![Air raid shelter at Solomon's Quarries, 1945 LOC matpc](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Air_raid_shelter_at_Solomon%27s_Quarries%2C_1945_LOC_matpc.12569.jpg)
Zedekiah's Cave—also called Solomon's Quarries—is a underground
meleke
''Meleke'' ( ar, ملكي, "royal", "kingly"; he, אבן ירושלמית), also transliterated ''melekeh'' or ''malaki'', is a lithologic type of white, coarsely-crystalline, thickly bedded-limestone found in the Judaean Mountains in Israel ...
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
quarry that runs the length of five
city block
A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design.
A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within t ...
s under 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 ...
. It was carved over a period of several thousand years and is a remnant of the
largest quarry in Jerusalem, stretching from
Jeremiah's Grotto and the
Garden Tomb
The Garden Tomb ( he, גן הקבר) is a rock-cut tomb in Jerusalem, which was unearthed in 1867 and is considered by some Protestants to be the site of the burial and resurrection of Jesus. The tomb has been dated by Israeli archaeologist G ...
to the walls of the Old City.
Friedman, Thomas L.
Thomas Loren Friedman (; born July 20, 1953) is an American political commentator and author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for ''The New York Times''. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global tra ...
"Quarrying History in Jerusalem"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', 1 December 1985 The cave has great historical importance in
Freemasonry
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
.
The cave is open to the public Sunday through Thursday for an admission fee and there are guided tours.
Names
In addition to ''Zedekiah's Cave'' and ''Solomon's Quarries'', this site has been called ''Zedekiah's Grotto'', ''Suleiman's Cave'', the ''Royal Caverns'' (or ''Royal Caves'' or ''Royal Quarries''), and ''Korah's Cave''. The Arabic name ''Migharat al-Kitan'' (or "Cotton Cave"), has also been used; the cavern is thought to have been once used as a storage place for cotton.
Geography
The entrance to Zedekiah's Cave is just beneath the Old City wall, between the
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
and
Herod Gates, about east of the former. Beyond the narrow entrance, the cave slopes down into a vast 300-foot-long auditorium-like chamber. Drops of water, known as "Zedekiah's tears", trickle through the ceiling.
Beyond the "auditorium" are a series of artificial galleries hewn by ancient stonecutters into chaotic, sometimes bizarre, patterns and formations. Paths give access to every corner of the quarry system, which takes at least 30 minutes to explore thoroughly. Chisel marks are visible in many sections and in some galleries huge, nearly finished building blocks destined for some long-ago structure are locked into the rock where the stonecutters left them centuries ago. In a few places the stones are marked by Arabic, Greek, Armenian and English charcoal and engraved graffiti (e.g., "W. E. Blackstone Jan. 1889"). Several plaques explaining some of the myriad legends associated with the site have been mounted on the cave walls.
From entrance to the farthest point, the cave extends about . Its maximum width is about and its depth is generally about below the street level of the Muslim Quarter, although there are several lower levels and blocked tunnels too.
History
![Zedekiah's Cave in summer 2011 (6)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Zedekiah%27s_Cave_in_summer_2011_%286%29.JPG)
Only the mouth of Zedekiah's Cave is a natural phenomenon. The interior of the cavern was carved over a period of several thousand years.
Herod the Great
Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renov ...
used the main quarry at Zedekiah's Cave for building blocks in the renovation of the Temple and its retaining walls, including what is known today as the
Western (Wailing) Wall. Stone from the quarry may also have been used for the building projects of
Herod Agrippa I
Herod Agrippa (Roman name Marcus Julius Agrippa; born around 11–10 BC – in Caesarea), also known as Herod II or Agrippa I (), was a grandson of Herod the Great and King of Judea from AD 41 to 44. He was the father of Herod Agrippa II, the ...
. The subterranean quarry would have been usable in all seasons and any weather.
[ The Roman Jewish historian ]Flavius 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 d ...
writes about the "Royal Caverns" of the Old City, which may have been a reference to Zedekiah's Cave. The midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
Numbers Rabbah
Numbers Rabbah (or Bamidbar Rabbah in Hebrew) is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletic interpretations of the book of Numbers (''Bamidbar'' in Hebrew).
In the first prin ...
mentions the cave: "One who observed the Sabbath in a cave, even though it be like the cave of Zedekiah, which was eighteen miles long, may walk through the whole of it".
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...
(1494–1566), the Ottoman sultan who built the present walls around the Old City, also apparently mined the quarry, ultimately sealing it up around 1540 because of security concerns. In 1854 the American missionary James Turner Barclay
James Turner Barclay (born May 22, 1807 in King William County, Virginia, † October 20, 1874 in Wheeler, Alabama) was an American missionary and explorer of Palestine.
Life
James Turner Barclay was one of four children of Robert Barclay and Sa ...
followed rumors of a cavern near the Damascus Gate, and, apparently with the help of his dog, discovered the entrance. Barclay and his two sons returned secretly at night and explored the cave.[
In the mid-1880s, the cave was occupied by a German religious sect that was eventually evacuated by the German Consul in Jerusalem after many of the group fell ill from living in the damp, unsanitary conditions.
Some minor quarrying occurred in 1907 when stone was obtained to be used in the Ottoman clock tower over the ]Jaffa Gate
Jaffa Gate ( he, שער יפו, Sha'ar Yafo; ar, باب الخليل, Bāb al-Khalīl, "Hebron Gate") is one of the seven main open Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem.
The name Jaffa Gate is currently used for both the historical Ottoman gate ...
