Archaeologists have reported finding charred wooden beams from Solomon’s Temple, which was razed to the ground by the Babylonians in 586 BC.
The Israel Antiquities Authority said the sycamore beams were discovered during a dig on the Givati Parking Lot – a major archaeological excavation site in the Jerusalem Walls National Park.
Researchers say the beams, forming part of the roof of an inner courtyard in a building, collapsed during the first Temple’s destruction. They believe that the timber was preserved by melted plaster cladding falling from the walls onto the wooden beams and sealing them.
