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Jerusalem stone (Hebrew: אבן ירושלמית, romanized: ʾeḇen yərūšalmīṯ; Arabic: حجر القدس, romanized: ḥajar al-Quds) is a name applied to various types of pale limestone, dolomite and

dolomitic limestone, common in and around Jerusalem that have been used in building since ancient times. One of these limestones, meleke, has been used in many of the region's most celebrated structures, including the Western Wall. Jerusalem stone continues to be used in construction and incorporated in Jewish ceremonial art such as menorahs and seder plates.

The highlands of Israel and Palestine are primarily underlain by sedimentary limestone, dolomite and dolomitic limestone. The stone quarried for building purposes, ranging in color from white to pink, yellow and tawny, is known collectively as Jerusalem stone. Soft Senonian limestone is found to the east of Jerusalem, and has long been used as an inexpensive building material. Stone of the Cenomanian layers, known in Arabic as mizzi ahmar and mizzi yahudi, is far more durable than Senonian limestone, but is very hard and was expensive to quarry using pre-modern methods. Turonian layers yield mizzi hilu or helu and meleke, the most prized building stones.

The mountains in and around Jerusalem offer mainly limestone, dolomite and related types of rock. Meleke, the "royal" stone, a white, coarse crystalline limestone used for representative buildings like the Western Wall and possibly other parts of the Herodian Temple. Mizzi hilu ("sweet stone") is a hard whitish micritic limestone, usually covering beds of meleke. It is a high quality building stone, but in times when the "royal stone" was preferred, the mizzi hilu was left as a roof over the cavities created by quarrying the meleke. Mizzi ahmar ("red stone"), a hard dolomitic limestone, light-colored with reddish bands. Mizzi yahudi ("Jewish stone"), a dark grey or yellow crystalline dolomite or dolomitic limestone, appreciated for its hardness which makes it an excellent building material. A reddish dolomitic limestone, it is quarried in slabs used for floor and roof tiles. Due to its softness it was favoured during the Late Second Temple Period for carving box-shaped ossuaries for secondary burials as well as for producing stone vessels, using a procedure similar to the potter's wheel. Nari is the other softer type of stone used in the Jerusalem area. The setting sun reflected on the cream-colored limestone facade of both ancient and modern structures gives them a golden hue, giving rise to the term "Jerusalem of Gold".

According to Israeli geologist Ithamar Perath, residents of Jerusalem in antiquity built their homes from Jerusalem stone quarried in the city and used the pit that remained as a cistern to collect rainwater beneath the home. Ancient quarries in Jerusalem include locations that are now the East Jerusalem Central Bus Station, Rehov Hamadregot in Nahlaot, and the Garden Tomb. Municipal laws in Jerusalem require that all buildings be faced with local Jerusalem stone. It was noted that that requirement to use Jerusalem stone in new construction had limited the damage caused by the shelling in the Battle for Jerusalem during the 1948 Palestine war. Aharon Grebelsky established the country's first Jewish-owned quarry in Jerusalem in 1923. There were 650 stone-cutting enterprises run by Palestinians in the West Bank as of 2000, producing a varied range of pink, sand, golden, and off-white bricks and tiles.

The various "Jerusalem stones" are employed abroad in Jewish buildings as a symbol of Jewish identity. Jerusalem stone is frequently used in contemporary synagogue design, to create a simulation of the Western Wall or as a backdrop for the Holy Ark. A Pentecostal church in São Paulo, Brazil, ordered $8 million worth of Jerusalem stone to construct a replica of the Temple of Solomon, or Templo de Salomão that stands 180 feet (55 m) tall.

Quick Facts

• dolomitic limestone, common in and around Jerusalem that have been used in building since ancient times.
• Jerusalem stone continues to be used in construction and incorporated in Jewish ceremonial art such as menorahs and seder plates.
• It was noted that that requirement to use Jerusalem stone in new construction had limited the damage caused by the shelling in the Battle for Jerusalem during the 1948 Palestine war.
• Municipal laws in Jerusalem require that all buildings be faced with local Jerusalem stone.
• According to Israeli geologist Ithamar Perath, residents of Jerusalem in antiquity built their homes from Jerusalem stone quarried in the city and used the pit that remained as a cistern to collect rainwater beneath the home.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Jerusalem stone". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.