All Israel News – An Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) excavation within the Har Hotzvim high-tech industrial zone of Jerusalem has recently delivered to light an enormous ancient stone quarry. This site, situated north of the old city of Jerusalem, is one in all the biggest ever discovered in town. It dates back to the late Second Temple period, across the 1st century A.D., which is the Roman period.
Har Hotzvim, established within the early Nineteen Seventies, is a high-tech industrial park in northern Jerusalem. It serves as a hub for a lot of high-tech corporations in town’s technological sector.
Funded by the Vitania real estate development company, the excavation covers roughly 3,500 square meters (about 37,700 square feet) and represents only a portion of this vast quarry. Among the numerous discoveries is a phenomenal and intriguing stone tool that, based on Jewish Halacha (religious law), stays ritually pure and was commonly utilized by the Jewish community at the moment.
Throughout the excavation, archaeologists uncovered a mess of constructing stones in numerous sizes, together with trenches from quarrying and cutting that reveal the scale of the extracted blocks.
“Most of the stones extracted here were huge rock slabs, measuring about 2.5 meters in length, 1.2 meters in width, and 40 centimeters in thickness,” said Michael Chernin and Lara Shilov, the IAA excavation directors.
“Each of those blocks weighed roughly two-and-a-half tons! The enormous size of those stones suggests they were intended to be used in one in all Jerusalem’s many royal construction projects through the late Second Temple period, starting under the reign of King Herod the Great between 37-4 B.C. Historical records indicate that Herod’s projects in Jerusalem included the expansion of the Temple Mount and the Temple itself,” the archaeologists added.
“Furthermore, during Herod’s reign, several grand public buildings, palaces, and fortifications were built throughout town, necessitating a big supply of high-quality construction stones. Monumental constructing projects continued under his successors, including the numerous construction of town’s “Third Wall” by Herod’s grandson, King Agrippa I, who ruled between 37-44 A.D.”
While excavating a secluded a part of the quarry, archaeologist Alex Pechuro made a remarkable discovery: A pristine stone vessel that had been hidden for nearly two thousand years. This find was almost made by accident, adding a component of surprise to the excavation.
“This is a purification vessel made from stone, utilized by the Jewish community through the Second Temple period,” Shilov explained. “It might have been produced on-site within the quarry or brought specifically for the employees’ use.”
This discovery deepens our insight into Jerusalem’s vibrant history leading as much as its destruction by the Romans in 70 A.D.
Dr. Amit Re’em, IAA Jerusalem District Supervisor, stated: “We are diligently working with Vitania to preserve and showcase the quarry, integrating it into the upcoming business complex planned for the world. This will allow the general public to understand the grandeur of this significant enterprise – quarrying the constructing stones for Jerusalem through the Second Temple period.”
Chernin and Shilov added: “It is cheap to assume, with caution, that a few of the stones extracted here were meant for use as pavement slabs for Jerusalem’s streets in that era.” In a separate excavation currently being conducted by the IAA within the City of David, archaeologists have uncovered a paved street known as the “Pilgrim’s Road” or the “stepped street.”
This thoroughfare, originating from the late Second Temple period, during Roman domination, features paving stones that correspond in size, thickness and geological composition to those quarried from Har Hotzvim.
“The revelation of this vast quarry, especially just before the Nine Days and the Ninth of Av, a period when Jews worldwide mourn the destruction of Jerusalem, is deeply symbolic and poignant,” said IAA Director Eli Escusido. “The unique stone vessels found here can be displayed for families on the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Archaeological Campus in Jerusalem, which has recently opened to the general public. I encourage everyone to affix our tours and connect with a chunk of history that has just been unearthed.”
Amazingly, the positioning of this ancient stone quarry is positioned in a neighborhood called “Har Hotzvim,” which suggests “The Hill of the Stonecutters” in Hebrew. Indeed, this name might make us imagine it has its origins on this ancient quarry, but that will not be the case and it is solely a matter of probability.
The current name originates from a quarry that operated in the world within the Nineteen Sixties. The name “Har Hotzvim” first appeared in official documents in a proposal for an industrial zone construction project on the positioning, submitted in 1969 by the architect Zalman Einav.
Additionally, we all know that the recently excavated stone quarry was partly discovered as early as 2021 by the archaeologist Moran Hadj’bi of the IAA. The latest discoveries are a major contribution to what has already been recently uncovered.
Many stone quarries dated to the first century A.D. have been discovered in Israel and particularly in the environment of Jerusalem. This proves Jerusalem was a really significant place for constructing during this era.
This article is republished from All Israel News with permission.
