|
|
|
During June 1998, a small-scale salvage excavation was conducted along the bedrock cliff that rises west of the Temple Mount and the Western Wall plaza (Permit No. A-2883; map ref. NIG 22220/63150; OIG 17220/13150), prior to the construction of a staircase, linking the prayer plaza with the Jewish Quarter. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by the East Jerusalem Development Company, was directed by Y. Baruch and D. Weiss, with the assistance of G. Kotovsky (area supervision), A. abu-Jarbiyya (administration), M. Kunin, E. Belashov, V. Essman and I. Watkin (surveying), S. Mandrea (field photography), T. Kornfeld (drawing of architectural elements), R. Elberger (conservation), E. Altmark (metallurgical laboratory), C. Hersch (drawing of pottery and small finds), Y. Gorin-Rosen (glass) and D.T. Ariel (numismatics).
|
A bedrock-hewn rectangular cavity was exposed in the southwestern corner of the Western Wall plaza. It was situated further along the row of rock-hewn rooms to its north, on the bedrock cliff that separates the Upper City of Jerusalem from the area west of the Temple Mount, where the Western Wall plaza is today (Fig. 1). The two rooms adjacent to it on the north are blocked by iron doors and used as storerooms today; at least three other poorly preserved rooms are located beneath the Esh Ha-Torah Yeshiva building slightly to their north. The row of rooms, to which the exposed cavity belongs, has been identified as the row of shops that extended along the western sidewalk of the Secondary (Eastern) Cardo, which is depicted in the Madaba Map; it is widely accepted today that the street was built in the Roman period. Other sections of the street and the shops alongside it were exposed north and south of the currently excavated cavity. A section of pavement (12 m long) and a limestone pedestal, which belonged to the street, were discerned in 1998 c. 75 m north of the cavity, next to the police station in the northern part of the Western Wall plaza. Other rooms that were apparently part of the row of shops were identified north of the police station; however, it is difficult to comprehend their plan since later buildings were erected there. The southern continuation of the row of shops was discovered at the foot of the Porat Yosef Yeshiva, north of the Tanners’ Gate, and also south of the Old City wall and west of the Tanner’s Gate and the Ayyubid tower. Another section of the street and the shops alongside it was exposed in a recent extensive excavation along the cliff in the northwestern part of the Western Wall plaza (HA-ESI 121; see comprehensive references about the Secondary Cardo therein).
|
The remains of a water channel (length 0.9 m, width c. 0.2 m, depth 0.6 m) could be discerned at the top of the cliff where the rock-hewn cavity is located. The channel was apparently connected to the Lower Aqueduct, which ran along the cliff and conveyed water to the Temple Mount. The rectangular cavity (3.35 × 4.60 m, min. height 8.40 m; Fig. 2) was meticulously hewn and the rock sides were dressed diagonally by means of a serrated tool. Its western side was preserved to a considerably greater height than its other sides. An entrance corridor (1.2 × 1.3 m, min. height 3.2 m) was hewn in the eastern side, which was only preserved to the elevation of c. 732.25 m above sea level. The fill in the cavity was only partially excavated due to safety precautions. It seems that the cavity was hewn as a single unit in the Roman period or at the latest, during the Byzantine period. It is possible that the rock-cutting was done together with the rock-cutting on the cliff, or even simultaneously with the construction of the cardo that extended east of the cliff. The cavity consisted of at least three stories. The floor and the ceiling that separated the upper two stories did not survive. Part of a floor (L9), supported by a cross vault on the bottom story, was preserved between the two lower stories. The fill blocking the entire height of the cavity was homogenous and it seems to have accumulated at the end of the Mamluk period, after the cavity was no longer in use, or latest at the beginning of the Ottoman period—a very long time after the street, next to which the cavity was hewn, ceased to be used.
The Upper Story. Most of the eastern side of the upper room was missing and its southern side was damaged; the end of its floor that consisted of terra-cotta pavers had survived. A natural recess that had been hewn wider and deeper and sloped from north to south (732.3–732.0 m above sea level) was noted along the sides of the room. The gray plaster in the recess was embedded with well-fired, orange-colored terra-cotta slabs (thickness c. 2 cm; Fig. 3)—probably remains of a floor, the likes of which are known from Byzantine buildings in Jerusalem.
The Middle Story. The ceiling of the second story room was installed almost directly below the floor level of the upper room and probably supported it. The ceiling probably consisted of wooden beams that were inserted into recesses hewn in the bedrock walls. Four shallow recesses (height 0.25–0.50 m, max. width 0.25 m, max. depth 0.2 m) that were hewn at irregular intervals were noted in the northern side, at an elevation of 731.5 m above sea level. A single recess survived opposite them, in the middle of the southern side, which was partially destroyed. A floor of crushed chalk (L9; thickness 0.25 m; Fig. 4) atop a bedding of small fieldstones was preserved at an elevation of c. 729.5 m above sea level. This floor was probably constructed in the Mamluk period, when a cistern was installed in the bottom room (below). A trapezoidal entryway (height 1.9 m, width of threshold 0.85 m, width of lintel 0.75 m, max. depth 0.9 m; Figs. 3, 5) that was hewn in the northern side of this wall led to the adjacent room in the row of rock-hewn shops. It seems that this entry was breached in a later phase of the room’s use, but it is impossible to determine when this occurred. The western doorjamb of the entry, like the threshold and the lintel, was partly destroyed.
