Beneath Jerusalem, an underground city takes shape

Associated Press ^ | May 30, 2011 | MATTI FRIEDMAN

[decimon]

JERUSALEM – Underneath the crowded alleys and holy sites of old Jerusalem, hundreds of people are snaking at any given moment through tunnels, vaulted medieval chambers and Roman sewers in a rapidly expanding subterranean city invisible from the streets above.

At street level, the walled Old City is an energetic and fractious enclave with a physical landscape that is predominantly Islamic and a population that is mainly Arab.

Underground Jerusalem is different: Here the noise recedes, the fierce Middle Eastern sun disappears, and light comes from fluorescent bulbs. There is a smell of earth and mildew, and the geography recalls a Jewish city that existed 2,000 years ago.

[decimon]

For Israel, the tunnels are proof of the depth of Jewish roots here...

Matti may have gotten a bit carried away with that.

[decimon]

Tunnel of love ping.

[JewishRighter]

I’ve been in the tunnels about a half dozen times, including some privately guided tours that took us to areas not open to the public. I just want people to know that the photos in the story are a very poor representation of what you actually see, which is an astonishing revelation of the civilization that was there well over 2 thousand years ago, including numerous indications of the Jewish presence, a high degree of technical and engineering skill, fine stonecutting work, inscriptions and many references to things spoken of in the old testament.

[SunkenCiv]

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach · · join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
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[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

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[SunkenCiv]

Whoops.

Beneath Jerusalem, An Underground City Takes Shape
AP | 5/30/11 | Matti Friedman
Posted on 05/30/2011 4:57:48 PM PDT by marshmallow
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2727338/posts

[decimon]

My post was first. Nyah nyah nyah! ;-)

[tutstar]

Bump

[tutstar]

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