The Temple Mount Excavations in Jerusalem, 1968–1978, Directed by Benjamin Mazar. Final Reports, Vol. III
>This volume is the third in the series of final reports on the archaeological excavations directed by Professor Benjamin Mazar for ten continuous years (1968–1978) at the foot of the southern wall and near the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount enclosure. Four building complexes dated to the Byzantine period are discussed in the present volume. They are located in the southeastern part of the excavations, adjacent to the north side of the Ophel road, where the Ophel ridge slopes to the south and southeast. The buildings are all multi-roomed houses, spreading over areas ranging from 400 to 685 square meters in what is understood to be a crowded Byzantine residential quarter south of the Temple Mount compound. The quarter, built in the fourth century CE, was fortified by a city wall and towers only in the fifth century, when it was already crowded and densely populated. The present volume discusses the architecture, finds and character of the buildings in this quarter.