How the excavation under the Church of the Redeemer came about
A sensational discovery was made during excavations for the new church in 1893. The builders came across a wall that was interpreted as the city wall from the time of Jesus by contemporary scholars, and which had been mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius. The so-called "Second North Wall" of Jerusalem was found.
The soundings and subsequent discoveries under the church
History
On a glorious October day in 1898 a tense silence lay over Jerusalem. Like so often before, the city was to witness history being written.
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Sounding
The sounding under the Church of the Redeemer goes down to a former quarry that was in use until the 1st century BC.
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Wall
The structure mistakenly called the "Second Wall" proved in its lowest layers (fieldstones) to be part of Hadrian’s structure to the south of the sanctuary built in 135 AD.
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Street
The paved path with a water drain that runs over the east-west retaining wall was built in the 4th century AD or later.
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Mosaic
The mosaic located 2.10 m below the present church floor belonged to the Church of St. Maria Latina from the 12th century AD.
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Foundation Stone
In 1893 the German Kaiser Wilhelm II had laid the foundations of the new church symbolically on the supposed "Second Wall".
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