The Herodian construction of the retaining walls of the Temple Mount is easily identifiable: large, well-cut stones (the smaller ones weighing 2-4 tons) with Herodian dressed margins, set in horizontal courses, generally of uniform height (1�1.2 meters). At certain points along the base of the retaining walls, such as at the southwest corner of the Temple Mount, particularly sturdy construction called for the use of even larger stones (up to 50 tons). They were laid in alternating rows aligned east�west, above it north�south, and so on. The walls of the Temple Mount rest on bedrock, even where it is 7 meters deep! Neither mortar nor any other binding material was used between the stones, as stability was attained by the great weight of the stones and by the mildly graded recession of each constructive course by three to five centimeters.