Wailing Wall Timeline

(19 BCE – Present)

The Wailing Wall, also known as the Western Wall or Kotel, is a section of the ancient retaining wall of the Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It is considered the holiest site in Judaism where Jews are permitted to pray, and it has been a center of pilgrimage, worship, and conflict for centuries. More Less

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Ancient Temple Era

King Solomon builds the First Temple

957 BC

King Solomon completed the First Temple in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount, establishing the sacred site that would later give rise to the retaining walls whose remnants include the Western Wall. The temple stood as the central place of Jewish worship for centuries.

Image source: Solomon's Temple

Babylonians destroy the First Temple

586 BC

Nebuchadnezzar II's Babylonian army conquered Jerusalem and destroyed Solomon's Temple, ending the First Temple period. The catastrophe began the Babylonian exile and initiated Jewish longing for the restoration of the holy site.

Image source: Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)

Construction of the Second Temple begins

516 BC

After the return from Babylonian exile, Jews rebuilt the Temple on the same site under Persian rule. This Second Temple became the center of Jewish religious life for nearly five hundred years.

Image source: Second Temple

Herod begins massive expansion of the Temple Mount

20 BC

Herod the Great launched a grand reconstruction of the Second Temple complex, building enormous retaining walls around the expanded Temple Mount using massive ashlars, some weighing hundreds of tons. The Western Wall is widely believed to be part of Herod's construction.

Herod completes the Temple renovation

10 BC

The main work on Herod's magnificent Temple was completed around this time, though finishing touches continued afterward. The enlarged platform and its retaining walls, including the western wall, became one of the marvels of the ancient world.

Image source: Temple Mount

Roman and Byzantine Period

Romans destroy the Second Temple

Aug 4, 70 AD

Roman legions under Titus crushed the Great Jewish Revolt and burned the Second Temple on Tisha B'Av. The destruction left only portions of the outer retaining walls standing, including what became known as the Western Wall.

Image source: Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)

Jerusalem renamed Aelia Capitolina

130 AD

Emperor Hadrian refounded Jerusalem as the Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina and built a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount. Jews were forbidden entry, making the Western Wall a distant object of veneration rather than an accessible prayer site.

Image source: Aelia Capitolina

Bar Kokhba revolt against Roman rule

132 AD - 136 AD

Simon Bar Kokhba led a major Jewish uprising against Rome, briefly re-establishing Jewish control over Jerusalem. After its suppression, Emperor Hadrian banned Jews from the city, deepening the symbolic importance of praying at the remaining walls from outside.

Image source: Bar Kokhba revolt

Early rabbinic references to the Western Wall

300 AD

Early midrashic sources began referring to the 'Western Wall of the Temple,' reflecting a tradition of mourning the destroyed sanctuary. Rabbinic literature associated the wall with divine presence that never departed from the western side.

Image source: Western Wall

Early rabbinic references to the Western Wall

Byzantine Christians gain control of Jerusalem

335 AD

Under Christian Byzantine rule, Jerusalem became a pilgrimage center centered on Christian sites. Jews were periodically permitted limited access to Jerusalem, sometimes gathering near the Temple Mount's western wall to pray and lament.

Image source: Jerusalem in Christianity

Brief Sassanid-Jewish control of Jerusalem

614 AD - 617 AD

Persian Sassanid forces, aided by Jewish allies, captured Jerusalem and allowed Jewish worship temporarily. The short-lived autonomy ended when the Byzantines recaptured the city, but the episode fueled messianic hopes tied to the Temple site.

Image source: Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem

Islamic Rule

Muslim conquest of Jerusalem

638 AD

The Rashidun Caliphate captured Jerusalem, beginning more than thirteen centuries of Muslim rule over the city, interrupted only by the Crusader period. The Temple Mount became home to Islamic shrines while Jews were gradually permitted to return.

Image source: Muslim conquest of the Levant

Crusaders capture Jerusalem

1099

Crusaders seized Jerusalem and massacred much of its population, expelling Jews from the city. The Temple Mount was converted to Christian use until Muslims reconquered the city under Saladin in 1187.

Image source: Siege of Jerusalem (1099)

Saladin retakes Jerusalem

Oct 2, 1187

Saladin defeated the Crusaders at Hattin and reclaimed Jerusalem, allowing Jews to resettle. Under Ayyubid rule, Jewish communities returned and renewed their connection to prayer near the western retaining wall.

Image source: Battle of Hattin

Mamluk era development around the Wall

1250 - 1517

During Mamluk rule, the Mughrabi Quarter grew along the western side of the Temple Mount, eventually surrounding the small plaza where Jews prayed before the Western Wall. Religious structures crowded close to the sacred remnant.

Image source: Mamluk Sultanate

Ottoman conquest of Jerusalem

1517

Sultan Selim I brought Jerusalem into the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman authorities generally tolerated Jewish prayer at the Western Wall, which became the most accessible sacred relic of the Temple for Jews worldwide.

