Shops

Shops

View looking north northwest at the shops excavated by Benjamin Mazar and Ronny Reich along the north–south street that ran along the western wall of the Temple Mount.

The lintels of these shops helped support the arch that in turn supported the staircase and platform that led into the Temple Mount during the Second Temple Period.

Some commentators have suggested that these were the shops where Jesus "cast out the money changers" (John 2:13–17; Matt 21:12–13; Mark 11:15–18; Luke 19:45–48), although it seems more probably to me (Carl Rasmussen) that this event took place on the Temple Mount itself, possibly in the Royal Portico along the southern wall of the Temple Mount

To view the shops prior to excavation Click Here.  To view an artistic recreation of this area Click Here.