A few dozen meters from the 2,000-year-old Western Wall in Jerusalem, mysterious underground chambers cut into the rock were unveiled on Tuesday by Israeli archaeologists.
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Three successive pieces, which date back to Roman times, were discovered during the excavation of a large and sumptuous 1400-year-old structure, decorated with arches and carpeted with mosaics. " At the beginning, we were very disappointed because below the mosaic on the ground, we fell on the rocky substrate and thought that human activity had stopped there ", explains Barak Monnickendam-Givon, co-director in charge of excavations at the Israeli Antiquities Authority.
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Then " we discovered three pieces, all three cut in the rock " and connected together by stairs, he adds. Such structures were rare in Jewish cities at the time, he notes. They are embellished with numerous sculptures and niches, some of which were certainly used to place oil lamps.
The excavation co-director Tehila Saldiel found artefacts as well as containers, oil lamps and jars. Shai HaLevi / Israeli Antiquities Authority
These rooms could be the pantry of a building that has disappeared, or a storage and meal preparation space for priests of the Holy City or pilgrims visiting the Temple, said the archaeologist. " Here we find containers used to cook meals, oil lamps, jars used to store wheat, barley or olive oil ," says Monnickendam-Givon.
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The pieces do not seem to have a “ direct link ” with the second Jewish Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD and whose Wailing Wall is the only vestige of a retaining wall. Above the Wall extends the Temple Mount, the most sacred site in Judaism, called Noble sanctuary by Muslims for whom it is the third holiest site and where the Al-Aqsa mosque is located.
The excavations are part of a project to create an underground exhibition space presenting objects from different eras found in this sector. Shai HaLevi / Israeli Antiquities Authority
The excavations are part of a project to create an underground exhibition space presenting objects from different eras found in this sector. " We are going to search everything that is below the esplanade of the Wailing Wall ," specifies Mr. Monnickendam-Givon. The idea is to have a separation between the cultivation activities, where people pray, and (underground), the tourists will be able to wander between archaeological finds ”.
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The presentation of these discoveries comes a few days before Jerusalem Day during which the Israelis commemorate the capture of the old city by their army during the Six Day War in 1967, when it was under Jordanian control. Marked by parades, this day regularly arouses tensions with the Palestinians. They want to make East Jerusalem the capital of the state to which they aspire.