8 June 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

2000-year-old quarry discovered in Jerusalem that could be the source of Second temple stones

Archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old quarry in Har Hotzvim, now an industrial park in Jerusalem.

The Israel Antiquities Authority said Sunday that archaeologists excavating in Jerusalem uncovered a 2,000-year-old stone quarry, as well as a variety of enormous building blocks in various phases of pre-construction.

Har Hotzvim, one of Jerusalem’s key hi-tech centers, gets its name – which means “Quarrymen’s Hill” in Hebrew – from a far older industrial activity.

The quarry was uncovered during a salvage excavation before the start of a new construction project. Archaeologists believe the huge quarry unearthed in Har Hotzvim dates to the first century BCE and was active during the time of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

The excavation’s director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority Moran Hagbi, “The large-scale building projects in ancient Jerusalem, such as the Temple Mount, required a vast amount of building materials and the ability to organize and coordinate the quarrying and transportation of thousands of building blocks to the ancient city,” he said.

A 2,000-year-old stone quarry discovered in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Hotzvim. (Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority)
A 2,000-year-old stone quarry discovered in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Hotzvim. (Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority)

The partially excavated quarry is 600 square meters in size, but researchers believe it may be two or three times larger.

To better understand how ancient workers operated, scientists plan to recreate tools and techniques known to be used at the time to test their effectiveness. Archaeologists are also considering evaluating the effectiveness of methods mentioned in biblical texts,  the IAA said.

A 2,000-year-old stone quarry discovered in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Hotzvim. (Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority)
Photo: Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority

“For us as archaeologists, this quarry presents a golden opportunity. Because some of the stones were left in situ in this way, we can copy ancient technologies and experiment with them in order to recreate the processes by which the building stones were quarried,” Hagbi said.

Second Temple
The Second Temple, model in the Israel Museum, 2008. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The period of the Second Temple is known as the period of magnificent construction projects in Jerusalem. In the first century BC, until the city was destroyed by the Romans, Jerusalem completely changed its appearance. The temple was expanded and several monumental buildings and other infrastructure were built. All these tasks required a lot of building materials.

Israel Antiquities Authority’s general director Eli Escosido said: “In a symbolic way, Jerusalem’s current development boom presents us with an opportunity to excavate and research the great building projects in Jerusalem in antiquity.”

Banner
Related Post

Archaeologists in Iraq find 2,700-year-old wine press

24 October 2021

24 October 2021

Stone bas-reliefs carved into the walls of an irrigation canal some nine kilometers (5.5 miles) long, and the remains of...

Evil-Wisher Well: Ancient curse tablets 2,500-year-old found in a well in Athens

14 July 2022

14 July 2022

30 ancient curse tablets were found at the bottom of a 2500-year-old well in ancient Athens. In 2020, Archaeologists from...

Scientists Use Artificial İntelligence to Study Ancient Australian Rock Art

1 April 2021

1 April 2021

Rock art is the oldest surviving human art form. Throughout Australia, petroglyphs are part of the life and customs of...

South Ockendon’s Belhus Park Golf Course: A Tudor Garden Discovered

15 July 2021

15 July 2021

Under a golf course, the ruins of Tudor and Jacobean gardens were unearthed. Aerial images of Belhus Park Golf Course...

The New Study, Reveals Invisible Stews

25 November 2022

25 November 2022

New Results of Organic Residue Analyzes of Beveled Rim Bowls in Mesopotamia Reveal Invisible Stews. The world’s first urban state...

One of the greatest gold treasures in Danish history found in Vindelev

6 September 2021

6 September 2021

Near the town of Jelling in Denmark, one of the biggest treasures ever found dating from the sixth century has...

Scientists find the oldest evidence of humans in Israel -a 1.5 million-year-old Human vertebra

3 February 2022

3 February 2022

An international group of Israeli and American researchers, an ancient human vertebra has been uncovered in Israel’s Jordan Valley that...

The Earliest Evidence of a Domesticated Dog in the Arabian Peninsula

9 April 2021

9 April 2021

Dogs have been the best friend of humans since ancient times. Although it is not known exactly when dogs were...

Earthquakes caused slight damage to Hatay Archeology Museum

10 February 2023

10 February 2023

The Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a press release on the latest status of museums and...

Archaeologists find rare treasure in Suzdal of Russia

15 August 2021

15 August 2021

The twentieth season of fieldwork brought an unexpected discovery to the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences....

2600-year-old Med period artifacts found in Oluz Höyük, in Turkey

17 October 2022

17 October 2022

During the Oluz Höyük excavations in Amasya, artifacts dating back to the Med Kingdom period were found, dating back to...

Arrowhead from the Biblical Battle Discovered in the Hometown of the Giant Goliath’s

30 May 2021

30 May 2021

A bone arrowhead discovered in the ancient Philistine city of Gath might have been used fired off by the city’s...

Unique Viking Age sword found in Norway

14 June 2022

14 June 2022

A piece of a sword was found last year on a farm in Gausel, in Stavanger, on Norway‘s west coast,...

Ancient Roman coin thought to be fake -certainly authentic and proves the existence of ‘forgotten’ leader Sponsian, study claims

26 November 2022

26 November 2022

History is littered with artifacts that were later discovered to be forgeries, but the opposite can also occur. A new...

12,000-year-old ‘public building’ unearthed in southeastern Turkey’s Mardin

27 September 2022

27 September 2022

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a “public building” thought to be 12,000 years old at Boncuklu Tarla in the...

Comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *