Friday, April 16, 2004

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH:
Tests begin on Temple Mount's eastern wall (Jerusalem Post)
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

A team of senior Egyptian and Jordanian engineers on Thursday began tests to determine the stability of the eastern wall of the Temple Mount. The survey came just weeks after a report issued by the Israeli Antiquities Authority stated that the 2000-year-old wall was in danger of immediate collapse as a result of the February earthquake that rocked the country.

[...]

The earthquake, which measured 5 on the Richter scale, did not cause any serious injuries or damage. Just around the corner from where the Arab workers were at work Thursday on the eastern wall, another team of Jordanians has been repairing a bulge on the southern wall for the past year.

An ancient window in the epicenter of the bulge on the southern wall has been enlarged and opened, presumably to allow workers easier access to the outer wall from inside.

Israeli archaeologists say that the bulge on the southern wall was undoubtedly caused by the Wakf construction work at Solomon's Stables over the last decade, while a Jordanian report suggests that it was the result of the natural flow of rainwater over the centuries.

[...]

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