TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH (2): A volunteer reports on a visit to the salvage excavation of the Temple Mount rubble dumped by the Waqf:

Sifting through history

BY: ARI Z. ZIVOTOFSKY Special to the CJN (Cleveland Jewish News)

(Israel) - About a dozen volunteers, including my three children, were dumping buckets of dirt over wire mesh, washing the dirt down with a hose, and hoping to find 2,500-year-old coins.

They were among the hundreds of volunteers and tens of professionals who have assisted in a most unusual archaeological project, currently taking place in Tzurim Valley just below the Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew University.

[...]

Having visited Barkai's [i.e., archaeologist Gabriel Barkay] work area and realizing the unique opportunity involved, I took my family for a morning of “junior archaeologist.” We walked down a steep hill from the Hebrew University parking lot and were seated with several other volunteers on benches to hear a short introduction to the work and methodology, as well as to see photos of some of the previous finds. Before any of us had shown up, a mechanical sifter had been used to separate the earth into heaps consisting of material of differing sizes.

The finest pile was going to be sifted by hand by us. We were each given a bucket of dirt to pour onto the wire mesh “sifters,” where the dirt was thoroughly rinsed and the tedious process of searching for centimeter-sized objects began. After all of the material was examined, an experienced assistant checked the work, and what was left was dumped into a second pile for discarding. All found objects were sorted into six categories and left for the professionals to examine and study.

We found nothing more significant than a few mosaic tiles, but a good time was had by all. And knowing that we had sifted dirt from the Temple Mount, where our two destroyed temples had stood and that now gave forth a coin from almost 1,900 years ago that bore the Hebrew phrase L'Herut Tzion - “For the Freedom of Zion,” gave us a special feeling.

There is still much dirt to be sorted, and the project is open for volunteers, both individuals and organizations, who can participate by contacting the Ir David organization (ElAd), which is now funding and coordinating the project (www.cityofdavid. org.il/).

For some recent background, see here and here.