Image Details

The largest hewn stone in the Western Wall lies near the beginning of the Rabbinical Tunnel, just north of Wilson’s Arch. Over 46 feet long, 10 feet high and 10 feet deep, the limestone monolith weighs about 415 tons. The stone, which is on the bottom course, beginning on the right edge of the picture, continues past the reinforced doorway and ends where the visitor stands in the background. This mammoth stone is considerably longer and heavier than any of the monoliths found at Stonehenge, or on Easter Island, or in the Egyptian pyramids. All the ashlars are so well-cut that, although there is no mortar holding the stones together, even a knife blade cannot fit between their joints.