Western Wall Tunnel

The Western Wall Tunnel ( Hebrew: מנהרת הכותל / Minheret Hakotel ) is a tunnel that extends over the entire length of the Western Wall. The tunnel runs adjacent to the Western Wall and is located under buildings of the Old City of Jerusalem. During the open -access portion of the Western Wall is only about 60 meters long, the majority of the Western Wall is not exposed and is located in the underground. The tunnel giving access to a length 485 of additional meters.

History

In the year 19 BC King Herod began a construction project in the area of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. To the Temple Mount four supporting walls were built, and the Temple Mount has been increased up to the supporting walls. These retaining walls remained, even after the Temple was destroyed itself in 70 AD by the Romans.

After 70 years, however, large parts of the walls were demolished. Only a part of the former western border remained; today's Western Wall. A much larger part of the western wall of the former temple, however, is to this day in the underground and was overbuilt.

Excavation

British researchers began excavations at the Western Wall in the middle of the 19th century. Charles Wilson in 1864, followed by Charles Warren from 1867 to 1870. Wilson discovered a bow, which was named after him, the Wilson -loop, which is 12.8 meters wide and is located above the present ground level. It is assumed that the arc was part of a bridge that connected the Temple Mount with the city during the Second Temple period.

After the Six -Day War, the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Israel began with excavations with the aim to expose the entire west wall of the temple. The excavations lasted almost 20 years and brought many previously unknown facts about the history and geography of the Temple Mount on the day. To make matters worse this is that the underground part of the Western Wall runs under residential areas on through buildings from the Second Temple period. The monitoring of the excavations done by scientific and religious experts. Since 1988, excavations, maintenance and renovation of the west wall and the square in front of it by the government-controlled foundation for the heritage of the Western Wall are financed.

Properties of the tunnel

The tunnel has a total length of 485 meters. With the help of the tunnel, the entire surviving west wall of the temple is accessible. During the excavations many archaeological discoveries were made, including finds from the time of Herod (roads, masonry ), sections of a reconstruction of the Western Wall from the time of the Umayyads and various buildings from the period of the Hasmoneans, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods.

The Warren - gate is about 46 m deep in the tunnel. At this small, closed-off entrance erected Rabbi Yehuda Getz a small synagogue. At this point a Jew can come to the Holy of Holies of the former temple the next. At the northern part of the west wall were the remains of an aqueduct, which originally supplied water to the Temple Mount, have been found. The channel leads through a process known as Struthion pool underground pool of water, but the exact source of the channel is not known.

The biggest stone in the Western Wall, often called the lawsuit stone, is also within the tunnel and is considered one of the heaviest items that has ever been moved by humans without modern machinery power. The stone has a length of 13.6 meters and an estimated width of 3.5 meters and 4.5. It has a weight of 510 tons.

Adjacent to the tunnel is located (chain of generations) of Eliav Nahlieli a museum called Sharsheret Ha Dorot. It shows ancient and modern Jewish history and includes an audio-visual show and nine glass sculptures, glass artist Jeremy Langford has created.

2007 of the Israel Antiquities Authority ( IAA) exposed an ancient Roman road, probably from the second to the fourth century. It was a side road that is likely connected two important streets and led to the Temple Mount. The discovery of the road made ​​it clear that the Romans in 70 AD have further used the Temple Mount after the destruction of the Temple in.