Recently, I had the privilege of holding in my hand one of the most precious treasures ever unearthed. I was standing in a small laboratory in a nondescript Jerusalem office building holding an actual fragment of the Second Temple. It was a tiny piece of highly decorated white limestone that still bore the burn marks from when the Romans set fire to the Temple in 70 CE (see photo). I’ve been to the Western Wall countless times and am always deeply moved by the experience. But the Kotel is the outer retaining wall that held up the platform on which the outer courtyard of the Second Temple was built. Now I was holding an actual piece of the Temple itself, uncovered by the Temple Mount Sifting Project.The Temple Mount Sifting Project has found many treasures in the rubble illicitly excavated and dumped by the Waqf. More on those paving stones is here. More on the Immer seal is here. Other interesting finds are noted here, here, and here.
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It's interesting to note that according to the author profile the author of this blog post is a Karaite.