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During the Six-Day War, IDF soldiers who entered the Old City rushed towards the Temple Mount and the Jewish Quarter. The sight that greeted them was grim: the Jewish Quarter lay in ruins, neglected and crumbling after 19 years of Jordanian occupation. It was clear that urgent actions were required to salvage what was possible and to remove the debris of many destroyed buildings. The Israeli government recognized the opening of a historic window of opportunity: alongside reconstruction, an unprecedented archaeological excavation could be undertaken in the area of the Jewish Quarter. Thus, the very destruction of the Quarter allowed researchers to uncover and revive the image of ancient Jerusalem from beneath the ashes and debris.
One of the greatest surprises awaiting the researchers was the Herodian Quarter, an opulent residential neighborhood from the time of King Herod’s dynasty. Descending three meters below the street level will take you back 2,000 years, as the homes of Jerusalem’s wealthiest residents emerge from the earth before your eyes.
At the end of the Second Temple period, Jerusalem spanned an area of approximately 1,600 dunams (about 1.5 times the size of today’s Old City). The city extended over several hills: atop the Temple Mount stood the Temple; at its foot, on the hill of the City of David, lay the Lower City, home to the city’s poor alongside affluent residents who built their palaces along the road leading from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount. On the Western Hill, where we stand now, the Jerusalemite aristocracy lived—perhaps alongside wealthy priests. One can almost imagine the neighborhood’s residents strolling in the evenings on the rooftops of their homes, gazing eastward at the Temple Mount—the beating heart of the city and the largest sacred complex in the entire Roman Empire. To the north of the Western Hill and the Temple Mount lay additional neighborhoods, and the entire city was surrounded by three massive walls.
When studying history, we often encounter the stories of rulers, heroes, and extraordinary feats. Here, in the Herodian Quarter, we gain an uncommon glimpse into the daily lives of people much like ourselves, who lived in the city 2,000 years ago. During your tour of the Herodian Quarter, you will marvel at the living rooms adorned with vibrant frescoes, the floors decorated with elegant mosaics, and the numerous mikvehs (ritual baths) that testify to their meticulous observance of purity laws. You’ll see the dishes they used to serve delicacies, the jars that held their wine, and the heavy stone cups they drank from during meals. Even intricately carved stone tables, used by servants to present offerings, were found here. Don’t forget to search for the replica of the Temple Menorah engraved into the plaster of one of the walls by a former resident of these homes. Who knows—perhaps it was a priest who saw the Menorah with his own eyes in the Temple, just a few hundred meters from here.
As you explore the site, take note of the ceiling that supports the modern Kotel Yeshiva above us. When the remains of the Herodian Quarter were discovered, it was decided to preserve them for future generations. However, as the plan included constructing the Kotel Yeshiva on this site, a clever compromise was reached: concrete pillars were cast into the Second Temple-era strata, supporting a ceiling above which the Yeshiva was built, while the archaeological findings were preserved beneath it. In this way, the Jewish Quarter remains a living, vibrant area while simultaneously allowing visitors to connect with its moving and remarkable past.
