THE TEMPLE MOUNT ANTIQUITIES SALVAGE OPERATION

The Temple Mount sifting project has been in existence since November 2004 under the direction of archaeologists Dr. Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Zweig, the support and management of the Ir-David Foundation, the help of private donors and the cooperation of the Israel National Parks authority.

In October 1999, the Islamic Waqf, the Moslem trust, and the Islamic Movement conducted an illegal construction operation on the south-east corner of the Temple Mount. This operation included a dig which inflicted much irreparable archaeological damage. These actions are also part of a general trend by the Islamic Waqf to prevent any archaeological research on the mount that may reveal elements of its Jewish past. But the main goal of this construction was to create “facts on the ground” by turning every vacant point on the mount into a mosque. The Waqf also converted the underground chamber that they dug out and the entrance to it, known as “Solomon’s Stables” into a Mosque for prayer, the third on the Temple Mount.
The earth from this shameful operation, bursting with archeological wealth relevant to Jewish, Christian and Moslem history, was removed by heavy machinery and unceremoniously dumped by trucks into the nearby Kidron Valley. Although the archeological finds in the earth are already not in situ, this soil still contains great archeological potential. No archeological excavation was ever conducted on the Temple Mount, and this soil is the only archeological information that has ever been available to anyone.
The first task of our project was moving the earth from the Kidron Valley to the Tzurim Valley National Park. Some of the soil was then sifted by a mechanical portable screener, in order to minimize the amount of sifting done by hand. We then began to manually sift the rest of the soil. We began a process of washing the material and scrutinizing it to identify all the archaeological artifacts.




The archaeological importance of the project

Our (and your) finds are unique because they are part of the first archaeological project that has ever examined artifacts from the Temple Mount. Therefore, every find is very important and exceptional. Even the smallest piece of pottery that you find can be dated to a certain period of history which, when processed statistically, will help us understand the amount and types of activities that took place on the Temple Mount throughout history. The project’s deeper meaning Of course, we also consider our work with the earth from the Temple Mount to be an expression of our spiritual connection to this wonderful and holy place that was, and remains a vital part of our history and culture. When we began the project we couldn’t imagine that we would receive such an enormous amount of help. We thought that after a few months we would have seen the last volunteer and sifted through most of the debris, but in a short time, we realized that this was not the case. It is no coincidence that this type of project depends on volunteers’ participation. This project is not a task for a small, clique of archaeologists, but rather a responsibility, duty and privilege of the entire Jewish people and those who support them. Therefore, this undertaking cannot be a brief operation over within a few months, but a meaningful and sustained project lasting many years. This idea is movingly expressed in the Book of Psalms:

Thou wilt arise, and have compassion upon Zion; for it is time to be gracious unto her, for the appointed time is come: For Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and love her dust (psalms 102: 14-15).

אַתָּה תָקוּם, תְּרַחֵם צִיּוֹן: כִּי-עֵת לְחֶנְנָהּ, כִּי-בָא מוֹעֵד: כִּי-רָצוּ עֲבָדֶיךָ, אֶת-אֲבָנֶיהָ; וְאֶת-עֲפָרָהּ, יְחֹנֵנו
(תהלים קב, יד-טו)
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