Jerusalem (AFP)

Israeli archaeologists on Thursday unveiled new underground constructions dating from the period of the Jewish Second Temple, located in the Old City of Jerusalem and used more than 2,000 years ago by the elites of the time.

The luxurious lobby, parts of which had already been revealed by the Israel Antiquities Authority (AIA), includes a sophisticated fountain and was likely used for banquets and other gatherings of the local elite or to receive foreign dignitaries within walking distance of the Temple.

"It is a truly magnificent building, one of the most splendid public buildings we know of dating from the Second Temple period," Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah, AIA archaeologist, told AFP.

The Second Jewish Temple was built in the 6th century BC and was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

The Western Wall is the only vestige of a retaining wall.

Above the Wall stretches the Temple Mount, the most sacred site in Judaism, called Noble Sanctuary by Muslims for whom it is the third holy place and where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located.

The place is located in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian sector of the city occupied and annexed by Israel.

At the time of the Temple, the banquet hall, partly unveiled on Thursday, was divided into several segments and "very, very impressive ritual baths" were dug there, Ms. Weksler-Bdolah said, adding that it was still difficult to understand the timeline and motivations for construction.

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According to excavations, the site was no longer in use in the 7th century, when the Muslim period began.

From this period, the inhabitants of Jerusalem lived at street level, a few meters above the underground hall.

The newly discovered pieces, characterized by their sophistication, show how keen the rulers of Jerusalem were to leave their mark on the city, especially in the area near the Temple Mount, according to Ms. Weksler-Bdolah.

In a way, it is possible, according to the archaeologist, to compare these constructions to modern Jerusalem.

"All those who govern it must put a flag there, create a new project, do something. If you don't do it, you don't exist," she told AFP.

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The hall is part of the underground tunnels adjacent to the Western Wall.

In 1996, the opening to the public of these tunnels sparked violent clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians that claimed the lives of more than 80 people.

The Palestinians claimed that the tunnels threatened the foundations of the nearby Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

© 2021 AFP