the viewing deck: Jerusalem City Trip 2nd part; Zedekiah's, Underground Cave of Old City

Friday, August 29, 2014

Jerusalem City Trip 2nd part; Zedekiah's, Underground Cave of Old City

8-days Pinoy solo backpacking in Winter Israel

November 02 to November 10, 2013

South Israel tour last part; short visit to Ein Gadi Reserve

9,000 square meters of secrets and legends beneath the Old City.

Some of the most fascinating archeological discoveries in the Land of Israel were the result of fortuitous circumstances. In 1854, an American Biblical Scholar working in Jerusalem was taking a walk outside the Old city walls with his son and his dog. The three of them were enjoying a sunny winter day, when suddenly the dog vanished. The dog was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, in the midst of drainage at the foot of the wall, the boy came upon a deep cistern created by the flow of water from recent rainfall. Peering inside, he was surprised to hear the sound of barking emanating from the depths of the earth. Gazing into the sewage, the Scholar spied a huge dark cavern. The dog lifted out and all three returned home. Thus, that adventurous dog is credited with rediscovering one of Jerusalem's most fascinating ancient site; the largest artificial cave ever to be uncovered.

Entrance fee cost 16ils ($4.6), admission is up to 1600H only. Anyone strolling through the alleyways of Old City, between the Sisters of Zion convent and the Herod's Gate, cannot avoid, when walking along certain streets, treading on sections of this huge cave.

Zedekiah's Cave, Jerusalem's largest cave

The mouth of the cave is situated on a rocky cliff that serves as the foundation for the Old City wall. The cave's maximum length is about 230 meters - beneath the Muslim Quarter. Its maximum width exceeds 100 meter. Its entire net area comprises 9,000 square meters. Its average height is that of 4-story building - about 15 meters. Its full height can be seen at the far southern sections of the cave. The rock ceiling above the cave - between the interior height of the cave up to the rock face upon which the foundations of the Old City structures are built - is about 10 meters thick.

Zedekiah's Cave is, therefore, the cave popular name and no amount of persuasion by scholars regarding the truth behind the legends has dissuaded people from using that name. Thus, many other folk tales concerning the cave abound. For example, water seeping through the cave's rock ceiling and draining into a small pool at its southern extremity has earned the sobriquet: Zedekiah's tears, because of the tears shed by that monarch upon seeing his children executed.