Plastered Wall

View of a plastered wall in one of the buildings discovered in Nahum Avigad's excavations in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.

The plaster was applied to stones that form the surface of a rubble filled wall.  The smooth plaster is not painted, but it is carved to present the appearance of large "Herodian Masonry" stones—smooth bosses and carved margins.

A similar technique was used in the western palace at Masada.  This technique is trying to imitate stones such as those found on the Herodian Temple Mount platform. Note this large stone.