Herod's Quarry Discovered

In the waning years of the B.C. era, Herod the Great, the king of Judaea and client of the Roman world, undertook several massive building projects, one of which was a large-scale renovation and expansion of the Second Jewish Temple. Though only the Western Wall remains for the modern observer, the rest having been destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., archeologists have now discovered what they believe to be the quarry Herod's workers used in their expansion of the temple. It was discovered when archeologists were asked to inspect a construction site for a proposed school building. Yuval Baruch, an archeologist for the Israeli Antiquities Authority, says that coins and pottery found at the site establish that the quarry was in use for Herod's temple project. However, the discovery of the quarry is only the latest archeological breakthrough in connection to King Herod. Earlier this year researchers believe they found Herod's tomb near the ancient site of Herodium south of Jerusalem.