Rock
Jerusalem stone
Kudüs taşı
The pale limestones that turn Jerusalem golden at sunset, from the Western Wall to the façades of today's apartment blocks.
Also known as: Meleke · Jerusalem limestone
- Popularly: Natural stone (building and decor)
In short
Jerusalem stone is the collective name for the pale limestones, dolomites and dolomitic limestones common in and around Jerusalem. The region's most celebrated buildings, above all the Western Wall, are built of them. Since 1918 every new building in Jerusalem has had to be faced with local stone, and the golden glow the setting sun casts on these cream-coloured façades gave rise to the phrase “Jerusalem of Gold”.
Photos
How does it form?
The hill country of Israel and Palestine is underlain mostly by limestones, dolomites and dolomitic limestones laid down on the floor of a shallow sea in the Cretaceous period. Lime mud from the shells and skeletons of sea creatures hardened into limestone over time, and some beds were turned into dolomite by magnesium-rich waters.
Beds of different ages yield stone of different quality. Soft Senonian limestone is found east of Jerusalem and was long used as an inexpensive building material. The Cenomanian beds yield mizzi ahmar and mizzi yahudi, which are far more durable but very hard and therefore costly to quarry. The most prized stones, meleke and mizzi hilu, come from the Turonian beds. Meleke is soft and easy to chisel when quarried, but hardens on exposure to the air and becomes highly durable.
What is it used for?
- Ancient buildings: Jerusalem stone was used for the great public buildings of antiquity; the blocks of the Western Wall are meleke limestone. The Mamluks used the red-banded mizzi ahmar in “ablaq” masonry, with courses of contrasting colour. In the Late Second Temple period the soft kakuleh was carved into box-shaped ossuaries and stone vessels.
- Jerusalem today: The city’s by-laws require all buildings to be faced with Jerusalem stone; the rule goes back to the 1918 master plan drawn up by the city engineer William McLean.
- Floors and roofs: The reddish deir yassini is quarried in slabs for floor and roof tiles.
- Symbolic use: Around the world the stone is used in Jewish buildings as a symbol of identity; it appears in synagogues as a backdrop recalling the Western Wall, and in ceremonial objects such as menorahs and seder plates.
Where is it found?
Some ancient quarries lie inside Jerusalem: Zedekiah’s Cave beneath the Old City walls, the site of today’s East Jerusalem Central Bus Station and the area of the Garden Tomb are among them. The quarries of the old village of Deir Yassin, west of Jerusalem, were known for hard yellow mizzi yahudi. Today most of the stone comes from quarries in the West Bank: Beit Fajjar, between Bethlehem and Hebron, is the main centre of the Palestinian stone industry, and Hebron and Al-Khader near Bethlehem are also important. In the south, a Turonian lithographic variety of meleke occurs north of Makhtesh Ramon in the Negev, and a Jerusalem stone factory operates in Mitzpe Ramon.
What determines its value?
As a building stone, its value depends on the kind, its colour and how even that colour is, its durability and how easily it can be worked. Meleke and mizzi hilu are the most sought-after kinds, and at the beginning of the 20th century the green mizzi akhdar cost five times as much as other kinds. The legal requirement to use it in Jerusalem and its use in symbolic buildings around the world keep demand alive.
This information is educational, not buying, selling or investment advice. Value varies enormously with quality and treatment.
How to recognise it
- 1
It comes in pale, warm shades from white and cream through pale yellow to pink and tawny, and takes on a golden glow at sunset.
- 2
Its best-known kind, meleke, is white and coarsely crystalline, and develops a pleasant yellow hue once exposed to the air.
- 3
In Jerusalem, by law, it is seen on the façade of almost every building; dense kinds such as the green mizzi akhdar can take a fine polish.
- 4
The limestone kinds fizz at once in dilute acid; the dolomite kinds fizz only when powdered or in warm acid.
Myths and misconceptions
MythJerusalem stone is a single kind of stone.
FactJerusalem stone is the collective name for the pale limestones, dolomites and dolomitic limestones of the region. Masons divide them into kinds of different hardness and colour, such as meleke, mizzi hilu, mizzi ahmar, mizzi yahudi and kakuleh.
MythJerusalem stone is quarried inside the city of Jerusalem.
FactSome of the ancient quarries were inside the city, but today most of the stone comes from about 300 quarries in the West Bank, especially around Beit Fajjar and Hebron; around 65 percent of the exports go to Israel.
Did you know?
Jerusalem's stone-facing rule goes back to an order issued in 1918 by Ronald Storrs, military governor under the British Mandate; it was later noted that the stone façades limited the damage from shelling in the 1948 war.
