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Jerusalem Archaeological Park
The Temple Mount walls
 
Site 5: Residential Buildings and Ritual Baths

Remains of residential buildings dating from the Late Roman and Byzantine periods lie east (right) and below the path. Farther on one obtains a view of Robinson's Arch and of a series of piers that supported the stairway leading up to the Temple Mount. West of the piers are rock-cut ritual baths (miqva'ot) from Second Temple times.


At the lowest level in the area, lower than the walls of the Umayyad buildings, are the remains of structures, built of stones smaller than those of the Umayyad masonry. These thin-walled, though well-preserved buildings - some still two stories high - are houses from the Late Roman and Byzantine periods.
A column with a square base, reused in the Umayyad Palace (see Tour 1, Site 13), has been temporarily located along the path. The column bears a Latin inscription of the Tenth Roman Legion, which mentions the Roman emperors Vespasian and Titus, who led their army in its suppression of the Great Jewish Revolt (66–70 CE). The inscription, several lines long, was carved in Titus' reign. Originally it was meant to honor the Roman commander who was then procurator of Judea, but his name has been deliberately effaced, perhaps because later he was active against the Roman imperial government. The Tenth Roman Legion (Fretensis), whose soldiers dedicated the inscription to their now unknown commander, took part in the siege and occupation of Jerusalem and was subsequently stationed in the city as a garrison for more than two hundred years. The column bearing the inscription probably served as a milestone marking the first mile on one of the roads leading out of the city. This is one of two similar milestone inscriptions found in excavations south of the Temple Mount.
The path continues northward, through the north gate of the Umayyad building (see Tour 1, Site 4), offering a good view of the southwest corner of the Temple Mount. Visible to the east are the supporting piers of the staircase carried by Robinson's Arch (see Tour 1, Site 9). Further down the path, on the west (left), is a plastered public ritual bath (miqveh) from the Second Temple period. The rock cutters used an earlier tomb or cistern from the First Temple period. A low plastered rock partition ran down the middle of the steps to the miqveh, to separate bathers going down from those ascending purified (see Ritual Baths). Further north the path links up with partly reconstructed stairs from the Second Temple period. From that point one can reach the paved street (see Tour 1, Site 6).
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