Michael A. Zimmerman

A watchman studies next to a box of kippot or skull caps, worn on the head during prayer. He guards the entrance to the access tunnel which reads from Bet Nathan Strauss, on the north side of the Western Wall plaza, to the large room under Wilson’s Arch. All male visitors must follow Jewish tradition and cover their heads when entering the prayer area next to the Western Wall.

Along this access route, a three-dimensional labyrinth has been created by construction workers who unearthed rooms dating from as early as the second century B.C. One especially large room is said to have been the meeting place of the Sanhedrin, the revered council of Jewish elders.