Click on photo to enlarge it
Take the stairway down about 10 feet below the present level of the Jewish Quarter and you have gone back about 2,000 years in time, to the Upper City of Jerusalem in the Herodian Period.
This is an excavation typically called the Herodian Mansion. Some think it could possibly have been the house of Annas, the High Priest just before Jesus, and father-in-law of Caiaphas. Regardless, someone very wealthy lived here.
Click on photo to enlarge it
The house was multi-storied. The basement consisted of ritual baths, bathrooms, pools, and cisterns. Such fine houses were common in the residential portion of the Upper City.
Click on photo to enlarge it
A historic marker at the site reads:
"This is the largest and most splendid houses uncovered in the Upper City. It extends over an area of about 600 square meters [nearly 6,500 square feet]. Remains of two stories have been preserved.
The mansion was probably inhabited by one of the families of the High Priests, which chose to reside on the lofty site facing the Temple Mount. The existence of this building came to an end when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD."
Comments
Post a Comment