The Construction of the Temple

Going down into the tunnels below the Temple Mount was amazing - and a little bit claustrophobic.

I already shared my favorite part of that trip here. My second favorite part was learning about the construction itself. The deeper we went, we were able to see the difference between the stones. The ones further down were larger, more like bedrock, chiseled with much simpler tools.

(you can see above where the bedrock from the 1st Temple was joined with the stones from the second Temple)

The higher we travelled, including walking outside to the Western Wall, we were able to see how the stones were more square or rectangular in shape, constructed with more "modern" tools. The ones closest to the ground level (they continue even lower) are so large they weigh several tons.