More on the Temple Mount Sifting Project

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Sifting Through the Dirt to Uncover the Temple Mount’s Secrets. How do you excavate a site where an archaeological dig could start a war? Enter the Sifting Project, which hunts for treasures in earth once dug up by the Mount’s Muslim authorities (Danna Harman). The story of the Temple Mount Sifting Project is very familiar to regular readers of PaleoJudaica, but it is always good to see the project getting media attention. This Haaretz article gives good coverage of the its history and accomplishments. A couple of excerpts:

Their intention, explains Dvira, was to salvage artifacts from Temple Mount soil removed by the Waqf, the Muslim trust that manages the site under Jordanian custodianship. The goal was also to paint a better picture of the place’s long and rich history.

Four hundred truckloads of this soil (some 9,000 tons) were unceremoniously dumped in the Kidron Valley near the Old City’s northeast corner in 1999 and 2000 as the Waqf converted an ancient substructure in the southeast corner — known as Solomon’s Stables — into a mosque. It also built a large emergency exit in front of the long buried northern archways.

“Every reasonable person would understand the need for an emergency exit,” notes Barkay. “But this was no small exit. They dug a gigantic pit, 43 meters in length, 36 meters in width and 12 meters in depth — all without any archaeological supervision.” The Waqf has its own archaeologist, he adds, “but as this work was going on he was sent with his family to Jordan for a long holiday — so he wouldn't see the atrocity.”

“It took several weeks for the general population to understand what was going on,” continues Barkay. “I was teaching a course on the archaeology of Jerusalem at Bar-Ilan University at the time when two of my best third-year students, Zachi and Aran [Yardeni], came to me with filthy bags filled with shards they had collected from the dump and asked me to look at them. That’s how this all began.”

[...]

According to Barkay, one of the most significant finds has been a First Temple period bulla, or clay seal impression affixed to a fabric sack, with a priestly inscription in Hebrew. It was the first evidence of ancient Hebrew writing from the Temple Mount and evidence of administrative activity before the First Temple, says Barkay.

A 10-year-old tourist from Russia uncovered another rare seal just last year — one dating to the 10th or 11th centuries B.C.E., corresponding to the period of the Jebusites and the conquest of Jerusalem by King David.

“Some scholars doubt that the Temple Mount was part of the city during the 10th century B.C.E., and suggest that Jerusalem was not a capital city but merely a small village,” says Dvira. “Our finds, which also include many pottery shards from this period, contradict this minimalist assertion and confirm the biblical account.”

The project has so far uncovered more than 5,000 coins — from tiny Persian-period ones (the fourth century B.C.E.) to others minted in modern times — attesting to the Temple Mount’s rich past, says Dvira. One gem was a rare silver half-shekel minted in the first year of the Jewish revolt against Rome in 66 C.E. The coin features a branch of three pomegranates and an inscription in ancient Hebrew reading “Holy Jerusalem.”

Background here and many, many links. Also, a reminder: you can view a limited number of Haaretz premium articles monthly without charge if you sign up with a free registration.