Temple Mount Sifting Project

Temple Mount Sifting Project, Emek Tzurim National Park, 2004

The Temple Mount Sifting Project (formerly known as the Temple Mount Salvage Operation) is an Israeli archaeological project begun in 2004 dedicated for the purpose of recovering archaeological artifacts from 400 truckloads of topsoil removed from the Temple Mount by the Waqf during the construction of the underground el-Marwani Mosque from 1996 to 1999.[1] The project is under the academic auspices of Bar Ilan University and until 2017 was funded by the Ir David Foundation and Israel Exploration Society.

In April 2017, the project announced that the Ir David Foundation suddenly decided to stop funding the project and, as a result, the sifting part of the project would be closed. Also the funding that was promised to them by Benjamin Netanyahu has never been received. The project has since started to raise money using crowdfunding. The target is 250,000 Israeli new shekel in order to complete the study of the items that were already found.[2][3]Since 2017 the project has been funded by the Israel Archaeology Foundation.[4]

History

The renovation of Solomon's Stables, which is 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2) and 36 feet (11 m) deep, entailed excavating layers of earth accumulated near its northern archways since medieval times.[5] The project necessitated the use of heavy earth moving equipment. About 60 truckloads full of stones and earth were taken to an organic garbage dump in nearby al-Eizariya, and could not be retrieved,[6] but most of the debris (about 350 truckloads) was dumped in the Kidron Valley, near the north-eastern corner of the old city.[7]

Under the supervision of Israeli archaeologists Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira (Zweig) of Bar Ilan University, the soil is being sifted in search of artifacts.[8]

Dore Gold has called the removal of archaeological material from the Temple Mount without archaeological supervision, by the Waqf, a physical form of Denial of the Temple in Jerusalem.[9]

The work is being carried out at a site in the Emek Tzurim National Park, at the foot of Mt. Scopus.[10] Hundreds of artifacts have been found, including coins and jewelry, some with biblical links dating back more than three millennia.[11] The workers use a technique called "wet sifting," similar to panning for gold. Every particle is examined, using wire filters that are rinsed under water.[11] The work is being done inside a large greenhouse covered in plastic sheets. The contents of black plastic buckets filled with stones and pebbles are emptied onto wooden-framed screens, hosed down and sorted for items of potential importance.[12]

Significant finds

  • First Temple period bulla—a piece of hardened clay with a seal impression upon it, c. 2,600 years old. The inscription bears part of priestly official's name, [Haza]lyahu son of Immer.[8]
  • An iron arrowhead with a shaft, used by the Tenth Roman Legion during the siege of the Second Temple[11]
  • Scores of coins, many of them Jewish and minted by the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasty, others Byzantine. More recent coins date from the 17th century.[11]
  • A bronze pendant several hundred years old depicting the Holy Grail[11]
  • Hundreds of fragments of floor tiles of the paving technique known as Opus Sectile from the Herodian period
  • Thousands of architectural element fragments from the Byzantine period

See also

References

  1. ↑ Temple Mount relics saved from garbage, Jerusalem Post
  2. ↑ In Response to the Prime Minister
  3. ↑ Save the remnants of our past (In Hebrew)
  4. ↑ "Temple Mount sifting project at a crossroads". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
  5. ↑ Temple Mount Sifting Project - 3rd preliminary report (Hebrew), p. 55 Archived 2013-09-01 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Artifacts with links to Bible unearthed, Washington Times
  7. ↑ Temple Mount Sifting Project - 1st Preliminary Report
  8. 1 2 Digging out the truth, Jerusalem Post
  9. ↑ The fight for Jerusalem: radical Islam, the west, and the future of the Holy City, Dore Gold, Regnery Publishing, 2007, p. 16.
  10. ↑ Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Biblical artifacts unearthed
  12. ↑ What is beneath the Temple Mount

Further reading

  • Barkay, Gabriel, and Zachi Dvira. 2016. "Relics in Rubble: The Temple Mount Sifting Project." Biblical Archaeology Review 42. no. 6: 44–64.
  • Hammer, J. 2011. "Sifting sacred ground: as Israeli archaeologists recover artifacts from the Temple Mount—a site revered by three religious faiths—ancient history inflames modern-day political tensions." Smithsonian 42, no.1: 34+.
  • Shanks, Hershel. 2011. "The Temple Mount Sifting Project." Biblical Archaeology Review 37, no. 2: 36.
  • --. 2011. "Sifting Project Reveals City's Earliest Writing." Biblical Archaeology Review 37, no. 2: 42.
  • Snyder, Frankie, Gabriel Barkay, and Zachi Dvira. 2016. "What the Temple Mount Floor Looked Like." Biblical Archaeology Review 42, no. 6: 56–59.
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