2,000-year-old banquet hall is uncovered in Jerusalem
A MAGNIFICENT banquet hall dating to the time of Jesus has been revealed in the holiest place on Earth.
The discovery was made on the edge of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, a holy site for three major religions – Christianity, Islam and Judaism – and is now open to the public.
Built within Christ’s lifetime, it has two chambers where VIPs would be hosted before visiting Temple Mount itself, archaeologists believe.
The hallway, beneath Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter, has a spectacular wall of fountains, where water would cascade from lead pipes inside Corinthian columns.
Dr Shlomit Weksler-Bdolach, who directed the excavation for the Israel Antiquities Authority, said the building dated to around 20-30 AD.
She said: “The building, which apparently stood along a street leading up to the
Temple Mount, was used for public functions. It may even have been the city council building, where important dignitaries were received before entering the Temple compound and the Temple Mount. “Visitors to the site can now envisage the opulence of the place – the two side chambers served as ornate reception rooms and between them was a magnificent fountain with water gushing out.
“We believe the guest rooms, also used for dining, had wooden sofas that have not been preserved.” Guests would have reclined as they feasted, following the custom of the Romans and the Greeks before them. One of the two chambers was uncovered in 1867, but the second, along with the hallway, was discovered during more recent excavations under Jerusalem’s Old City.