There is a large cave in the city of Jerusalem that was used for by Solomon as a quarry. It is likely that Solomon used the stone from this cave to build the temple in Jerusalem. However, there are other quarries in the Jerusalem area that may have also contributed to the Temple. Jesus said that not even one stone of the temple would be left upon another when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. If we had a piece of stone from Solomon's temple, we could determine exactly where it was quarried from. But we do not, and likely never will.
Josephus Flavius, refers to it as the "Royal Caverns."
In the 10th century, the Damascus Gate was called "the Gate of the Grotto."
In the 15th century, the cave was a textile storage are and "the Cotton Grotto."
In the 16 century, the turks sealed the cave until it was discovered by Dr. Barclay while walking with his son and dog. The dog started digging at the entrance of the cave while tracking a fox.
Although this is often called "Zedekiah's Cave", there is nothing in the Bible that connect Zedekiah with any kind of cave. The story in Jeremiah 39:4; 2 Kings 25:4 is often suggested, but clearly not related.
A. Blueprint of the Cave:
The entrance to the cave is just north of the Damascus Gate along the city wall.
From the entrance under the city wall to the deepest point is 230 meters.
Its widest point is 100 meters and the highest point from floor to roof is 15 meters.
B. The Cave falls 105 meters short of the temple mount;
Although the cave cuts an almost direct line to the NW corner of the temple mount which is 335 meters from the entrance of the cave, no part of the cave is directly under the temple mount area, but falls 105 meters short.
In other words, the closest point of the cave is still 105 meters away from the NW corner of the temple mount.
C. The spring in the cave:
The underground spring is due east of the "Freemasons Hall" and is near the lowest point of the cave.
Isotope tracing has been used to determine that the water from this spring comes from the same aquifer as the Gihon Spring in the city of David.
