Magnificent Bayis Sheini-Era Building Discovered Near Kosel

A grandiose building adjacent to the Kosel which was used as a welcoming area during the times of the second Beis Hamikdash has been unearthed and fully excavated.

Photos: Israel Antiquities Authority

A grandiose building adjacent to the Kosel which was used as a welcoming area during the times of the second Beis Hamikdash has been unearthed and fully excavated.

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation and the Israel Antiquities Authority are enabling the public to view impressive new sections of one of the most magnificent public buildings uncovered from the Bayis Sheini period. The discovery will be part of the new route opened to visitors ahead of Rosh Chodesh Elul.

The structure contained two imposing rooms which might have been used to welcome important dignitaries visiting the city and the Beis Hamikdash. The two rooms were decorated with elaborated Corinthian capitols protruding from the walls, the decorative style of the building is typical of opulent Bayis Sheini-period architecture.

“This is, without doubt, one of the most magnificent public buildings from the Second Beis Hamikdash period that has ever been uncovered outside the Har Habayis walls in Yerushalayim,” said Dr. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolach, excavation director on behalf of the IAA.

The researcher said that the structure was probably built a few decades before the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed. “The building, which apparently stood along a street leading up to the Beis Hamikdash, was used for public functions – it may even have been the city council building where important dignitaries were received before entering the Beis Hamikdash and Har Habayis,” she said.

In the late Bayis Sheini period, before the Churban, extensive changes made throughout the area included alterations to the building, which was divided into three separate chambers. In one of the chambers, a stepped pool was installed that was used as a mikveh.

“It is exciting to reveal such a magnificent structure from the Beis Hamikdash period in the days we mourn the destruction of Yerushalayim and pray for its restoration,” said Western Wall Heritage Foundation chairman Mordechai Soli Eliav.