The corridor opened in the eastern side of the room probably linked the cavity with the room built to its east in the second story of a building that was erected alongside the street. However, this corridor was apparently blocked at a later phase by a barely preserved barrel vault that was built inside a water cistern in the bottom room (below). An arched opening, whose upper part was only exposed (Fig. 6; see Fig. 2: Section 2-2), was installed at the end of the vault that faced the hewn cavity. The opening, built of ashlar stones without mortar, was set inside a straight frame that consisted of a row of square stones above it and above them—a course of flat stones, only one stone of which survived on the southern side (thickness 0.1 m). The vault narrowed and lowered the passage in the corridor (max. height 1.2 m) so much that it is difficult to assume people could move through it from this room; hence, it seems that the arch was supposed to fulfill an engineering function, possibly that of a relief arch.
|
The Bottom Story. The excavation in the bottom room was suspended at an elevation of c. 727.5 m above sea level and did not reach its floor; therefore, it is unclear how deep the room was and whether the rock-cutting continued below this level. The floor level in the bottom room probably corresponded to that of the cardo (c. 726 m above sea level), which continued east of the cliff into which the cavity was hewn. At some point in time, pillars of roughly hewn stones were built in the corners of the room and bore a barrel vault that was aligned east–west. The upper parts of the northern and southern sides were hewn in the shape of an arch; a horizontal crack that appears to be natural (height 0.15 m; Fig. 7) extended along the line where the sides started to curve toward the top of the vault. A rectangular niche (1.12 × 1.50 m) that tapered toward the top was hewn along each side above the crack. The pillars and ceiling vault were coated with a thick layer of coarse white plaster, applied to a foundation of small stones and a layer of dark gray plaster, which served as a sealant; patches of plaster survived on the hewn northern and southern sides of the room. This type of plaster indicates that a cistern was installed in the cavity. A shaft (width 0.3 m) that was built along the western side of the hewn cavity, from its top until the vaulted room, probably led to the cistern. Two thin walls, the southern and northern, were preserved from the upper part of the shaft (see Fig. 4); the walls were carelessly built of roughly hewn stones bonded with light gray mortar. The shaft walls were preserved slightly above the floor level of the middle story. However, on the side of the bedrock and above the walls of the shaft, plaster remains were visible, indicating that the shaft continued upward for the full height of the side (see Fig. 3). The bottom part of the shaft inside the vaulted room was lined with a built casing of roughly hewn stones that were bonded with reddish mortar (Fig. 8). It seems that this shaft was connected to the aqueduct at the top of the cliff. It is difficult to determine when the pillars, the vaulted ceiling and shaft were built in this room. The cistern was probably installed in the Ayyubid or Mamluk period, when the Mughrabi neighborhood was established in this part of the city. It seems probable that during this phase the barrel vault was set into the hewn corridor, which was possibly used as an opening to this room (see Fig. 6).
The Finds. A large assemblage of mixed pottery vessels that dated from the time of the Second Temple, the Byzantine, Early Islamic, Mamluk and the beginning of the Ottoman periods was found in the soil fill that covered the hewn cavity, which was found completely filled with debris whose color ranged from light gray to dark brown. The pottery assemblage recovered from the cavity was assorted and included vessels from the Byzantine, Early Islamic, and Mamluk periods. It therefore seems that the entire cavity was filled with this debris after it was no longer in use, probably at the end of the Mamluk or the beginning of the Ottoman periods. The potsherds from the Byzantine period included bowls (Fig. 9:1–5), among them Fine Byzantine Ware (No. 5), a cooking pot (Fig. 9:6) and jars (Fig. 9:7, 8). The vessels from the Early Islamic period included bowls (not drawn), deep ceramic basins (Fig. 9:9), goblets (Fig. 9:10), jars (Fig. 9:11) and several fragments of clay lamps (Fig. 9:12). The vessels from the Mamluk period included glazed bowls adorned with geometric and floral patterns and Arabic inscriptions (Fig. 10:1–4), bowls decorated with red paint (Fig. 10:5,), bowls slipped bright brown (Fig. 10:6), ‘chamber pot’-type jugs (Fig. 10:7–9) and jars (not drawn). Other artifacts included fragments of glass and stone vessels, bone and metallic objects, coins and marble slabs.
A fragment of a white Carrara marble statue (protome; height 0.39 m; Fig. 11) was found in the debris; it is dated to the Late Roman period (third century CE), based on its style. The statue depicts a person standing on a round base with a name plate at its feet, which is decorated with a floral pattern or a knot-like decoration of a belt. A notch on the back of the statue was intended for an inserted rod to support it. The head and hands of the figure, except for the end of the right hand that rested on the chest, had been removed, perhaps before fitting the piece for some secondary use. The figure is dressed in a chiton and wrapped in a himation, the end of which can be seen at the bottom part of the statue. Based on the dress and how the curves of the body are accentuated, it seems that the image portrayed is that of a woman.
|
|
|
|
To view the figures, click on the figure caption
|
|
|
לגרסה בעברית
|
|
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}