A Missionary, a Dog, and a Hidden Mystery…

Dr. James Barclay set out one winter day in 1854, to take a walk with his dog near Nablus Gate, outside of the walls.
At that time, the ancient Hebrew nation [known today as the Jewish nation] was at an extremely low point, and Barclay, who was an American physician and a Protestant Christian, had come to Jerusalem to missionize.
While in Israel, he caught the “archaeology bug” and dedicated some of his time to research. (Click to tweet)
The story goes that the dog, who was running about at the base of the wall, suddenly disappeared.
Barclay called to it and whistled until he noticed the dog’s wagging tail sticking out from under the wall.
He came closer to the site and saw a small opening of a cave. Curious, he crawled in and was amazed to discover a huge underground space.
The very next morning, Barclay returned with lighting equipment and measuring tools, accompanied by his two sons. So as not to arouse suspicions, they dressed up as Arabs and waited until nightfall to sneak inside.
The complex CSI investigation…
Fascinated by the case, Nico Haas added found that a large incision could be seen in the younger man’s skull, beginning from a vertebra in the neck and reaching the jaw, caused by a sharp object. Three iron nails found in the broken bones of his arm and heel proved That apparently, this man was crucified and tortured before he was killed. The angle of the blow to his head also shows that his head was limp at the time it was struck.
[It’s a good thing that today, the city is in good hands, and even you – the reader of these lines, can come freely to visit and absorb some of the landscapes and the Spirituality that this city imparts to all its visitors.]
They discovered a cave that was approximately 230 meters in length, over 100 meters in width and about 15 meters high.
Essentially, a large portion of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City is built atop this huge space.

See This Cave in Person!
Yes, I Want to Take the Journey to Jerusalem…

The cave was once excavated by human hands. Proof of this fact is:

• The chisel lines along the length of all the cave’s walls.
• The huge pillars were also purposely placed to support the cave’s ceiling.
• The type of rock that was hewn from here is called Melcheh in Arabic, a word that means regal – worthy of use by royalty.

The rock is a sparkling crystalline limestone that is very easy to hew, free of stripes and spots and has a light grayish tone like Italian marble. The most impressive structures in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall, were constructed of Melcheh.
The question that remains unclear is the time-period of the huge quarry. (Click to tweet)

• There are those who claim that this is where King Solomon quarried stones from. “Great stones, heavy stones, to lay the foundation of the house with hewn stone” (Kings I 5:31).
• Others propose that the stones for the second Temple were taken from here, and in contrast, there are those who suggest that the stones from the cave were used during a later period.

The truth may be that they are all correct and that the cave was quarried over several generations until it reached its current state. Barclay would have been pretty upset, we can assume if he had known that the cave’s existence was known even before he discovered it.
It is mentioned in a few sources from the Middle Ages, the latest being from 1522.
Several years later, the Ottomans built the city walls, and apparently sealed the opening of the cave because they understood that such a large hole at the bottom of the wall might be a safety hazard.
Thus, the cave disappeared until Barclay’s dog, over 400 years later, discovered that the opening was no longer sealed and the cave had been re-exposed.
In Jewish tradition, known to us since the 14^th century, the cave has been named after Zedekiah, the last king of Judea. When the Chaldean Babylonian siege was at its peak, Jeremiah cried:

“And Zedekiah the king of Judah shall not escape from the hand[s] of the Chaldeans, for he shall surely be delivered into the hand[s] of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with his mouth, and his eyes shall see his eyes.
And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and he shall be there until I remember him, says the Lord; If you wage war with the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?” (Jeremiah 32:4-5)
(Click to tweet)

The fruition of this prophecy was even crueler and bitter: “The city was broken into, and all the men of war [fled] at night by way of the gate between the two walls that were near the king’s garden, and the Chaldees were surrounding the city, and he went by way of the Arabah.
And the army of the Chaldees pursued the king, and they overtook him on the plains of Jericho, and all his army had scattered and deserted him.
And they seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylonia, to Riblah, and called him to account. And they slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and they blinded Zedekiah’s eyes, and he bound him with copper chains and brought him to Babylon.” (Kings II 25:4-7)
Here, in this horrifying story, about five hundred years B.C.E., and long before the Arab nation was established, Hebrew sovereignty fell for the first time, and was assumed by Babylon.
How did Zedekiah manage to escape from the besieged city? The Midrash mentions a tradition about a huge cave that the king used to escape.
The chain of secret keepers of the Jewish nation complete the description:

“The cave went from his house to the plains of Jericho, and the king escaped via the cave, and Hashem summoned a deer that walked atop the cave and out of the city, and the Chaldeans chased the deer and when they reached the opening of the cave at the plains of Jericho, they saw him and captured him.” (Rashi, Kings II 25:4)
Zedekiah’s cave is very deep, but… it doesn’t go all the way to Jericho.

Now, you can come see this place with your own eyes.
Come to be inspired, energized, and to draw from the hidden powers of this ancient city.
(Click to tweet)