Huge Quarry from Second Temple Period Uncovered in Jerusalem

A huge quarry - one of the largest ever found in Jerusalem, dating from the end of the Second Temple period, in recent weeks is being uncovered by an Israel Antiquities Authority excavation in the Har Hotzvim industrial area in Jerusalem, funded by the Vitania real estate development company on its grounds.

The excavated area extends about 3,500 square meters and is just one section of a massive quarry. A stone tool was found at the site, which, according to Jewish law, does not become impure, and was widely used by the Jewish population in Temple times.

During the excavation, the archaeologists uncovered tens of various-sized building stones, as well as quarrying and cutting trenches whose outlines indicate the size of the blocks being quarried.

“Most of the building stones extracted from here were huge rock slabs, whose length reached 2.5 meters, their width was 1.2 meters and they were 40 centimeters thick,” explained Michael Chernin and Lara Shilov, excavation directors on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“Each such quarried block weighed two-and-a-half tons! The impressive size stones this quarry produced likely attests to their intended use in one of Jerusalem’s many royal construction projects in the late Second Temple period, beginning under King Herod the Great’s reign between 37-4 BCE.”

“Historical sources tell us that Herod’s construction projects in Jerusalem included, first and foremost, the expansion of the Temple Mount area and the Temple itself,” they added. (INN / VFI News)

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