Archaeologists Uncover Massive Find Beneath Jerusalem’s Western Wall .

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) unveiled a huge underground section of the Western Wall on Monday that had been hidden for nearly 2,000 years and while digging, they also discovered a Roman-era surprise.

Two years ago, archaeologists began excavating under the section of the Western Wall known as Wilson’s Arch hoping to determine its age. It leads to the indoor men’s prayer section.

“We drilled down these beams to support the floor,” IAA archaeologist Tehillah Lieberman told CBN News. “One of the main goals of the excavation was to not interrupt with the prayer activity going on.”

Wilson’s Arch is the only intact, visible structure remaining from the Temple Mount compound of the Second Temple period.

It was the last arch in a series that made up a giant bridge leading to the Temple Mount from the west and served as a passage for people to enter the Temple Mount and aqueduct.

It was no surprise that archaeologists exposed eight new courses or rows of massive stones of the Western Wall that had been buried beneath it for 1,700 years.

“We knew it was here, but to see it is very exciting,” said Lieberman.

“This is the Western Wall. This is the exact same thing that you see upstairs and outside. The preservation here is a lot better because it’s been covered—no rain, no sun. The preservation here of the stones is probably the best of the stones in the Western Wall that we know of today,” she said.

What they found under the street level there was a surprise.

“The most interesting thing that we found over here is a semi-circular building or theatre-like building,” said archaeologist Dr. Avi Salamon.