An archaeological and political tragedy is in the making. Part of the southern wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem may collapse. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam, may be damaged and underground mosques nearby may also suffer. And if that happens, the Arab (and Muslim) world is sure to blame Israel.
A bulge in the southern wall of the Temple Mount now protrudes more than 2 feet. According to independent engineers engaged by the Israel Antiquities Authority, “Its collapse may cause irreversible damage to the structure.” Their time estimate: “The problem is a source of danger in the medium term (in a range of a number of years).”
At its largest, the bulge is 107 feet long and 32 feet high; it covers more than 2,000 square feet. It begins about 30 feet from the top of the southern wall and 45 feet from the eastern end of the wall. The worst protrusion is about 100 feet from the eastern end of the wall.
The southern wall is one face of an enclosure wall erected to create a level platform on which Herod the Great could rebuild the Jewish Temple in the first century B.C. The lowest levels of this wall on the south are original Herodian ashlars. The engineers found this part of the wall to be in excellent condition after 2,000 years, even though Herod used no mortar. When the Romans burned Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D., the southern wall was left in ruins. More than a half millennium later, Ummayad caliphs reconstructed the wall; however, they used much smaller stones held together with mortar. This reconstruction does not have nearly the quality of the lower part of the wall built by Herod, and it is in this upper part of the wall that the bulge appears.
What caused the bulge is not entirely clear. The surface of the Temple Mount (known in Muslim tradition as Haram es-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary) has been controlled by the Waqf, the Muslim religious trust, for decades even after the Old City came under Israeli rule in the Six-Day War of 1967. The Waqf has been guilty of nearly 40 violations of Israel’s antiquities laws since 1967, but Israel has not taken any steps to block its actions.a At present, no non-Muslims are permitted on the Temple Mount. This exclusion applies to news photographers, tourists, Israeli police—and the engineers who studied the bulge for the Israel Antiquities Authority. Accordingly, they could not look for evidence that might be gleaned inside the wall. They were forced to rely exclusively on comparisons with old pictures and laser and binocular scanning. If they were permitted access to the Temple Mount, especially to the underground areas, it is possible they could say more about the cause of the bulge.
One possibility is that the wall has been weakened by erosion—up to 8 inches deep—of the Ummayad stones within the bulge area. A long crack has also formed there.
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Another possibility involves recent construction by the Waqf. In 1999 the Muslim group began a major clearance project inside the wall adjacent to where the bulge now appears. Using a bulldozer, the Waqf removed hundreds of truckloads of dirt (containing archaeologically rich material) and dumped it in the adjacent Kidron Valley. The purpose was to create an impressive entrance to the underground area known as Solomon’s Stables, where another mosque is being created. Solomon’s Stables are in fact a series of arched vaults that support the level platform above. Herod constructed the vaults to support the platform rather than filling in the area with dirt, because in the southeastern part of the platform the bedrock falls away precipitously.
Should the southern wall give way, the Waqf might blame the calamity on the Israeli excavations outside the southern wall that took place in the decade after 1967. Such a claim could inflame the entire Muslim world.
One thing seems clear: Immediate steps should be taken to secure the southern wall and prevent its collapse. This is something on which Israel and the Waqf could fruitfully cooperate. Perhaps it just might be a first step.
An archaeological and political tragedy is in the making. Part of the southern wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem may collapse. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam, may be damaged and underground mosques nearby may also suffer. And if that happens, the Arab (and Muslim) world is sure to blame Israel. A bulge in the southern wall of the Temple Mount now protrudes more than 2 feet. According to independent engineers engaged by the Israel Antiquities Authority, “Its collapse may cause irreversible damage to the structure.” Their time estimate: “The problem is a source of […]
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