CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) archaeologists discovered another quarry from the Second Jewish Temple period during a routine pre-construction salvage excavation.

The latest discovery, located about a mile from Jerusalem's Old City, is the second quarry uncovered since the beginning of the year. Both quarries provided the huge blocks of limestone used to build the retaining wall, known today as the Kotel or Western Wall, for the Second Temple.

"Most of the stones that were found at the site are similar in size to the smallest stones that are currently visible in the Western Wall, and therefore we assume that the stones from this quarry were used to build these structures," the site director, Dr. Gerald Finkielsztejn, said.

"This is a rather regular quarry, except that there are really big stones," he said.

While many quarries have been discovered in and around Jerusalem, the two Second Temple quarries confirm the biblical account of Judaism's tie to the Temple Mount.

Source: The Jerusalem Post