A vast quarry dating back to the late Second Temple period has been unearthed in Jerusalem's Har Hotzvim Hi-Tech Park, offering new insights into the city's ancient construction industry. The excavation, led by the Israel Antiquities Authority, has yielded rare stone vessels and enormous building blocks, potentially linked to King Herod's ambitious architectural projects, including the expansion of the Temple Mount.
The excavated area covers about 37,700 square feet and is part of a larger quarry complex. Archaeologists have discovered stone vessels at the site, which, according to Jewish law, do not contract ritual impurity and are characteristic of the Jewish population. During the dig, archaeologists uncovered dozens of building stones of various sizes, as well as quarrying and separation channels, indicating the scale of the rock blocks extracted from the site.
According to the Israel Antiquities Authority's Michael Chernin and Lara Shilov, the majority of building stones quarried at the site are enormous rock slabs. These massive stones typically measured around 8 feet in length, 4 feet in width, and 16 inches in thickness. Each of these colossal blocks weighed approximately 2.5 tons. Chernin and Shilov noted that the sheer size of these stones indicates they were likely destined for use in one of the numerous state-sponsored construction projects in Jerusalem during the late Second Temple period. These projects began during the reign of King Herod the Great, who ruled from 37 to 4 BCE.
Historical sources indicate that Herod's construction projects in Jerusalem primarily focused on expanding the Temple Mount area and renovating the Temple itself. Additionally, his reign saw the construction of numerous impressive public buildings throughout the city, including palaces and fortifications, which required vast quantities of high-quality building stones. Monumental construction projects continued under Herod's successors, with the most significant being the construction of the city's "Third Wall" by Herod's grandson, King Agrippa I (37-44 CE).
Chernin and Shilov speculated that a portion of the stones extracted from this quarry may have been used as paving materials for Jerusalem's streets during the period in question. They base this speculation on findings from a separate, recent excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the City of David. This dig uncovered a paved thoroughfare known as the Stepped Street or Pilgrims' Road, which dates back to the late Second Temple era. Intriguingly, the paving stones found on this ancient street match the dimensions, thickness, and geological makeup of the stone slabs currently being unearthed at the Har Hotzvim quarry site. This similarity suggests a potential link between the two locations and their roles in ancient Jerusalem's urban development.
In one corner of the quarry, archaeologists made a surprising discovery: an intact stone vessel. Hidden for two millennia, the vessel was found almost by chance by archaeologist Alex Wiegmann. Shilov explained, "This is a ritual purity vessel made of stone, a type commonly used by the Jewish community during the Second Temple period. It may have been crafted on-site in the quarry area, or perhaps brought specifically to serve the quarry workers."
The ongoing excavation sheds new light on Jerusalem's history during its golden age, shortly before its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE.
Amit Re'em, Jerusalem district archeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority, explained, "We are working diligently with the developer to showcase the quarry and integrate it into the planned commercial complex. This will allow the public to appreciate the massive scale of stone quarrying operations for Jerusalem during the Second Temple period."
Eli Escusido, director-general of the Israel Antiquities Authority, remarked, "The unveiling of this enormous quarry, just before the Nine Days and Tisha B'Av, carries great symbolic and emotional significance. The unique stone vessels discovered here will be displayed to families at the National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem, which is open to the public for the first time this summer. I encourage everyone to join our tours and experience a piece of history that has just emerged from the ground."
