Archeologist charges waqf endangering Temple remains
By The Associated Press and Haaretz Service
An Israeli archaeologist has charged that Muslim authorities are excavating a hotly disputed holy site in Jerusalem in a way that endangers the remains of the biblical Jewish Temples.
An Israeli photographer took the photos, released on Tuesday, showing stone blocks with a unique design linked to the Second Temple, destroyed in A.D. 70. Hebrew University archaeologist Eilat Mazar charged that their presence in the middle of a Muslim construction project shows that the Wakf, or Islamic Trust, is ignoring the Jewish history of the site.
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In recent years Muslim clerics and Palestinian leaders have rejected the Jewish belief - backed by archaeological findings - that the ancient Jewish Temples stood on the same spot.
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The pictures were taken two weeks ago by Yossi Milshtin, an Israeli journalist who sneaked into the site, masquerading as a Palestinian. Jews are banned from visiting the Muslim shrines.
Milshtin said he had been alerted by Mazar about the presence of the stone blocks and took a camera and video recorder with him to record their images.
Mazar said the images showed large stones endowed with architectural elements unique to the Second Temple period. "(They show) beautiful grape vines," she said. "There is no doubt that these are motifs from the Second Temple period. It is the different elements of the decoration that show this, combined with the style of the artistic work.
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The story is also covered by the Jerusalem Post. According to that article, the Israel Antiquities Authority says it knows nothing of any work going on at the Temple Mount, but archeological inspectors have not been there for three years.
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