JERUSALEM, July 8 (Xinhua) -- An impressive 2,000-year-old public building was discovered in the Old City of Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said Thursday.
Next to what is known to the Jews as the Temple Mount and to the Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Compound, the building served as a reception place for important dignitaries before they entered the Second Temple compound, according to the IAA.
It was unearthed at the Western Wall Tunnel, which is an array of ancient spaces and underground tunnels along the route of the Wall.
The structure contains two identical ornate chambers with an elaborate fountain between them.
The walls of the halls and the fountain were decorated with a sculpted cornice bearing pilasters (flat supporting pillars) topped with Corinthian capitals.
Such reclining rooms were common in the Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman worlds from the fifth century BC to the fourth century AD, the IAA noted.
The fountain had water gushing out from lead pipes incorporated in the midst of the Corinthian capitals protruding from the wall. Enditem