Western Wall, Jerusalem
“And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings! And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” Mark 13:1-2
This prophecy was fulfilled when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD and left no buildings standing on Temple Mount. Only the retaining walls of the Mount itself remained. The temple Mount plateau was built by King Soloman in the 10th century BC and greatly enlarged by Herod in the 1st century BC. Herod built up and reinforced the earlier Temple Mount to create an even larger plateau for the Temple and its courtyards and surrounding buildings. While the upper courses of stone have been rebuilt and reinforced over time, and massive amounts of debris have accumulated at the base over the centuries, thanks to archeology it is still possible to get a very good feel for the grandeur of the site and scale of the Herodian construction.
In the 1860’s Charles Warren, by means of tunneling, was able to get a glimpse of the lower foundation revealing the truly massive size of these ashlar stone. Placed directly on bedrock, and using no sort of mortar at all, these massive stones were laid with unbelievable accuracy and were finely framed and smoothed. The average height of these stones is nearly 4 feet and the length is anywhere from 3 to over 9 feet. The largest stone studied (and can be viewed during a tour of Western Wall Tunnel) is an unbelievable 11 feet hight by 44 1/2 feet long! Various techniques to try and determine the depth of the stone have yielded results ranging from 6 feet to 8 feet. What an incredible feet of engineering to get those stone into place, fit snuggly over the bedrock and precisely fitted together. This largest stone is still considered one of the largest building blocks ever.
The importance of the Western wall for those of the Jewish faith is its proximity to the site of the destroyed temple. Jews are forbidden to pray on top of Temple Mount, so the plaza in front of the Western Wall is a way to be close to the site of the temple, as is the Western Wall tunnel. The archeological findings in / on / around the western wall continue to fascinate: a water channel that supplied Temple Mount, Robinson’s arch (that led to the realization that a massive staircase led from the Tyropoeon Valley up to Temple Mount), the trumpeting stone and other debris thrown over the wall during AD 70 war. The height of the Western Wall is about 62 feet from the plaza to the top… but the real height includes another 43 feet that are underground.
It is a moving experience to see Jewish people praying at the western wall. We sometimes look at the Western Wall Live cam on line - it’s comforting to see these things carrying on even in a time of war and uncertainty. Looking forward to a day when we can visit again! As Christians we are blessed to know and believe that our savior has come and will come again to gather all believers to our heavenly home. The state of earthly geopolitics and conditions at the site of the ancient temple will not matter. We pray that many more would come to know the saving love of Jesus before that day.
Western Wall, Jerusalem
