Western Wall Tunnels

After paying my devotions at the Western Wall, Max and Brooke and I went on a tour of the amazing underground excavations all along the Western Wall. These tunnels were begun in the 1860's by British Army officer Charles Warren, but in recent years and months they have continued by the Israeli government. Essentially, these tunnels run along the base of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount from the Western Wall Plaza on the south all the way to the old foundation structures of the Antonia Fortress and its amazing underground aquaduct system.

The finely dressed stones in the lower courses are Herodian, while the rubble-like upper stones are from the later Islamic reconstruction. Some of the Herodian stones are more than 40 feel long and way more than 800 tons. They are laid without mortar but are so finely cut that it looks like it would be impossible to pass a knife blade between the crevices.

Another fascinating feature of these tunnels is the way they have been constructed beneath the living city of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. Also, the depth of these underground structures is astounding. Essentially beneath every house in the Muslim Quarter near the Western Wall you may have 50 to 100 feet of historical buildings--First Temple, Herodian, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic Reconstruction, Mamluke, Ottoman, etc. These consist of streets, walls, foundations, arches, aquaducts, cisterns, etc., each built on top of the other.