Archaeologists have uncovered a 2,000-year-old complex of three rooms near the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The two-millennia-old subterranean complex, believed to have been chiselled out of bedrock by iron hammers prior to the siege, conquest and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70, baffles Israeli Antiquity Authority archaeologists due to its unusual nature.
“This is a unique finding…You must understand that 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, like today, it was customary to build out of stone [blocks]. The question is, why were such efforts and resources invested in hewing rooms underground in the hard bedrock?” IAA co-directors Barak Monnickendam-Givon and Tehila Sadiel said in a press release on Tuesday.
Archaeologists say the unusual subterranean structure, connected by stairs, was discovered under the floor of the Beit Strauss complex, a large Byzantine-era building erected some 1,400 years ago which now serves as an entrance lobby to the Western Wall Tunnels.
In addition to some unique decorative stone block carving work, archaeologists found ancient household objects, including clay cooking vessels, the cores of oil maps, a unique stone mug, and a large basin used to hold water and possibly used in ancient Jewish spiritual rituals. The walls of the rooms also had areas carved into them which apparently served as storage spaces, as well as spots to place lanterns.
Monnickendam-Givon believes the underground rooms may have been just a part of a larger structure that’s since been lost to history. In any event, the excavation is still “very much a work in progress,” the archaeologist says.
Captured by Roman client king Herod the Great in 37 BC from the Hasmonean dynasty, Jerusalem came under direct Roman rule in 4 BC. The local population rebelled against their Roman rulers in The Great Revolt of 66-73 AD, establishing a Judean provisional government in Jerusalem. Following a brutal 5 month-long siege of the city in 70 AD, the Romans captured Jerusalem, destroying the Second Temple, and burning, sacking and plundering the rest of the ancient city.