Temple Mount Archeology

Last weekend we volunteered at the massive dig through the dirt expelled from underneath the temple mount 10 years ago. I spent all day sifting through sand and dirt discovering hidden treasures from centuries past- it was extremely adventurous and awesome.

I think I've written a bit about the situation on the temple mount before but I learned so so SO much more about it during my time at the dig site so if you would indulge me and let me share;

The story really starts with Bill Clinton. Okay, actually it starts in 70ad when the 2nd temple was destroyed then the 600s when it fell under Islamic control and they built a mosque there- but modernly this is a story about President Clinton. While he was president he commissioned a whole ton of people to get together on little think tanks and come up with a solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. One of those proposed solutions was that in Jerusalem at the temple mount the Muslims- specifically the waqf, their spiritual police who secure their holy sites- would have control of everything above ground on the temple mount and the Israelis would control verything below ground. A horizontal border line drawn if you will.

At the same time as this idea was leaking out president Clinton allowed yassir Arafat to return to this land and he became the leader of the Palestinians.

So, with great fear and anticipation that the horizontal border may be drawn at the temple, the Muslims and the waqf led by arafat started furiously building on the site. Where one mosque and one monument once stood now three mosques- including one that can accomodate up to 10.000 people at one time for prayer- and the holy site of the dome of the rock are.

As a side- the horizontal border makes little to no sense. How can a building be in one country and its plumbing in another? Or how could Israelis explore the ancient temple remains while the access points to these remains belong to Palestinians. Bad plan mr president.

Back at the temple mount, one of the new mosques wanted a fire escape. Israel conceded to let the waqf supervise the building of one. Rather than build a small stairwell as one might expect they dug a hole that contained over 400 truck loads of dirt and debris all while paying no regard to the deep history they were destroying in the process.

It's horrifying to look at pictures of the building project- they leveled 4000 years of history and knocked down crucader era archways that stood and literally threw out with the trash soil filled with the history of the temple. Muslims do not acknowledge that there ever was a temple that stood on the temple mount so to them this wasn't a problem. To any reasonable human being it was a tragedy. Forget the deep religiOus meaning- a major piece of the history of civilization is burried under there. The wrecklessness of the waqf in this act was criminal and their trying to cover it up by first dumping the debris in the dump outside of the city then by burrying human corpses on the piles of that were identified (because The Jews think human remains are especially unclean and contaminating) is deplorable.

Today, 10 years after the initial incident, after 4 years of grappling with Israeli beurocracy to get the proper permits to sift the dirt and 6 years after the temple mount antiquities recovery project began, there remains 15 years worth of soil to sift through.

Some of the things they have discovered are incredible. Coins dating back to the time of king hezekiah. Potery pieces from the first century. A piece of an oil lamp that dates to the time of the Hasmoneans (aka the time of the first hannukah). From the time of the prophet Isaiah to crucader era finds to modern day coins it's a teasure trove. In my little sandbox I was sifting through found pieces of the old dome of the rock (it was refurbished years ago) I found some pieced of 1st century pottery and a handful of bone fragments (ewww).

It was really really cool. Gabi Barkay, the israeli archeologist who runs the dig, has to be one of the most interesting people on the planet. He is on a crusade for the truth and for history. Before starting to sift we sat and listened to him give a complete overview of the history of the temple and why what we were doing was so important. It was a privilege volunteering with him on such an important project.

I wish had pictures of this experience to post, but we weren't allowed to take any. It was as awesome as what you're picturing in your mind though... promise.