Photo Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority
A 2,000-year-old key was exposed in the excavation in Jerusalem.

A 2,000-year-old key, as well as hatchets and splitting wedges, were found in a huge quarry dating back to the first century CE. The ancient quarry exposed in recent weeks during excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority before the construction of the new Jerusalem Road 21, connecting the neighborhoods of Ramat Shlomo and Shu’afat northward with Beit Hanina and the Atarot Industrial Park.

The excavated quarry. Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority.

Excavations are mandatory prior to the start of public works in Israel.

Advertisement




The large quarry that has been exposed—about a quarter of an acre—join the other major quarries documented and explored in the past by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Studies have shown that today’s northern neighborhoods of Jerusalem are sitting on the “city of quarries” of Second Temple Jerusalem.

According to Irene Zilberbod, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “the phenomenon of quarrying has created a spectacular sight of the sentinel rock and rock terraces, as well as craters, as a result of the work of human carvers. The exposed sites feature boulders at various stages of hewing, and some were found at an early stage, when they had just been prepared for disconnection. Some of the quarried stones exceed six feet in length. Apparently, those huge stones were carved for use in public buildings in the city. ”

Zilberbod explained that “the axes were used to carve out channels in order to separate the stones from the surface of the rock. The splitting wedges (compressed iron arrowheads) were designed to remove the stone base from the rock using hammer blows.”

An assortment of the ancient items excavated recently. Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Advertisement

SHARE
Previous articleStephen Hawking Boycotting Company Working on his Cure
Next articleIn Hebrew: ‘Rainforest’
Yori Yanover has been a working journalist since age 17, before he enlisted and worked for Ba'Machane Nachal. Since then he has worked for Israel Shelanu, the US supplement of Yedioth, JCN18.com, USAJewish.com, Lubavitch News Service, Arutz 7 (as DJ on the high seas), and the Grand Street News. He has published Dancing and Crying, a colorful and intimate portrait of the last two years in the life of the late Lubavitch Rebbe, (in Hebrew), and two fun books in English: The Cabalist's Daughter: A Novel of Practical Messianic Redemption, and How Would God REALLY Vote.