After
the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 by the Roman legions,
all that remained of the Jewish Temple buildings was a part
of the western retaining wall, about 90 feet long and, after
the last clearance of 1967, about 80 feet high. On the adjoining
plate we can count twelve courses of carefully hewn squared
stone, and these are undoubtedly from the time of Herod. Some
of the blocks are fifteen feet long and six feet high. Below
ground level there are another seventeen such courses, going
down about sixty feet, completely buried by the debris of destruction
from various wars. Older parts of the wall may go back to the
second Temple, and the lowest to the time of Solomon.
From Yahweh's Land - Photographs and Text by Alfons Senfter
