The Western Wall Tunnels in Jerusalem
The Western Wall as visitors know it is only a piece
The first excavations along the Western Wall were begun in the nineteenth century by the British archaeologists Charles Wilson and Charles Warren. After the conclusion of the Six Day War, Israel’s Ministry of Religious Affairs spearheaded an excavation of the entire Western Wall. This complicated process was undertaken with the help of engineers, to make sure that the walls did not collapse.
To this day, the expertise of engineers accompanies each step of the delicate excavation process, which includes making the tunnels visitor-friendly, handicap accessible, and air-conditioned, while still maintaining the original condition of the site.
It is only in the tunnels that the streets of thousands of years ago, in their original form, still endure in Jerusalem. Archaeologists have found a marketplace in the tunnels that they estimate was in use during the time of the Second Temple, and possibly even earlier. The carved stone passageways date back to Herodian and the even earlier Hasmonean periods.
Stones weighing more than 500 tons (the weight of about 70 elephants) form the foundation of the Western Wall. It is possible now to see, from markings on the stones, that they were transported through means of technology that was remarkably complex for the period.
These streets were transformed into tunnels after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem, when the Muslims decided to link the two higher parts of the city above the valley in between. Thus they built arches over the streets, turning them into tunnels, and put them to use as cisterns and sewage tunnels.
Above, the sunny Old City is bustling with visitors, markets, and children at play. Below, history lies in wait, whispering its secrets to passersby in the darkness
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