14 ? Did Herod Build the Foundations of the Western Wall During the excavation of the central drainage channel near Robinson's Arch in 2001, we also dug along the foundations of the Western Wall ( W101 ) some 9 m north of the southwestern wall of the Temple Mount . The dig extended along m of the wall to a width of 2 . 21 approximately 2 m ( Fig . 1 ) . At the end of the Second Temple period, when it was decided to expand the Temple Mount to the south and west, new retaining walls were built that moved beyond the center of the Tyropoeon Valley to its western slope . During this ancient construction, dwellings were demolished and removed from the area . The aboveground portions of the dwellings were dismantled and the underground segments, which had been dug into the bedrock, including basements, miqwa'ot and cisterns, were partially blocked by construction and in some areas, became part of the central drainage channel . Our excavation revealed three and a half courses of the Western Wa...
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