NEW ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS AT WESTERN WALL

Israel Antiquities Authority Reveals New Finds at Western Wall Plaza - Etgar Lefkovits
An immense bedrock cliff uncovered opposite Jerusalem's Temple Mount may help explain why it took the Romans so long to capture what is now known as the Jewish Quarter almost two millennia ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Sunday. The cliff, uncovered during a year-long excavation at the western edge of the Western Wall Plaza, was one of several important finds that include the remains of a colonnaded street called the Eastern Cardo, paved in the Roman manner with large flagstones set in place diagonally; a section of the Lower Aqueduct that conveyed water from Solomon's Pools to the Temple Mount; and a rock-hewn and plastered Jewish mikve (ritual bath) that dates back to the Second Temple period. (Jerusalem Post)