The Western Stone is a monolithic stone ashlar block forming part of the lower level of the

Western Wall The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط � ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. This largest stone in the Western Wall is visible within the

Western Wall Tunnel The Western Wall Tunnel ( he, מנהרת הכותל, translit.: ''Minharat Hakotel'') is a tunnel exposing the Western Wall from where the traditional, open-air prayer site ends and up to the Wall's northern end. Most of the tunnel is in continua ...

. It is one of the largest building blocks in the world.

Dimensions

Exposed face

The stone's exposed face can be freely measured and is long and high, but its width, or depth, is hidden within the wall.

Depth

In June 2006, Harry M. Jol, from the

University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UW–Eau Claire, UWEC or simply Eau Claire) is a public university in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's and master's degrees. UW–Eau Claire h ...

, performed GPR measurements to determine the depth of the stone. The conclusion of his team was that its depth ranges from approximately .

Weight

The resulting calculated weight of the stone block is of 250–300 tonnes.Harry M. Jol, Paul D. Bauman and Dan Bahat: ''Looking into the Western Wall, Jerusalem, Israel''. Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR 2006), June 19 - 22, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA, Papers on CD-ROM. Also in: Dan Bahat, ''The Jerusalem Western Wall Tunnel'', Israel Exploration Society, 2013, pp. 395-40.

Pre-2006 estimates

A previous estimate of the stone's depth was , a multiple of the GPR measurement, and led to a calculated total weight of 567 tonnes.The History Channel, in "Lost Worlds of King Herod", cited a 16.5 m depth and 567 tonnes estimate Dan Bahat: Touching the Stones of our Heritage, Israeli ministry of Religious Affairs, 2002 Other pre-2006 sources circulated similar figures, namely 550 to 600 t. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation (WWHF) website indicates, as of March 2020, an estimated depth of , with an estimated weight of "several hundred tons", thus moderating its former estimated weight of 517

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton (United States c ...

(570

short tons The short ton (symbol tn) is a measurement unit equal to . It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton, although the term is ambiguous, the single word being variously used for short, long, and metric ton. The vari ...

);

Location

The stone is located in a section of the

(in the broader meaning of the term) north of Wilson's Arch, below ground level, and can be accessed through the Western Wall tunnels. It is part of the "Great Course", a name used by the WWHF for the tallest and longest course (layer of stones) of the Western Wall. Its stone blocks are of Herodian age, and the stones next to the Western Stone are, in sequence, , , and long, respectively.

References

{{coord missing, Israel Archaeological artifacts Western Wall Tabernacle and Temples in Jerusalem Stones