AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo
By Ilan Ben Zion- July 20, 2022
AP– Installing an elevator doesn’t normally involve a 2,000-year plunge into an ancient city’s history. But in Jerusalem, even seemingly simple construction projects can lead to archaeological endeavors.
Archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem say they have made numerous discoveries, including an ornate first-century villa with its own ritual bath, after a project began to increase access for disabled people to Jerusalem’s Western Wall.
The villa, located steps from where the biblical Jewish Temples stood, was uncovered during several years of salvage excavations in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s historic Old City.
Archaeologists perform salvage excavations to make a scientific study of ancient artifacts and buildings before they are removed to make way for modern construction.
Jerusalem’s Western Wall is the holiest site where Jews can pray and millions of worshipers and tourists visit it each year. But to get to the site from the adjacent Jewish Quarter, visitors typically have to descend 142 steps, or take a long detour around the city walls to one of the nearby gates.
Read More: Times of Israel