EGN NEWS DESK
All Israel News – An Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) excavation within the Har Hotzvim high-tech industrial zone of Jerusalem has not too long ago dropped at gentle an enormous historic stone quarry. This web site, located north of the previous metropolis of Jerusalem, is likely one of the largest ever found within the metropolis. It dates again to the late Second Temple interval, across the 1st century A.D., which is the Roman interval.
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 within the metropolis’s technological sector.
Funded by the Vitania actual property growth firm, the excavation covers roughly 3,500 sq. meters (about 37,700 sq. ft) and represents solely a portion of this huge quarry. Among the numerous discoveries is an attractive and intriguing stone software that, in accordance with Jewish Halacha (spiritual regulation), stays ritually pure and was generally utilized by the Jewish neighborhood at the moment.
Throughout the excavation, archaeologists uncovered a large number of constructing stones in numerous sizes, together with trenches from quarrying and chopping that reveal the scale of the extracted blocks.
“Most of the stones extracted right here had been enormous rock slabs, measuring about 2.5 meters in size, 1.2 meters in width, and 40 centimeters in thickness,” mentioned Michael Chernin and Lara Shilov, the IAA excavation administrators.
“Each of those blocks weighed roughly two-and-a-half tons! The monumental dimension of those stones suggests they had been meant to be used in one in all Jerusalem’s many royal building tasks throughout the late Second Temple interval, beginning below the reign of King Herod the Great between 37-4 B.C. Historical data point out that Herod’s tasks in Jerusalem included the growth of the Temple Mount and the Temple itself,” the archaeologists added.
“Furthermore, throughout Herod’s reign, a number of grand public buildings, palaces, and fortifications had been constructed all through town, necessitating a big provide of high-quality building stones. Monumental constructing tasks continued below his successors, together with the numerous building of town’s “Third Wall” by Herod’s grandson, King Agrippa I, who dominated between 37-44 A.D.”
While excavating a secluded a part of the quarry, archaeologist Alex Pechuro made a outstanding discovery: A pristine stone vessel that had been hidden for practically two thousand years. This discover was virtually made by chance, including a component of shock to the excavation.
“This is a purification vessel product of stone, utilized by the Jewish neighborhood throughout the Second Temple interval,” Shilov defined. “It may have been produced on-site within the quarry or introduced particularly for the employees’ use.”
This discovery deepens our perception into Jerusalem’s vibrant historical past main as much as its destruction by the Romans in 70 A.D.
Dr. Amit Re’em, IAA Jerusalem District Supervisor, said: “We are diligently working with Vitania to protect and showcase the quarry, integrating it into the upcoming business complicated deliberate for the world. This will enable the general public to understand the grandeur of this important enterprise – quarrying the constructing stones for Jerusalem throughout the Second Temple interval.”
Chernin and Shilov added: “It is affordable to imagine, with warning, that a few of the stones extracted right here had been meant for use as pavement slabs for Jerusalem’s streets in that period.” In a separate excavation at present being carried out by the IAA within the City of David, archaeologists have uncovered a paved road known as the “Pilgrim’s Road” or the “stepped road.”
This thoroughfare, originating from the late Second Temple interval, throughout Roman domination, options paving stones that correspond in dimension, thickness and geological composition to these quarried from Har Hotzvim.
“The revelation of this huge quarry, particularly simply earlier than the Nine Days and the Ninth of Av, a interval when Jews worldwide mourn the destruction of Jerusalem, is deeply symbolic and poignant,” mentioned IAA Director Eli Escusido. “The distinctive stone vessels discovered right here will probably be displayed for households on the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Archaeological Campus in Jerusalem, which has not too long ago opened to the general public. I encourage everybody to affix our excursions and join with a chunk of historical past that has simply been unearthed.”
Amazingly, the positioning of this historic stone quarry is situated in a neighborhood known as “Har Hotzvim,” which suggests “The Hill of the Stonecutters” in Hebrew. Indeed, this title may make us imagine it has its origins on this historic quarry, however that’s not the case and it’s purely a matter of probability.
The present title originates from a quarry that operated within the space within the Nineteen Sixties. The title “Har Hotzvim” first appeared in official paperwork in a proposal for an industrial zone building challenge on the positioning, submitted in 1969 by the architect Zalman Einav.
Additionally, we all know that the not too long ago excavated stone quarry was partly found as early as 2021 by the archaeologist Moran Hadj’bi of the IAA. The newest discoveries are a major contribution to what has already been not too long ago uncovered.
Many stone quarries dated to the first century A.D. have been found in Israel and particularly within the environment of Jerusalem. This proves Jerusalem was a really important place for constructing throughout this era.
This article is republished from All Israel News with permission.
