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reprinted from Arutz Sheva
23:09 Apr 14, '05 / 5 Nisan 5765
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Dump site where artifacts were found |
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Artifacts found in the rubble, Top:
A tiny ceramic flask, apparently used for some precious
liquids, possibly perfumes. Period unclear. Bottom: A
clay statuette of a goat’s head with remains of reddish
tint. Possibly from Roman period.
Photos from the Jerusalem Post. |
A historic excavation has been taking place in an eastern
Jerusalem valley for the past six months: the first-ever
archaeological examination of the Temple Mount.
Arutz-7's Ezra HaLevi has taken an exclusive inside look
into one of the most important and unique archaeological
explorations in history - currently in danger of going
unfinished due to lack of funding.
In November 1999, the Islamic Wakf carried out an illegal
construction project on the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest
site. The unsupervised digging caused irreparable damage
to the important site, as well as to untold priceless artifacts
contained in rubble removed during the construction and
dumped clandestinely in the Kidron Valley.
Though the archaeological remains were no longer in their
original contexts, they held enormous potential to shed
light on the undocumented human history of the Temple Mount,
as
systematic archaeological excavation or scientific study
have never taken place there. The mounds of dirt in the
Kidron Valley therefore contained the only available data
from the
Temple Mount to which modern archaeologists have ever had
access.
During the illegal excavations and dumping on and from the
Temple Mount, the police and the government Antiquities
Authority refused to interfere, citing concerns of violence
by Muslims
who deny that Temples ever stood on the Temple Mount. Tzachi
Zweig, then an archaeology student, called a press conference
to publicize the extent of the archaeological havoc being
perpetrated. Zweig caused a stir in the media by displaying
an assortment of artifacts that he had easily scooped out
of the piles.
The story elicited outrage across the political spectrum
in Israel, and this was followed by temporary restrictions
on the free access of heavy construction equipment on the
Temple Mount. The dirt itself into which the Waqf had mixed
garbage was meanwhile ignored, and the Antiquities Authority
refused to fund an examination of the tons of rubble.
Prominent archaeologist Dr. Gabriel Barkai decided to undertake
the task of sifting through the 70 truckloads of Temple
Mount dirt in order to rescue as much archaeological information
from the destruction as possible.
"What they did was an archaeological disaster,"Barkai told Israel National Radio's Eli Stutz and Yishai Fleisher. "That material is the only material available from the Temple Mount."
Private donations were gathered, and Zweig and Barkai proceeded
to bring truckloads of earth to the Tzurim Valley National
Park, located on the western slope of Mount Scopus, just
below Hebrew University and the Maaleh Adumim tunnel.
The work was done quietly. "Anything in Jerusalem is politically charged,"Barkai said. "Anything connected with the Temple Mount is even more sensitive. If our activity
would have been known at the beginning, our work might have
been jeopardized by unfriendly elements."
Using a mechanical sifter, the rubble was first separated
into heaps consisting of material of differing sizes. The
piles were then sifted by hand.
The work at the site was at first conducted primarily by
volunteers who heard of the project by word of mouth and
through Jerusalem-based email lists. Soon, groups from
schools or other programs began pitching in for a few hours
at a
time. Eventually, Zweig began paying some of the more dedicated
volunteers to work full-time, and since then, progress
has increased significantly.
"The very act of spending time and making the effort to examine
debris just because it originates from the Temple Mount transmits
a very powerful message to the general public and to the
world as a whole about the importance of the place,"Dr. Barkai said, likening the painstaking examination of the Temple Mount rubble
to the respect given to a dead corpse by burying it.
He said the project is of particular importance due to the
Islamic Waqf efforts to perpetrate something that he says
is worse than Holocaust denial. "There is a phenomenon of Temple denial,"Barkai said. "I just heard [Arab] MK Dahamshe this week in the Knesset denying that there were
ever temples on the Temple Mount. It is a part of the cultural
Intifada. I think it is just as serious as Holocaust denial.
This intifada started in Joseph's tomb and is trying to deny
Jewish rights to the country."
