JERUSALEM, Israel – A massive stone quarry from the Second Temple period has been uncovered in a Jerusalem industrial area. It’s the largest quarry ever discovered from the era before and shortly after the time of Christ.
According to a statement by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), “The excavation provides a glimpse into Jerusalem’s past at its zenith, just before the Romans destroyed it in 70 (AD).”
Another discovery of interest during the dig was a stone tool widely used by Jews during that era because the tool retained its purity according to Jewish Halachic law.
Archaeologists identified a number of cut stones of various sizes from the period, as well.
Michael Chernin and Lara Shilov, excavation directors for the IAA, explained, “Most of the building stones extracted from here were huge rock slabs, whose length reached (approximately 8 feet), their width was (4 feet) and they were (16 inches) thick.”
They added, “Each such quarried block weighed two-and-a-half tons! The impressive (sized) stones this quarry produced likely attest 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 (BC).”
King Herod oversaw expansions of the Temple Mount
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