For over 300 years, Zedekiah's cave has been a legend, another story dating back to ancient Jerusalem. Until one winter of 1854, American preacher James Turner Barclay went with his son to walk the dog on the outskirts of the city. Suddenly, the dog ran after the fox's fresh footsteps along the walls of the Old City and disappeared underground. James called the animal, but there was no reaction. His son continued his search at the foot of the rocky cliffs and came across a deep reservoir created by the flow of water from recent precipitation. Looking inside, he heard barking coming from the depths. The next day Barclay and his son returned to the scene, slipped through the opening and discovered an ancient cave. Built a thousand years ago, it was used as a quarry. Today it is one of the most revered places among the Freemasons.
Zedekiah's Cave (or Solomon's Quarries) is the largest man-made cave in Israel. There are quite a few underground reservoirs in Jerusalem, but this one is much larger than any other. The entrance is located a few dozen meters from the Damascus Gate. The mouth of the cave is located on a rocky cliff that serves as the foundation for the wall of the Old City.
The mine is rather big today, but it used to be much larger and stretched beyond the city limits up to the Garden Grave. The 9,000 square meter underground limestone quarry extends 200 meters (650 feet) from the entrance. It is 100 meters (330 feet) wide and recessed 9 meters from street level. It is believed that the cave was artificially created by stonecutters for several thousand years, but no one knows exactly how old it is.
She has many names. Zedekiah's Cave is its Hebrew name. In English, it is called the Quarries of King Solomon. The Arabs call it the Cave of the Kings. Josephus Flavius in his book "The Jewish War" calls it "royal".
Zedekiah's Cave is the most important of the ancient Jerusalem quarries. Its main layers are composed of melek stone. When mined, it appears bright white. Exposure to the sun makes it grayish in color (like Italian marble) and imparts an excessive hardness, which becomes stronger over time. Many Jerusalem monuments have been created using this type of limestone, the most famous of which is the Temple Mount.
Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566), sultan of the Ottoman Empire, walled up the cave around 1540 so that the enemy could not penetrate the city from underground. They threw stones at her.
The last documented use of the cave as a quarry is associated with the construction of the clock tower above the Jaffa Gate.
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The clock tower above the Jaffa Gate.
This happened in the early 20th century, when the Turks built several clock towers throughout Israel and the main one over the entrance to Jerusalem. The stones of this tower were quarried in Zedekiah's cave. The British dismantled the building in the 1920s.
In addition, during the British rule, stones were mined from Zedekiah's cave and sent to different countries for the newly opened Masonic lodges.
At the very bottom, inside the cave, there is a small spring that seeps through the ceiling, known as the "Zedekiah's Tears". Zedekiah was the last biblical king of Judah. During his reign, Babylon conquered Jerusalem, expelling all Jews.
It is believed that Zedekiah tried to hide by fleeing from Jerusalem to Jericho through this cave, but was captured and taken to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. Before his eyes, his own sons were killed, and then Zedekiah was blinded. Thus, the source personifies the tears of Zedekiah about the conquest of Jerusalem and the death of children.
Masons believe that Solomon was the first and greatest bricklayer. They trace their origin to the workers who built the Temple of Solomon. Therefore, the Freemasons consider Zedekiah's cave a suitable place for their secret religious ceremonies. In 1868, the first meeting of Masons in Ottoman Palestine took place here by candlelight. Religious Masonic ceremonies are carried out in the cave to this day.
Although more than 150 years have passed since the discovery of the cave, much of its history has not yet been revealed.
Pavel Romanutenko