Image source: Ottoman Empire

Suleiman the Magnificent restores city walls

1538

Sultan Suleiman rebuilt Jerusalem's city walls and reportedly formalized arrangements for Jewish worship at the Western Wall. Under his reign, the wall emerged as the established site of Jewish communal lamentation and prayer.

Image source: Walls of Jerusalem

Modern Era

Term 'Wailing Wall' gains currency among Europeans

1700

European travelers popularized the name 'Wailing Wall' after witnessing Jewish mourners weeping over the ruined Temple there. Jews traditionally preferred names like the 'Western Wall' or 'Kotel,' rejecting the mournful label as imposed by outsiders.

Sir Moses Montefiore petitions for Jewish rights at the Wall

1840

Sir Moses Montefiore repeatedly petitioned Ottoman authorities to purchase the Western Wall plaza and the adjacent Mughrabi Quarter for Jewish worshippers. Though negotiations failed, his efforts highlighted the growing international attention to Jewish access.

Image source: Moses Montefiore

British survey documents the Western Wall

1867

British Royal Engineers, including Charles Warren, surveyed and excavated around the Temple Mount walls, documenting their Herodian foundations. Their work revealed the extraordinary scale of the ancient masonry hidden below ground level.

Image source: Western Wall Tunnel

Jewish community purchases land facing the Wall

1899

Jewish philanthropists acquired properties overlooking the Western Wall, including the Abu Gosh house, to improve conditions for worshippers who had long prayed in a cramped alleyway beneath Mamluk-era buildings.

Image source: Western Wall Plaza

Allied victory in World War I raises hopes for the Wall

Nov 11, 1918

The defeat of the Ottoman Empire opened a new chapter for Palestine under British administration. Zionist leaders anticipated improved access and rights at the Western Wall, though tensions over the site would soon intensify.

Image source: Armistice of 11 November 1918

1929 riots erupt over prayer arrangements

Aug 23, 1929 - Aug 29, 1929

Disputes between Jews and Muslims over screens and furniture at the Western Wall sparked deadly riots across Palestine, including the Hebron massacre. The violence underscored how the wall had become a flashpoint of the Arab–Jewish conflict.

Image source: 1929 Palestine riots

International Commission rules on Wall status

1931

A League of Nations commission affirmed Muslim ownership of the wall but guaranteed Jewish free access for prayer. It prohibited certain Jewish practices, such as blowing the shofar at the site, a ban that persisted under later authorities.

Jordanian forces capture the Old City

May 28, 1948

During Israel's War of Independence, Jordanian forces seized East Jerusalem and the Old City, cutting off Jewish access to the Western Wall for nineteen years. Jews could no longer pray at the site they regarded as Judaism's holiest accessible place.

Image source: 1948 Arab–Israeli War

Israel captures the Old City in the Six-Day War

Jun 7, 1967

Israeli paratroopers took the Old City during the Six-Day War, and soldiers famously gathered at the Western Wall in jubilation. Rabbi Shlomo Goren blew the shofar there, ending nineteen years of separation and restoring Jewish prayer at the Kotel.

Image source: Six-Day War

Israel captures the Old City in the Six-Day War

Mughrabi Quarter demolished to create the plaza

Jun 10, 1967

Days after capturing the Old City, Israel demolished the Moroccan Quarter adjacent to the Wall, displacing hundreds of residents, to create the large open Western Wall Plaza used for prayer and national ceremonies today.

Image source: Mughrabi Quarter

Excavations reveal the Western Wall Tunnel

1968

Archaeologists began excavating along the full northern length of the Western Wall, uncovering Herodian streets, the massive Western Stone, and underground passages now visited by tourists through the Western Wall Tunnel.

Tunnel opening sparks 1996 riots

Sep 24, 1996

Israel's decision to open a new exit to the Western Wall Tunnel triggered violent Palestinian protests across the West Bank and Gaza, leaving dozens dead and highlighting the enduring political sensitivity surrounding the site.

Robinson's Arch egalitarian prayer section opens

Aug 2013

Israel designated a section south of the main plaza, near Robinson's Arch, for non-Orthodox and mixed-gender prayer. The move responded to long-running disputes over egalitarian worship at the Western Wall, which continue today.

Image source: Robinson's Arch

Key Facts

The Wailing Wall was built as part of the retaining wall of the Second Temple complex, expanded by King Herod the Great around 19 BCE.
It is called the Western Wall because it is the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount, and 'Wailing Wall' refers to Jews mourning the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 CE.
The exposed above-ground portion stands about 19 meters high, but much more of the wall extends underground along its full length of roughly 488 meters.
Worshippers traditionally insert written prayers into the cracks between the ancient limestone blocks, a custom dating back centuries.
Israel gained control of the Old City and the Wall during the Six-Day War in 1967, after which the plaza in front of the Wall was expanded; today it remains under Orthodox religious administration.

Source

This Wailing Wall timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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