Tuesday, July 31, 2007

THE HERODIAN QUARTER in Jerusalem gets a touristy review in Ynetnews:
Jerusalem: 2000 year-old ashes

We take you on a tour through the Herodian Quarter, a lavish archeological complex in the Jewish Quarter where the rich Jews resided during the Second Temple period

Ron Peled
Published: 07.30.07, 16:23 / Israel Travel

The renovation of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem that started in 1967 lasted over 15 years. During the construction of the Kotel Yeshiva over the Western Wall's plaza, an impressive building complex was discovered including the homes of affluent Jews, and ashes from the city's destruction in 70 AD.

The complex, better known as the Herodian Quarter – the Wohl Archaeology Museum, is the largest roofed archeological site in Israel (about 2,700 square meters). Actually it is a Jewish neighborhood overlooking the Temple from the final days of the Second Temple period. A bridge connected the Mount with the neighborhood in which the Temple's priests resided.

Findings reveal the lavish lifestyle of the neighborhood's residents including dozens of ritual baths, art works such as mosaics, frescos and stuccos.

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