Jerusalem - Archaeologists have found an ancient quarry where King Herod's workers may have chiselled the giant stones used to rebuild the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.

Experts believe stones as long as 8m were extracted from the quarry and then dragged by oxen to building sites in Jerusalem for major projects such as the temple.

The complex known as Temple Mount by Jews is also revered by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary). It houses Islam's third-holiest mosque, making it Jerusalem's most contested site and giving it a pivotal role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Israel Antiquities Authority said workers stumbled upon the quarry during excavations as part of a plan to build a new school in an outlying Jerusalem neighbourhood known as Ramat Shlomo. Archaeologists also discovered coins and shards of pottery which confirm the quarry was operating during the Second Temple period, when rulers of the city under King Herod embarked on major construction projects.

King Herod looms large in biblical history. Appointed "king of the Jews" by the Roman Senate in about 40 BC, Herod rebuilt and expanded the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

Archaeologists also found a complete iron tool at the site which they believe was used to chisel out the blocks from the quarry.
go

huh. No wonder Christ had little respect for the actual building.

I don't think that is true. In the Bible Jesus drives the money changers out of the temple because they were defiling "His Father's House". The Jews in general however, generally hated Herod becasue he was a Nabatean Arab, and not a true Jew, despite the fact that his temple was a wonder of the ancient world. But he does curse the Pharisees for worshipping "a murderer from the beginning" and not "His Father".

I see that as more a statement against hypocricy, using the religion to profit monetarily.

I think that the vase majority of Christ's message, which was extremely blasphemous at the time, was that people did not need the temple or the clergy to worship and have a relationship with God. he called God "Abba" (father.) This was enough to warrant a death by stoning at the time, and he was OUTSIDE and without any clergy, on a hill, when he did this, and then went on to tell the people that they didn't need any other human intersession from the clergy. Hugely blashpenous and agains the very fabric of the idea that you have to go to the temple.