ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS AND A STATUE FRAGMENT FROM THE WESTERN WALL TUNNELS EXCAVATIONS, JERUSALEM

Excavations conducted in 2018–2020 inside and below Rooms 8 and 9 of the Great Causeway in the Western Wall Tunnels excavations uncovered several architectural elements and a fragment of a Roman marble statue, all reused in later construction phases. The stone fragments include a Doric cornice, a pilaster with a simple anta capital and two parapet stones, representing elements from monumental public buildings of Early and Late Roman Jerusalem. Stratigraphic and stylistic evaluation place the Doric cornice and the parapets within the late Second Temple period Herodian building projects, while the pilaster and statue reflect later Roman activity in Aelia Capitolina. These finds enrich our understanding of Jerusalem’s architectural decoration, urban development and patterns of reuse at the western foot of the Temple Mount.