What is known as the "wailing wall" is believed to be the remaining section of a western retaining wall of the Temple Mount. It was rebuilt by
Herod during his reconstruction of the Temple (known as
Herod's Temple or the second temple). Some believe that the wall was erected upon Solomonic foundations. The two lowest courses of stone may date back to the time of Nehemiah.
Some Jews go to the wall every Friday afternoon to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem's Temple and bewail their desolate condition (see Psalm 79), hence its name Wailing Wall. During the Six Day War of 1967, Israeli soldiers cut a path through the Old City to the Wall following twenty years of banishment from the site.