. Otherwise, the site was not frequented again until the 1920s, when it began to be something of a tourist attraction. In the late 20th century, the East Jerusalem Development Corporation carried out restorations of the cave. In the mid-1980s, The Jerusalem Foundation
The Jerusalem Foundation ( he, הקרן לירושלים, ''HaKeren LiYerushalayim''; ar, مؤسسة صندوق القدس) is a nonprofit foundation that promotes the development of the city of Jerusalem, by raising funds for social, cultural a ...
built paths and installed lights throughout the cavern, facilitating tourist access.
In 1968, a resident of East Jerusalem contacted the Israeli Ministry of Finance with a claim that, during the Ottoman period, his grandfather had buried three cases of gold in Zedekiah's Cave. He claimed he could show officials where the treasure was buried in return for 25% of the gold. The Ministry agreed, but, according to ''The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...
'', after digging a deep hole no gold was found.[
]
Archaeological examination
Excavations were conducted in 2000 and 2002 for the purpose of determining the periods of use. The wall generally attributed to the Ottoman era was found to have been constructed earlier, in the Mamluk period (13th century).[ A small number of fragments from the Iron Age were uncovered, but most remains were from the Roman and Byzantine periods.][ Further excavation in 2011 found an area that had been closed off for the use of quarry workers, probably in the late Islamic period.]
Religious associations and legends
The most revered legend about the cave is that it served as the quarry for King Solomon
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
's First Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by th ...
. However, there is no historical or archaeological evidence to support this. (The ''meleke'' limestone of the quarry – which is strong, well suited to carving, and resistant to erosion – is thought to have been used for royal buildings. The name ''meleke'' is derived from Hebrew and Arabic words meaning "kingly" or "royal".)[
Writing in the 10th century A.D., Muslim geographer and writer Al-Mukaddasi said: "There is at Jerusalem, outside the city, a huge cavern. According to what I have heard from learned men, and also have read in books, it leads into the place where lie the people slain by ]Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
. But there is no surety in this, for apparently it is but a stone quarry, with passages leading therefrom, along which one may go with torches." The "people slain by Moses" refers to a story that appears in both the Bible and the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
about a man named Korah
Korah ( he, ''Qōraḥ''; ar, قارون ''Qārūn''), son of Izhar, is an individual who appears in the Book of Numbers of the Hebrew Bible and four different verses in the Quran, known for leading a rebellion against Moses. Some older Englis ...
(Arabic, Karun) who mounted a revolt against Moses and his brother Aaron
According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...
, maintaining that they had led the children of Israel out of Egypt under false pretences. According to the Old Testament, Korah and his fellow rebels were swallowed up by the earth.[
The legend that the cave was a hiding place of King Zedekiah (''Tzidkiyahu''; a Judean king of the 6th century BC) dates back to at least the 11th century AD. At that time, Biblical commentator ]Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...
wrote that Zedekiah tried to escape from the troops sent by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadnezzar II (Babylonian cuneiform: ''Nabû-kudurri-uṣur'', meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir"; Biblical Hebrew: ''Nəḇūḵaḏneʾṣṣar''), also spelled Nebuchadrezzar II, was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling ...
to besiege Jerusalem. (The story was also repeated in the next century by the commentator Radak ''Cervera Bible'', David Qimhi's Grammar Treatise
David Kimhi ( he, ר׳ דָּוִד קִמְחִי, also Kimchi or Qimḥi) (1160–1235), also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RaDaK () (Rabbi David Kimhi), was a medieval rabbi, biblical comme ...
.) According to Rashi: "There was a cave from the palace of Zedekiah to the plain of Jericho and he fled through the cave." He added that God sent a buck running along the surface on top of the cave as Zedekiah was walking down below. The soldiers chased the buck and arrived at the exit of the cave just as Zedekiah was coming out, enabling them to capture and blind him. Thus was born the legend and name of "Zedekiah's Cave".[
]
Significance to Freemasons
A Masonic ceremony was held in the cave in 1868, led by a past grand master of the state of Kentucky. The first Masonic lodge
A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...
in the Holy Land, known as the Royal Solomon Mother Lodge No. 293, met in the cave on May 7, 1873.
The Freemasons of Israel hold frequent ceremonies in Zedekiah's Cave, and consider it one of the most revered sites in their history. (Masonic ritual
Masonic ritual is the scripted words and actions that are spoken or performed during the degree work in a Masonic lodge. Masonic symbolism is that which is used to illustrate the principles which Freemasonry espouses. Masonic ritual has appeared ...
claims that King Solomon was their first Grand Master—and some Freemasons feel that the cave is definitely Solomon's quarry.[) According to Matti Shelon, "Since the 1860s we have been holding ceremonies in the cave".][ According to the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the State of Israel, the site "has special meaning for Mark Master Masons and the Royal Arch Masons in particular". Starting in the days of the British Mandate (1920s), the cave was used for the ceremony of Mark Master Masons. Although this practice was temporarily suspended between the years 1948 and 1968, the impressive ceremony of the consecration of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the State of Israel was commenced again in the spring of 1969, and ever since then the Mark degree has been performed in the caves once a year on average.
On May 10, 2015 a Masonic initiation was held in the cave on the occasion of a visit of a delegation of Masons from the Grand Lodge of California to the Grand Lodge of Israel. Long time members of the Grand Lodge of Israel indicated it was the first time they could remember such a degree being held there.][Pressey, Mark E. (2015]
2015 GL of California visit to Israel
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References
{{Authority control
Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire
Ancient sites in Jerusalem
Caves of the State of Palestine
Limestone caves
Show caves in Israel
Hebrew Bible places
Muslim Quarter (Jerusalem)