About What the Excavations on the Southern Side of the Western Wall Discovered
On the Temple Mount, the Sages (may their memory be blessed) said, "Those who have not seen the Temple of Herod have not seen a beautiful building before." Around you, you can see real remains that will show you what they meant.
Welcome to the excavation site near the southern part of the Temple Mount, outside the walls of the Old City. You are in the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, where you can see the excavations of the southern wall of the Jewish Temple.
Here one can see the steps on which the Sages dwelled and from which the pilgrims entered the Temple.
You can also see a stone from the "house of blowing," the place where the shofar was blown in the Temple Mount.
See also the ashes of the fire from the Romans when they burned Jerusalem.
The Place of the Stones of the Western Wall
Notice the original pavement from the Herodian street, the one built during Herod's reign. It is the same street that continues northward, to the Western Wall tunnel area, and southward - to the area of the Shiloah Pool in the City of David.
Pay attention to the outlet in the middle of the paving. It may seem to you like just a dent, but it is a remnant of the greatest drama of the Jewish people, which will affect its history for the last two thousand years. This depression was created from a pile of stones that fell on the street, right at the time of the destruction of 70 CE, when the Romans destroyed the Temple.
Most of the stones in the heap above the depression, incidentally, were evacuated from here and buried elsewhere in the compound. This was because it was feared that these stones were part of the Temple itself.
Robinson's Arch
Raise your head and see the remains of the rainbow that once rose above. This is the Robinson's Arch, named after the British researcher who identified these remains as early as the 19th century. These are the remains of a monumental staircase, which during the Second Temple period tens of thousands of pilgrims climbed into the Temple Mount.
When the arch was complete, it joined up with the almost complete base, which is below. See it? - Pretty. Note that this is perhaps the most ancient interchange in the world and perhaps the first in history.
What is the Southern Wall?
The southern wall is the continuation of the Western Wall, to the south. It is also almost as high as the Western Wall. It is located on the southern side of the wall that supports the Temple Mount plaza in the Old City and in fact is the southern wall of the entire Old City.
All findings you see in the archaeological garden, were discovered in the excavations carried out there after the liberation of the Old City in the Six Day War.
The southern wall is considered one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the Old City, alongside the excavations that exposed the Western Wall tunnels and the Western Wall itself.
Alongside the important discoveries that you see here in Jewish history, the importance attributed to the southern wall is also connected to the Muslim belief that here, right here, Muhammad tied his mare to the Wall and went up to the Temple Mount to pray there and ascend to Heaven.
