Shops along the Western Wall

Remains of Herodian shops run along the western wall of the Temple Mount. This street, like the adjacent royal stoa, was one of the commercial and legal hubs of the Temple district. Here, merchants sold animals that could be offered as Temple sacrifices because it was much easier for pilgrims to exchange money for a dove or cattle at the base of the Temple than to journey from their homes to Jerusalem with one. It was also the place where visitors could find money changers who would convert their foreign currency into local Jewish or Tyrian coins; Tyrian shekels were used to pay the Temple tax (see “The Temple Tax”).