Zedekiah's Cave beneath the Old City walls is in fact an underground meleke quarry of about 20,000 square metres, worked over several thousand years.
In São Paulo, Brazil, a Pentecostal church had a 55-metre-tall replica of Solomon's Temple built of Jerusalem stone.
The names masons use for the kinds are Arabic: meleke means “royal stone”, mizzi hilu “sweet stone” and mizzi ahmar “red stone”.
Where is it found?
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- Beit Fajjar, between Bethlehem and Hebron, West Bank, Palestine · Major depositA main centre of the Palestinian stone industry, with 138 of the West Bank's 650 stone production outlets, producing the meleke known as Jerusalem stone.
- Hebron, West Bank, Palestine · Major depositGenerates roughly a third of the area's GDP, largely from the sale of limestone from quarries around the city.
- Al-Khader, near Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine · Known localityOne of the stone-quarrying centres near Bethlehem.
- Deir Yassin (today Givat Shaul), Jerusalem · Historic sourceThe old village's quarries supplied the Jerusalem market with hard yellow “mizzi yahudi” limestone; the reddish “deir yassini” used for floor and roof tiles is named after the village.
- Mitzpe Ramon and north of Makhtesh Ramon, Negev, Israel · Known localityThe Turonian Gerofit Formation north of Makhtesh Ramon contains a lithographic limestone that is a variety of meleke; a Jerusalem stone factory opened in the town in 2000.
Locations are approximate to protect sites. Red dots mark places in Türkiye. Open in the big map →
Frequently asked questions
What is jerusalem stone?
Jerusalem stone is the collective name for the pale limestones, dolomites and dolomitic limestones common in and around Jerusalem. The region's most celebrated buildings, above all the Western Wall, are built of them. Since 1918 every new building in Jerusalem has had to be faced with local stone, and the golden glow the setting sun casts on these cream-coloured façades gave rise to the phrase “Jerusalem of Gold”.
What is jerusalem stone used for?
Ancient buildings: Jerusalem stone was used for the great public buildings of antiquity; the blocks of the Western Wall are meleke limestone. The Mamluks used the red-banded mizzi ahmar in “ablaq” masonry, with courses of contrasting colour. In the Late Second Temple period the soft kakuleh was carved into box-shaped ossuaries and stone vessels. Jerusalem today: The city's by-laws require all buildings to be faced with Jerusalem stone; the rule goes back to the 1918 master plan drawn up by the city engineer William McLean.
How hard is jerusalem stone?
It has a hardness of 3–4 on the Mohs scale. A fingernail cannot scratch it, but a steel knife can. Its specific gravity is 2.66–2.8 g/cm³.
Where is jerusalem stone found?
Its best-known localities: Beit Fajjar, between Bethlehem and Hebron, West Bank, Palestine; Hebron, West Bank, Palestine; Deir Yassin (today Givat Shaul), Jerusalem; Al-Khader, near Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine; Mitzpe Ramon and north of Makhtesh Ramon, Negev, Israel.
How can you tell if jerusalem stone is real?
It comes in pale, warm shades from white and cream through pale yellow to pink and tawny, and takes on a golden glow at sunset. Its best-known kind, meleke, is white and coarsely crystalline, and develops a pleasant yellow hue once exposed to the air. In Jerusalem, by law, it is seen on the façade of almost every building; dense kinds such as the green mizzi akhdar can take a fine polish.
Is jerusalem stone valuable?
On the “street to diamond” value ladder it sits on step 4 of nine: Fine dimension stone and ore. As a building stone, its value depends on the kind, its colour and how even that colour is, its durability and how easily it can be worked. Meleke and mizzi hilu are the most sought-after kinds, and at the beginning of the 20th century the green mizzi akhdar cost five times as much as other kinds. The legal requirement to use it in Jerusalem and its use in symbolic buildings around the world keep demand alive.
Sources
- Jerusalem stone · Wikipedia
- Kudüs taşı · Vikipedi
- Famed Jerusalem stone still sells despite West Bank economic woes (AFP) · Arab News, 2025
- The Palestinian quarries that build Jerusalem (N. Zeveloff) · The National, 2017
- Jerusalem Gold Limestone · Stone World, 2002
- Zedekiah's Cave · Wikipedia
- Beit Fajjar · Wikipedia
- Hebron · Wikipedia
- Al-Khader · Wikipedia
- Deir Yassin · Wikipedia
- Mitzpe Ramon · Wikipedia
- Densities of Solids · The Engineering ToolBox
- Limestone · Geology.com
- Dolomite · Geology.com
External links
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