JERUSALEM, July 7 (UPI) -- An ancient quarry dating back to the end of the Second Temple period was found beneath a Jerusalem street, the Israel Antiquities Authority said.
The excavation work was carried out ahead of planned construction in the residential neighborhood, the organization said in a statement released Monday.
Excavation site director Dr. Ofer Sion estimates the quarry to be at least 2,300 years old, and believes the stones were used by Herod to build the Temple walls.
"The immense size of the stones indicates it was highly likely that the large stones quarried at the site were destined for use in the construction of Herod's magnificent projects in Jerusalem, including the Temple walls, " Sion was quoted saying.
The site director said historians estimate hundreds of thousands of stones were required, most of them weighing between two and five tons, to build the Temple and other projects.
"In those days the world of hi-tech focused on quarrying, removing and transporting stones. Historical sources record that Herod trained more than 10,000 people to be involved in this work; they prepared suitable transportation routes and then moved the huge stones in a variety of ways -- on rolling wooden fixtures that were drawn by camels, in pieces on carriages," Sion said.
Among the artifacts discovered at the site were metal plates used as fulcrums to sever the stones from the bedrock, and coins and pottery shards dating back to the period of the Second Temple, the authority said.
