Archaeologists have discovered a quarry where stones were carved out to pave the streets of ancient Jerusalem in the days of Jesus Christ.
The stones were constructed to build ancient Pilgrim’s road, a 2,000-year-old stepped stone path where Jesus and his disciples are said to have roamed.
The Bible states that Jesus cured a blind man on the pathway, which also led to the ancient Jewish Temple where Jesus would have prayed.
Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient quarry linked to a road where Jesus and his disciples walked 2,000 years ago
Pilgrimage Street (pictured) was built 2,000 years ago and is believed to be the street leading to the Pool of Siloam where Jesus healed a blind man
The site was discovered in the southeast side of Jerusalem and extends about 37,600 square feet, making it one of the largest and most significant quarries ever found in Jerusalem.
The Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered numerous building stones at the site, that matched those found at another excavated site two miles away, named Pilgrimage Road, or Pilgrim’s Road.
The researchers found that the road, which once connected the City of David to the Jewish Temple, had paving slabs that were the same size and thickness as those at the building site.
They reported that the stone slabs at both sites also had identical markings from cutting trenches around the rock and extracting it from the ground.
‘It is reasonable to assume, with due caution, that at least some of the building stones extracted here were intended to be used as pavement slabs for Jerusalem’s streets in that period,’ the IAA’s co-leaders Michael Chernin and Lara Shilov said.
‘Amazingly, it turns out that the paving stones of this street are exactly the same size and thickness, and share the identical geological signature as the stone slabs that were extracted from the quarry now being exposed in Har Hotzvim.’
Most of the stones found in the quarry measured about eight feet long and four feet wide
The newly discovered quarry was only 2.5 miles from the City of David, making it an ideal location for Herod and his successor’s major building projects
The newly discovered quarry was only 2.5 miles from the City of David, making it an ideal location for Herod and his successor’s major building projects.
Once fully excavated, it will be preserved so the public can view the site.
‘In the ancient world, there were a lot of technologies to shape the stones, and special carts designed to carry them. The Old City isn’t so far,’ Chernin told The Times of Israel.
At the time, stones were typically shaped using water-powered saws built from a pully and wheel system that were then moved from one location to another on rolling wooden carts pulled by horses or camels.
Most of the stones measured about eight feet long by four feet wide and were likely used to construct monumental projects in the late Second Temple period that began during King Herod’s rule in 37-4 BC, according to the researchers.
Streets, public buildings, palaces and fortifications were built until the city was conquered and destroyed by Roman General Titus in 70 AD, at which time the researchers believe the quarry was abandoned.
The team connected the quarry to the Jewish people after finding a stone tool that was widely used by the population at the time and two stone purification vessels – large jars used for ritual washing
The quarry is believed to be the site where monumental construction projects were built that included public buildings, palaces and fortifications
Jesus is believed to have walked on Pilgrimage Road which passed the sacred Pool of Siloam – a freshwater reservoir – where the people’s Lord and Savior healed a blind man.
Historians previously thought Herod commissioned the street to be built, but an analysis of more than 100 coins found during the excavation of Pilgrimage Road indicated it was started and completed under Pontius Pilate who ruled for a decade starting in 26 AD, according to a study by the IAA.
Pilate later condemned Jesus to death by crucifixion in 33 AD.
Two stone purification vessels – large jars which were used for religious ritual washing – further confirmed that the site was constructed by the Jewish population.
One intact vessel was ‘discovered almost by chance,’ the archaeologists reported, saying it had been set in a corner for 2,000 years.
‘It is possible that [the vessel] was produced on the spot in the quarry itself, or was especially brought to the site for the benefit of the workers,’ Shilov said.