Newly uncovered tunnel passes under Old City walls

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH:

Newly uncovered tunnel passes under Old City walls
Silwan residents say dig damages homes.

By Nir Hasson (Haaretz)

The Israel Antiquities Authority has completed an archaeological dig of a tunnel that will enable visitors to cross under the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, not far from the Temple Mount.

The tunnel, which was uncovered during excavations conducted over the past few months, was formerly used for drainage and dates back to the Second Temple. It links the City of David in Silwan with the Archaeological Park & Davidson Center, which is located near the Western Wall.

The Antiquities Authority stressed that the newly uncovered tunnel does not come near the Temple Mount and that it has no plans to dig in that direction.

The digging had been going on for seven years and was delayed for about a year by order of the High Court of Justice, after Silwan residents filed a petition claiming the dig was damaging their homes.

In September 2009, Supreme Court Justice Edna Arbel rejected the petition and lifted the halt on the dig. Since then, work has been stepped up and in recent weeks the segment of the tunnel between the City of David and the Davidson Center was completed.

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(Via Joseph I. Lauer.) The story is also covered by The Israel Project here and the AFP here. Some past PaleoJudaica posts dealing with the tunnel project are here and here.