Western Wall

June 15, 2009

Excavations of the Western Wall tunnels have been underway for about 15 years. The Kotel, the iconic image of Jerusalem for Jews, is but a small part of the massive retaining wall built by King Herod, as he constructed or really carved out of Mt. Moriah, a level, 35 acre site (2 and a half football fields) as part of the Temple renovations. Most of the wall has been obscured for hundreds of years, as the Muslims built a neighborhood, elevated from ground level, against the wall. The entire length of the wall has now been excavated, tunneling under the Muslim quarter above, including a spot that is less than 100 meters from where the Holy of Holies was in the Second Temple. The whole site was explosively controversial in the late 90’s when Netanyahu allowed the excavations to proceed all the way to an exit point in the Muslim quarter. Apparently without basis in fact, Muslims were incited to believe that the excavation was undermining the Dome of the Rock causing rioting, the deaths of 16 members of the IDF and other violence. When the residents realized that thousands of tourists would be exiting into their shops, the disapproval turned to acceptance. Jerusalem is home to many sites where history, religion, and politics literally collide.