The Western Wall Tunnel ( he, מנהרת הכותל,
translit.: ''Minharat Hakotel'') is a
tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
exposing 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 ...
from where the traditional, open-air prayer site ends and up to the Wall's northern end. Most of the tunnel is in continuation of the open-air Western Wall and is located under buildings of the Muslim Quarter of the
Old City of Jerusalem
The Old City of Jerusalem ( he, הָעִיר הָעַתִּיקָה, translit=ha-ir ha-atiqah; ar, البلدة القديمة, translit=al-Balda al-Qadimah; ) is a walled area in East Jerusalem.
The Old City is traditionally divided into ...
. While the open-air portion of the Western Wall is approximately long, the majority of its original length of is hidden underground. The tunnel allows access to the remainder of the Wall in a northerly direction.
The tunnel is connected to several adjacent excavated underground spaces, many of which can be visited together with the main tunnel. For this reason the plural form, Western Wall Tunnels, is often being used.
History
In 19 BCE, King
Herod undertook a project to double the area of the
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...
in Jerusalem by incorporating part of the hill on the Northwest. In order to do so, four retaining walls were constructed, and the Temple Mount was expanded on top of them. These retaining walls remained standing, along with the platform itself, after the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.
Since then much of the area next to the walls became covered and built upon.
Part of the Western Wall remained exposed after the destruction of the Temple. Since it was the closest area to the Temple’s Holy of Holies that remained accessible, it became a place of Jewish prayer for millennia.
Excavation
British researchers started excavating the Western Wall in the mid 19th century. Charles Wilson began the excavations in 1864 and was followed by
Charles Warren
General Sir Charles Warren, (7 February 1840 – 21 January 1927) was an officer in the British Royal Engineers. He was one of the earliest European archaeologists of the Biblical Holy Land, and particularly of the Temple Mount. Much of his mi ...
in 1867–70. Wilson discovered an arch now named for him, "
Wilson's Arch" which was wide and is above present-day ground level. It is believed that the arch supported a bridge which connected the Temple Mount to the city during the
Second Temple Period
The Second Temple period in Jewish history lasted approximately 600 years (516 BCE - 70 CE), during which the Second Temple existed. It started with the return to Zion and the construction of the Second Temple, while it ended with the First Je ...
.
Warren dug shafts through Wilson’s Arch which are still visible today.
After the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...
, the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Israel began the excavations aimed at exposing the continuation of the Western Wall. The excavations lasted almost twenty years and revealed many previously unknown facts about the history and geography of the Temple Mount. The excavations were difficult to conduct, as the tunnels ran below residential neighborhoods constructed on top of ancient structures from the
Second Temple Period
The Second Temple period in Jewish history lasted approximately 600 years (516 BCE - 70 CE), during which the Second Temple existed. It started with the return to Zion and the construction of the Second Temple, while it ended with the First Je ...
. The excavations were conducted with the supervision of scientific and rabbinic experts. This was to ensure both the stability of the structures above and to prevent damaging the historic artifacts.
In 1988 the
Western Wall Heritage Foundation was formed,
it took over the excavation,
maintenance and renovations of the Western Wall and
Western Wall Plaza.
Features
Western Wall section
The tunnel exposes 300 m of the wall's total 445 m, revealing the construction methods and the various activities in the vicinity of the Temple Mount.
The excavations included many archaeological finds along the way, including discoveries from the
Herodian
Herodian or Herodianus ( el, Ἡρωδιανός) of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death o ...
period (streets, monumental masonry), sections of a reconstruction of the Western Wall dating to the
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
period, and various structures dating to the
Ayyubid
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin ...
,
Mamluke
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...
and
Hasmonean periods constructed to support buildings in the vicinity of the Temple Mount.
Warren's Gate
"
Warren's Gate
Warren's Gate ( he, שער וורן, Sha'ar Varen), first described by nineteenth century surveyor Charles Warren, is an ancient entrance into the Temple platform in Jerusalem which lies about into the Western Wall Tunnel. In the Second Temple pe ...
" lies about into the tunnel. This sealed-off entrance was for hundreds of years a small synagogue called "The Cave", where the early Muslims allowed the Jews to pray in close proximity to the ruins of the Temple. Rabbi
Yehuda Getz built a synagogue just outside the gate, since today it is the closest point a Jew can pray near to the
Holy of Holies
The Holy of Holies (Hebrew: ''Qōḏeš haqQŏḏāšīm'' or ''Kodesh HaKodashim''; also הַדְּבִיר ''haDəḇīr'', 'the Sanctuary') is a term in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle, where God's pres ...
, assuming it was located at the traditional site under the
Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock ( ar, قبة الصخرة, Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra) is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, a site also known to Muslims as the ''al-Haram al-Sharif'' or the Al-Aqsa Compound. Its initial ...
.
Hasmonean Channel
Beyond the northern end of the Western Wall, remains were found of a
water channel that originally supplied water to the Temple Mount. The exact source of the channel is unknown, though it passes through an underground pool known as the "
Struthion Pool
The Struthion Pool, effectually translated from the Greek as 'Sparrow Pool' ( Aramaic: אשווח צפרא) is a large cuboid cistern beneath the Convent of the Sisters of Zion in the Old City of Jerusalem, built by Herod the Great in the first cen ...
