Page 20 - TORCH Magazine - Issue #19

earthquake.”
The earthquake must have
been so tremendous that it was even recalled some 200 years later in Zechariah, to compare with the ‘Day of the Lord’ when the Mount of Olives will split in two:
“Then you shall flee through My mountain valley,
For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal.
Yes, you shall flee
As you fled from the earthquake
In the days of Uzziah king of Judah..”
‘Magnificent’ banquet hall discovered near Western Wall
A 2,000-year-old banqueting hall less than 100 feet from the Temple Mount has been revealed publicly for the first time after being unearthed in a dig beneath the city.
Built around AD 20, the dining room featured a fountain and was used by notable members of society on their way to worship at the Temple, giving an insight into Jewish
life during Roman occupation.
“This is, without doubt, one of the most
magnificent public buildings from the Second Temple period that has ever been uncovered outside the Temple Mount walls in Jerusalem,” said excavation director Dr Shlomit Weksler-Bdolach.
“It’s unbelievable to see this new excavation here,” said
Yohanna Bisraor from the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. “Fifteen years ago when I started guiding here, I was standing above us and saying, ‘you know underneath the arch, there’s something.’ So now we are inside that something.”
Visitors to Jerusalem will eventually be able to visit the banqueting hall as part of the Western Wall Tunnel Tour.
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