- [Julie] The discoveriesare the highlight

of a new route throughthe Western Wall tunnels

that sheds light onJewish life in Jerusalem

during the time of Jesus.

- It's unbelievable to seethis new excavation, here.

Maybe 15 years ago whenI started guiding here,

I was standing above us and saying,

you know, underneath thearch there's something.

So now we are inside that something.

- [Julie] Yohanna Bisraor from the

Western Wall Heritage Foundation said

the new route will open in a few months.

VIPs were invited this day for a preview.

- We have a beautiful complexon the Second Temple-period,

maybe one of the most beautifulnext to the Western Wall.

And you could see ritualbath, beautiful columns.

- [Julie] The discovery began here

more than 100 years agowhen British archeologist,

Charles Warren climbedthrough a hole into this room.

Now archeologists haveuncovered two more chambers.

- And when we saw this roomwhich was the first thing

to be revealed in the new excavations,

we were excited because we realized

what was not know then,but we are actually

in the parlor room of theHasmonean or Herodian Hall

that was already knownsince Warren's time,

since the 19th century.

This is one big building.

- The discovery of theserooms less than 100 feet

from the Temple Mount addsa new layer of understanding

to Second Temple times 2,000 years ago.

- It was a building forthe elite of the city,

for the city councilors, for the rulers,

a meeting place of them, aplace where they could host

their important guestsjust before climbing

with them up to the Temple Mount.

- [Julie] It's unlikely that Jesus

would have been a guest, here.

- If Jesus was a guestof the city councilors

of Jerusalem at that time, He could.

And the building was aplace to host the elite.

So who knows?

I'm not so sure that He was considered

to be such an honored,but who knows, who knows.

Everything's possible.

- [Julie] IAA ExcavationDirector, Shlomit Weksler-Bdolach

said the only other buildingdecorated like this one

in Jerusalem at the time wasthe Temple Mount, itself.

And there's more, an indoor fountain

and reservoir connecting the two chambers.

- [Shlomit] Here you see the capitals.

They are still preserved.

In the center of eachcapital there is a hole.

In this hole, there is alead pipe that is inserted

where the water would come out.

This is a fountain that was

within a very magnificent building,

so possibly, they couldcontrol the flow of water.

When there were guests andthey wanted to impress them,

they opened and thewater would have flowed.

When there was no guests, they closed.

- [Julie] At some point,this room was repurposed

as a huge mikvah or ritual bath,

maybe the largest in Jerusalem.

Archeologists say it may