthew: to this canal the inhabitants of the city fled during the rebellion to hide from the Romans.

In the excavations conducted by the Antiquities Authority in collaboration with the Elad Company in the "Surrounding the Walls of Jerusalem" National Park, about 70 meters of the main drainage canal of the city of Jerusalem from the Second Temple period have been uncovered so far. The canal is on the road from the Temple Mount to the Shiloh Pool. The canal that passes under the main street of the city and probably continues to the Kidron stream at the Dead Sea, drained the rainwater of ancient Jerusalem; The Jewish Quarter, the western area of ​​the City of David and the Temple Mount.

The canal is built of limestone and covered with heavy stone slabs which are actually the paving stones of the street. The height of the canal reaches in some places up to about 3 meters and its width is about a meter, so you can walk in it comfortably.

According to the managers of the excavations, Prof. Roni Reich from the University of Haifa and Eli Shukron from the Antiquities Authority, in the last two thousand years the valley has been clogged with thick layers of silt and landslides. That is why the Antiquities Authority was required to dig about 10 meters in order to reveal the main street of Jerusalem and the canal below it. "There is evidence that appears in the writings of Joseph ben Matthew, the historian who described the siege, occupation and destruction of Jerusalem, that many people found refuge in the canal and even lived there for a while until they escaped out of the city through the southern part" they added.

Pottery, fragments of vessels and coins from the end of the Second Temple period, before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, were discovered in the canal.

The northern part of the canal, which has not yet been excavated, probably reaches the area of ​​the Western Wall where a large drainage canal was previously found which is a continuation of the canal that was uncovered in the southern part of the City of David. The construction of the canal is characterized by advanced technological thinking. The more one runs along the canal, the deeper its depth under the ground increases to allow the flow of rainwater into the Kidron stream.