Western Wall

Timeline

1. c. 20 BCE

   Herodian Construction of the West Wall

   Herod the Great artificially expands the Second Temple platform, erecting the retaining walls including the western section that survives today as the Western Wall.

2. 70 CE

   Roman Destruction of Jerusalem

   During the Jewish-Roman War, Titus's legions besiege and capture Jerusalem and raze the Second Temple, leaving only the western retaining wall standing.

3. 135 CE

   Suppression of the Bar Kokhba Revolt

   Emperor Hadrian bans Jews from entering Jerusalem after the failed revolt and renames the city Aelia Capitolina, beginning centuries of restricted access.

4. 638 CE

   Umayyad Conquest

   Muslim forces take control of Jerusalem and in 691 build the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount directly above the western retaining wall.

5. 1866

   Montefiore's Addition

   Under Ottoman rule, the British Jewish philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore funds the addition of fourteen upper courses to shelter worshippers from sun and rain.

6. 1917

   Beginning of British Mandate

   General Allenby captures Jerusalem from the Ottomans, opening the British Mandate period during which the English name 'Wailing Wall' becomes established.

7. 1929

   Western Wall Riots

   Major communal violence erupts over the religious status of the wall, leaving 133 Jews and 116 Arabs killed and hundreds more wounded.

8. 1948-1967

   Jordanian Control

   Jordan takes East Jerusalem in the Arab-Israeli War and Jews are completely barred from praying at the wall for nineteen years.

9. June 1967

   Six-Day War Reunification

   Israeli forces capture the Old City during the Six-Day War, and Jewish prayer at the wall is freely restored after nearly two thousand years of restriction.

10. 1981

    UNESCO World Heritage Listing

    The Old City of Jerusalem, including the Western Wall, is inscribed simultaneously as a World Heritage Site and on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

11. 2016

    Mixed-Gender Prayer Section Approved

    Alongside the traditional separate men's and women's sections, the Israeli government approves a new mixed-gender prayer area at the wall.

Detailed History

The history of the Western Wall begins around 20 BCE with Herod the Great's vast expansion of the Second Temple platform. The Temple Mount was originally a natural hilltop, where King Solomon built the First Temple in the tenth century BCE; that temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and the Second Temple was rebuilt under Zerubbabel around 516 BCE. Herod's project around 20 BCE artificially enlarged the platform and surrounded it with a retaining wall 488 meters long, of which the western section forms today's Western Wall. In 70 CE, during the Jewish-Roman War, the legions of Titus besieged Jerusalem, captured the city, and razed the Temple in what is remembered as the Siege of Jerusalem; only the western wall was left standing. After the failed Bar Kokhba revolt of 132-135 CE, Emperor Hadrian banned Jews from entering Jerusalem and renamed the city Aelia Capitolina. Beginning with the Edict of Milan in the fourth century, Jews were eventually granted access for a single day per year on Tisha B'Av, the day mourning the Temple's destruction. The Umayyad Caliphate took control of Jerusalem in 638 CE and built the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in 691 CE; courses 8 through 11 above ground at the wall were added by the Umayyads in this period. Courses 12 to 25 were added in 1866 during Ottoman rule by the British Jewish philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore to shelter worshippers from sun and rain. In 1917 General Allenby took Jerusalem from the Ottomans and the British Mandate period began; the English name 'Wailing Wall' became established at this time. In 1929 deadly riots over the wall's ownership left 133 Jews and 116 Arabs dead. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Jordan occupied East Jerusalem and Jews were completely barred from the wall for nineteen years. On June 10, 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israeli forces captured the Old City, and Jewish prayer at the wall was freely restored for the first time in nearly two thousand years. Almost immediately after the battle, the adjoining Moroccan Quarter was demolished to create the present-day plaza. The uppermost three courses (26-28) were added by the Mufti of Jerusalem in the same year. In January 2016 the Israeli government approved the establishment of an additional mixed-gender prayer section alongside the traditional separate-sex areas.

Cultural Significance

The Western Wall is the holiest accessible site in modern Judaism. Because rabbinic tradition cautions against inadvertently stepping on the location of the Holy of Holies, most Orthodox authorities discourage entering the Temple Mount itself, and so the wall, as the closest permissible point of prayer, became the spiritual heart of post-Temple Jewish life. Jews call it simply 'the Kotel' (the Wall) or 'HaKotel HaMa'aravi', and synagogues worldwide are oriented to face this point. The men's and women's sections, divided by a partition, reflect Orthodox tradition, with the women's side markedly smaller. Bar Mitzvah ceremonies marking a boy's coming of age at thirteen are held in front of the wall by tens of thousands of families every year. Because the seventh-century Dome of the Rock stands directly above the wall on the Temple Mount, the site is also sacred in Islam as the 'Buraq Wall', where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have tethered his winged steed during the Night Journey, and political tensions over its religious status have been continuous for over a century. The entire Old City of Jerusalem, including the wall, was inscribed in 1981 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and placed simultaneously on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Jewish tradition that the Shekhinah, the divine presence, never departed from the wall has sustained two millennia of diaspora belief.

Architectural Details

The full retaining wall on the western side of the Temple Mount extends 488 meters, of which the roughly 57-meter section facing the prayer plaza is what is commonly called the Western Wall. The visible wall rises about 19 meters above the plaza, with another 13 meters below street level for a total of 32 meters, comprising 28 courses above ground and 17 below — forty-five courses in all. Courses 1 through 7 date from Herod the Great's construction around 20 BCE, built of a soft local limestone called meleke, quarried at Zedekiah's Cave in the Muslim Quarter or at the Ramat Shlomo quarry 4 km north. Individual blocks weigh 2 to 8 tons, and the Western Stone visible inside Wilson's Arch measures 13 meters wide and an estimated 570 tons, among the largest building stones of the ancient world. Each block bears a Herodian dressing — parallel grooves 1.5 cm deep cut at 5 to 20 cm intervals. Courses 8 through 11 are Umayyad additions from the seventh century. Courses 12 through 25 were added in 1866 by Sir Moses Montefiore during Ottoman rule. The uppermost three courses (26-28) were added by the Mufti of Jerusalem in 1967. Only the plaza section and 80 meters on the southern side are visible from outside; the rest is hidden behind buildings. Underground, the Western Wall Tunnel passes Wilson's Arch.