The Associated Press is reporting the discovery of the ancient quarry used to supply material for the construction of the Second Temple.The 2,300 year old quarry provided the massive walls of the Temple. Dr. Ofir Safir the director of the excavation made these observations:

"The massive quarrying effort, on the order of hundreds of thousands of stones, lowered the topography of Jerusalem in the vicinity of the Old City," Dr. Safir said.  "Today, with the exposure of this quarry, the intensity of the building projects as described in the historical sources can be proven... It is clear that Herod began quarrying closest to the Temple and worked away from it: first he exploited the stone on the nearby ridges and subsequently he moved on to quarry in more distant regions."

There is much coverage of this archaeological find.You can download a zip file with photos of the dig. 

There is understandable interest in the uncovering of this slice of history but what is even more important it is another irrefutable piece of evidence that the Jewish Temple existed in Jerusalem.

Believe it or not, Abbas the leader of the Palestinian Authority denies that Jerusalem ever housed a Jewish Temple. Abbas and others in the Arab world also deny that Jerusalem was ever the capital of the Jewish people. These are the people Obama wants Israel to negotiate with over the future of Jerusalem.