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Short contribution: Geological and religious factors for subsurface quarrying that formed the Zedekiah Cave in Jerusalem, Israel
Author(s) -
Lewy Zeev
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.20104
Subject(s) - cave , plucking , geology , archaeology , mining engineering , geochemistry , geomorphology , geography
The Zedekiah Cave is situated within an area of ancient limestone quarries. The quarried tunnel system extends more than 200 m from the small entrance. Important reasons must have prompted the transition to technically complicated subsurface activity. Quarrying proceeded mainly along a single layer of porous bioclastic limestone. The fresh, wet rock is friable, easily cut and carved. When exposed and dried, the blocks become casehardened from the periphery inward. Such rock was needed for renovation of the Second Temple under the religious restrictions that no iron (metal) tool should be used at the holy site, and these blocks could be finally shaped with nonmetallic tools. These unique geological and religious factors resulted in the subsurface quarrying of the building stones. Hence, the Zedekiah Cave was dug some 565 years after King Zedekiah allegedly fled through the cave out of Jerusalem to Jericho where the Babylonian soldiers captured him. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.