{"id":11469,"date":"2024-08-20T10:03:17","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T14:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=11469"},"modified":"2024-08-21T08:49:09","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T12:49:09","slug":"massive-quarry-uncovered-in-jerusalem-dating-from-the-days-of-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/08\/massive-quarry-uncovered-in-jerusalem-dating-from-the-days-of-jesus.html","title":{"rendered":"Archeologists Discover Ancient Stones in Israel Matching Road Where \u2018Jesus Walked\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Israel Antiquities Authority \/ Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The largest ancient quarry ever discovered in Jerusalem has been revealed by archaeologists. The excavation site in Jerusalem\u2019s Har Hotzvim industrial area spans 3,500-square meters and reveals just a small portion of the massive quarry. Archaeologists have dated the quarry around the Second Temple Era and believe many of the large slabs of stone were used for King Herod\u2019s construction projects during the first century BC. One such project would include the 2,000-year-old Pilgrimage Road, a road that Jesus and His disciples would have walked. The road connects the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed a blind man in John 9, with the Jewish Temple.<\/p>\n

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced<\/a> \u201carchaeologists uncovered tens of various-sized building stones, as well as quarrying and cutting trenches whose outlines indicate the size of the blocks being quarried.\u201d Some of the stones weighed as much as 2.5 tons. Archaeologist Michael Chernin told The Times of Israel<\/em> that the quarry was most likely \u201cin use for decades during the end of the Second Temple period,\u201d until the Second Temple\u2019s destruction in 70 AD. He also reported there were other quarries within the area. Despite the massive size of the stones, Chernin said the ancient world was well-equipped to manage them. \u201cIn the ancient world, there were a lot of technologies to shape the stones, and special carts designed to carry them. The Old City isn\u2019t so far.\u201d He added, \u201cThe impressive sized stones this quarry produced likely attest to their intended use in one of Jerusalem\u2019s many royal construction projects in the late Second Temple period, beginning under King Herod the Great\u2019s reign in 37-4 BCE.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the archaeologists, historical records show that Herod had a number of construction projects ongoing, with a focus on expanding the Temple Mount area and the Temple. The Pilgrim\u2019s Road nearby appears to be built with rocks containing the same \u201cgeological signature\u201d as rocks found in the quarry, making it reasonable to conclude that at least some of the rocks could have been used in the Road\u2019s construction. The discovery of a stone vessel on the site, made in a method for purification of Jews, also indicates the presence of Jewish workers. \u201cThis is a stone purification vessel of the type that served the Jewish community during the Second Temple period. It is possible that it was produced on the spot in the quarry itself, or was especially brought to the site for the benefit of the workers,\u201d said<\/a> archaeologist Lara Shilov. IAA Director Eli Eskosido spoke of the discovery\u2019s divine timing. \u201cRevealing this huge quarry, just before the Nine Days and the Ninth of Av, the time of year when the Jewish People the world over mourns the Jerusalem that was lost in these days, is symbolic and very moving,\u201d he said. The stone vessels will be placed in the Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein National Archaeological Campus in Jerusalem for public viewing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The largest ancient quarry ever discovered in Jerusalem has been revealed by archaeologists. The excavation site in Jerusalem\u2019s Har Hotzvim industrial area spans 3,500-square meters and reveals just a small portion of the massive quarry. Archaeologists have dated the quarry around the Second Temple Era and believe many of the large slabs of stone were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":11463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[102,18,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archaeology","category-holy-site","category-jerusalem"],"yoast_head":"\nArcheologists Discover Ancient Stones in Israel Matching Road Where \u2018Jesus Walked\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/08\/massive-quarry-uncovered-in-jerusalem-dating-from-the-days-of-jesus.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Archeologists Discover Ancient Stones in Israel Matching Road Where \u2018Jesus Walked\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The largest ancient quarry ever discovered in Jerusalem has been revealed by archaeologists. The excavation site in Jerusalem\u2019s Har Hotzvim industrial area spans 3,500-square meters and reveals just a small portion of the massive quarry. Archaeologists have dated the quarry around the Second Temple Era and believe many of the large slabs of stone were…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/08\/massive-quarry-uncovered-in-jerusalem-dating-from-the-days-of-jesus.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christ News Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-20T14:03:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-21T12:49:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2024\/08\/jerusalem-quarry_credit-Israel-Antiquities-Authority-Facebook.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cecilia Buchanan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Archeologists Discover Ancient Stones in Israel Matching Road Where \u2018Jesus Walked\u2019","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/08\/massive-quarry-uncovered-in-jerusalem-dating-from-the-days-of-jesus.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Archeologists Discover Ancient Stones in Israel Matching Road Where \u2018Jesus Walked\u2019","og_description":"The largest ancient quarry ever discovered in Jerusalem has been revealed by archaeologists. The excavation site in Jerusalem\u2019s Har Hotzvim industrial area spans 3,500-square meters and reveals just a small portion of the massive quarry. Archaeologists have dated the quarry around the Second Temple Era and believe many of the large slabs of stone were…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/08\/massive-quarry-uncovered-in-jerusalem-dating-from-the-days-of-jesus.html","og_site_name":"Christ News Today","article_published_time":"2024-08-20T14:03:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-21T12:49:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2024\/08\/jerusalem-quarry_credit-Israel-Antiquities-Authority-Facebook.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cecilia 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