The sifting and examinations have already yielded important
artifacts from various periods, starting from the First
Temple period until today. Among the discoveries so far:
- Coin from the period of the First Revolt against the Romans that preceded
the destruction of the Second Temple bearing the phrase "For the Redemption of Zion."
- During the first days of the project, a coin was recovered from the time of
the Great Revolt against the Romans, preceding the destruction of the Second
Temple. It bore the Hebrew phrase L'Herut Tzion, "For the Freedom of Zion."The find was particularly meaningful, as the Temple
Mount itself was one of the focal points of the Revolt.
- A few days later, on the eve of Chanukah, workers discovered the "pinched style"spout of a Hasmonaean lamp.
- Several weeks later, on the Tenth of Teveth - one of the fast days commemorating
events that lead to the destruction of the First Temple - a crusader arrowhead
was discovered. Though this was from a later period than the Temple's destruction,
arrowheads were subsequently recovered from earlier periods.
- An unexpected find, due to the Waqf's removal of almost all large artifacts,
was a large segment of a marble pillar's shaft - one meter tall and 60
cm in diameter, streaked with purple veins and white spots.
There is another segment
of a column shaft with a similar texture lying in a heap of various marble
column shafts near the southern wall within the Temple
Mount. Both fragments seem to
be from the same pillar.
- A large amount of pottery shards were discovered. Some 10-20 percent of it
stems from the time of the First Temple period, and a small amount comes
from the Second Temple period.
- Animal bones - remnants of sacrifices.
- A number of mosaic tiles and prehistoric flint implements.
- An inscription chiseled on a jar fragment of the First Temple period, with
the ancient Hebrew letters "Heh,""Ayin"and "Kof."
- A seal impression from the Hellenistic period showing a five-pointed star
with the ancient Hebrew letters spelling "Jerusalem"spaced between the points. About 30 such impressions have been found
in Jerusalem on handles from the Hellenistic period (3rd
century BCE). This was apparently
a kind of official stamp from a period about which very little is known.
- Numerous ceramic oil lamps were found. The most common among them are "Herodian lamps"from the time of the Second Temple. Another frequently found lamp is the "sandal"type, characteristic of the late Byzantine period (6-7th century CE).
Many are decorated menorah patterns.
- About 100 ancient coins, including several from the period of the Hasmonaean
dynasty. One of the Hasmonean coins bears an inscription "Yehonatan High Priest, friend of the Jews."On the other side is a cornucopia
with a pomegranate in the center. Another coin is of Alexander Jannaeus.
One side has the design of an anchor and the other
side a star.
- A fragment of a figurine from the First Temple period.
- A Scytho-Iranian arrowhead, of the type used by the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar
that destroyed the First Temple in 586 BCE. Very few such arrowheads have
been found in Jerusalem.
- A bronze arrowhead from the Hellenistic period, possibly a remnant left by
the Seleucid forces that were stationed in the Akra fortress, or by soldiers
of Shimon the Maccabee, who liberated the Temple Mount.
- An ivory comb, apparently from the Second Temple period. Similar combs have
been found at Qumran, and it is probable that they were used as preparation
for ritual purification in a mikveh (ritual bath), prior
to entering the Temple courts.
"Our prime intent is to collect all man-made relics so that later we will be able
to conduct a more intensive study based on quantitative analyses,"Barkai said. "By these studies we may learn more about the level of activity on the Temple
Mount during the different periods, and the characteristics of each period. Another
plan is to sort the bones, identify the various animal species, and date some
of them by Carbon-14 analysis."
Because such a sensitive excavation of material had never before taken place,
and because the material had been purposely mixed with garbage and other matter,
Zweig and Barkai had a difficult time estimating how much time the excavation
would take. Despite six months of work, to date only 15% of the rubble has
been examined.
"We had to develop the work methods ourselves as we progressed,"Zweig said. They now estimate that it will take four more months to finish sifting
all of the material, but their initial grant of $65,000 has nearly run out.
$61,000 more is needed to finish the project, something the
two say could be accomplished
by the end of the summer using the methods they now use.
For information and to assist the project, contact: "zachifm@miac.com"
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