". The water channel was dated to the
Hasmonean period and was accordingly dubbed the "
Hasmonean Channel".
517-tonne stone
The biggest stone in the Western Wall, often called the
Western Stone
The Western Stone is a monolithic stone ashlar block forming part of the lower level of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This largest stone in the Western Wall is visible within the Western Wall Tunnel. It is one of the largest building blocks in t ...
, is also revealed within the tunnel, and ranks as one of the heaviest objects ever lifted by human beings without powered machinery. The stone has a length of , height of , and an estimated width of between and ; estimates place its weight at .
Chain of Generations Center
Adjacent to the tunnel are the remains of
Second Temple period
The Second Temple period in Jewish history lasted approximately 600 years (516 BCE - 70 CE), during which the Second Temple existed. It started with the return to Zion and the construction of the Second Temple, while it ended with the First Je ...
,
Crusader, and
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
structures. In the restored rooms, the Western Wall Foundation has created the
Chain of Generations Center, a Jewish history museum designed by Eliav Nahlieli that includes an audiovisual show and nine glass sculptures created by glass artist
Jeremy Langford
Jeremy Langford (born December 6, 1991) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He played college football at Michigan State, and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Early years
Langfor ...
.
Roman street to the Temple Mount
In 2007, the
Israel Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of ...
uncovered an ancient Roman street thought to be from the second to fourth centuries. It was a side street which likely connected two major roads, and led up to the Temple Mount. The discovery of the road gave further evidence that Romans continued to use the Temple Mount after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. Excavations at the site continued as late as 2014, led by archaeologists Peter Gendelman and Ortal Chalaf on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
Struthion Pool
The Struthion Pool (sometimes described as the "Struthion Pools", in the plural), is a large cuboid cistern, which gathered the
rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
water from
guttering on the Forum buildings. Prior to Hadrian, this cistern had been an open-air pool, but Hadrian added arch vaulting to enable the pavement to be placed over it. The existence of the pool in the first century is attested by
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
, who reports that it was called "Struthius" (sparrow). This Struthion Pool was originally built as part of an open-air water
conduit by the Hasmoneans, which has since been enclosed; the source of the water for this conduit is currently unidentified.
As a result of 1971 extensions to the original Western Wall Tunnel, the Hasmonean water system, which runs under
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
housing, became linked to the end of the Western Wall Tunnel, and later opened as a tourist attraction. The course takes a linear route starting at the Western Wall Plaza and passes through the modern tunnels and the ancient water system, ending at the Struthion Pool. The
Sisters of Zion do not allow tourists to exit into the convent at the Struthion Pool, so tourists return through the narrow tunnels to the starting point, although this does create some
logistical problems.
Northern exit
Originally, visitors had to retrace their steps back to the entrance. A connection to the Hasmonean water system was made, but this still required them to make a U-turn once they had reached the Struthion Pool. Digging an alternative exit from the tunnel was proposed, but initially rejected on the grounds that any exit would be seen as an attempt by the Jewish authorities to stake a claim to ownership of the nearby land — part of the Muslim Quarter of the city. In 1996, however,
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
authorized the creation of an exit leading to the ''
Via Dolorosa
The ''Via Dolorosa'' (Latin, 'Sorrowful Way', often translated 'Way of Suffering'; ar, طريق الآلام; Hebrew: ויה דולורוזה) is a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem. It represents the path that Jesus would have t ...
'', underneath the
Ummariya madrasah. Over the subsequent few weeks,
80 people were killed as a result of riots against the creation of the exit.
A modern wall divides the Struthion pool into two parts, preventing access between them. One side is visible from the western wall tunnels, and the other area is accessible from the Convent of the Sisters of Zion. Since then, it has been possible for large numbers of tourists to enter the tunnel's southern entrance near the Western Wall, walk the tunnel's length with a tour guide, and exit from the northern end. This exit is only open during daytime, owing to continued security concerns.
See also
*
Excavations at the Temple Mount
A number of archaeological excavations at the Temple Mount—a celebrated and contentious religious site in the Old City of Jerusalem—have taken place over the last 150 years. Excavations in the area represent one of the more sensitive areas ...
*
Archaeology of Israel
The archaeology of Israel is the study of the archaeology of the present-day Israel, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. The ancient Land of Israel was a geographical bridge between the political and cultu ...
*
Tourism in Israel
Tourism in Israel is one of Israel's major sources of income, with a record 4.55 million tourist arrivals in 2019, and, in 2017, contributed NIS 20 billion to the Israeli economy making it an all-time record. Israel offers a plethora of historica ...
References
External links
Information from the Kotel site in English
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120324114115/http://www.itourjerusalem.com/tours/western-wall-tunnels/ Read the iTour Jerusalem review of the Western Wall Tunnel
* Ivanovsky E., Van Zaiden A., Vaknin Y., Abksis E. (2007)
Conservation of the western ritual bath (miqve) in the Western Wall tunnel Conservation Department
Israel Antiquities Authority
{{coord, 31.7770, N, 35.2345, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire
Classical sites in Jerusalem
Temple Mount
Medieval sites in Jerusalem
Tunnels
Establishments in the Herodian kingdom