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Palestinian women praying in front of the Dome of the Rock Mosque during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan on Jerusalem's Temple Mount on Wednesday night. (AP) Last update - 09:31 19/10/2006 First Temple artifacts found in dirt removed from Temple Mount By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent The project of sifting layers of Temple Mount dirt has yielded thousands of new artifacts dating from the First Temple period to today. The dirt was removed in 1999 by the Islamic Religious Trust (Waqf) from the Solomon's Stables area to the Kidron Stream Valley. The sifting itself is taking place at Tzurim Valley National Park, at the foot of Mount Scopus, and being funded by the Ir David Foundation. Dr. Gabriel Barkai and Tzachi Zweig, the archaeologists directing the sifting project with the help of hundreds of volunteers, are publishing photographs and information about the new discoveries in the upcoming issue of Ariel, which comes out in a few days. The bulk of the artifacts are small finds - the term used for artifacts that can be lifted and transported, rather than fixed features. The dirt was removed in the course of excavating the mammoth entrance to the underground mosque built seven years ago in the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount. The Waqf and Islamic Movement in Israel separated dirt from stones, then used the ancient building blocks for rebuilding, in case the police barred construction materials from being brought in. Most of the finds predate the Middle Ages. The finds include 10,000-year-old flint tools; numerous potsherds; some 1,000 ancient coins; lots of jewelry (pendants, rings, bracelets, earrings and beads in a variety of colors and materials); clothing accessories and decorative pieces; talismans; dice and game pieces made of bone and ivory; ivory and mother of pearl inlay for furniture; figurines and statuettes; stone and metal weights; arrowheads and rifle bullets; stone and glass shards; remains of stone mosaic and glass wall mosaics; decorated tiles and parts of structures; stamps, seals and a host of other items. Advertisement The sifting project is precedent-setting: This is the first time dirt from any antiquities site is being sifted in full. Among the many volunteers are soldiers, tourists, high-school students and yeshiva boys. Visitors over the past few months have included ultra-Orthodox MKs and rabbis, who usually steer clear of archaeological digs. When the dirt was originally trucked out, the late director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Amir Drori, termed it "an archaeological crime," and the attorney general at the time, Elyakim Rubinstein, said it was "a kick to the history of the Jewish people. Now it turns out that the dirt removed from the Temple Mount harbors thousands of small finds from diverse periods. The oldest artifacts found are remnants of tools like a blade and scraper dating back 10,000 years. Some potsherds and shards of alabaster tools date from the Bronze Age - the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C.E. (the Canaanite and Jebusite eras). Only a handful of potsherds were found from the 10th century B.C.E. (the reigns of King David and King Solomon), but numerous artifacts date from the reigns of the later Judean kings (the 8th and 7th centuries B.C.E.), such as stone weights for weighing silver. The most striking find from this period is a First Temple period bulla, or seal impression, containing ancient Hebrew writing, which may have belonged to a well-known family of priests mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah. Many other findings date from the Persian period (Return to Zion), Hasmonean, Ptolemaic and Herodian periods, as well as from Second Temple times. Second Temple finds include remains of buildings: plaster shards decorated a rust-red, which Barkai says was fashionable at the time; a stone measuring 10 centimeters and on it a sophisticated carving reminiscent of Herodian decorations; and a broken stone from a decorated part of the Temple Mount - still bearing signs of fire, which Barkai says are from the Temple's destruction in 70 C.E. The project has also yielded artifacts from the Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Early Arab periods. According to Barkai, the Byzantine finds radically alter the assessment that the Temple Mount was empty at that time. Barkai and Zweig reject doubts cast by other archaeologists on the source of the dirt. They state that eyewitnesses monitored the trucks that removed the rubble, and that they have internal evidence that further confirms the dirt came from the Temple Mount Bookmark to del.icio.us   Killing spree Police conclude Jerusalem bulldozer killer acted alone. The Bar exam Attention celebrities: Israeli start-up company can save you from paparazzi   1.   The Waqf`s abuse of the archeological site provokes extreme anger 07:47  |  AV 19/10/06   2.   The Waqf has desecrated the Temple Mount of God 08:46  |  Outraged! 19/10/06   3.   A major crime 08:58  |  Zev 19/10/06   4.   Just imagine... 09:51  |  Michael 19/10/06   5.   "First Temple artefacts" or "First Temple period"? 09:59  |  Rowan Berkeley 19/10/06   6.   it shold be noted 10:04  |  robert 19/10/06   7.   This happens in Eastern Jerusalem, isnt it? 10:09  |  Fritz 19/10/06   8.   A sad day. 10:10  |  Itsik 19/10/06   9.   Itsik "It is not disputed that the temple stood there" 10:45  |  Rowan Berkeley 19/10/06   10.   Israel cannot rely on the world to be just 10:47  |  AV 19/10/06   11.   #9 Rowan Barkeley 11:02  |  Itsik 19/10/06   12.   Israel must exercise its authority over the Temple Mount 11:04  |  AV 19/10/06   13.   Don`t be jealous, Muslims 11:07  |  skylark 19/10/06   14.   The green eyed monster consumes Rowan Berkeley 11:10  |  skylark 19/10/06   15.   Sorry, Itsik, but nope 11:15  |  Rowan Berkeley 19/10/06   16.   # Rowan Barkeley 11:31  |  Nora 19/10/06   17.   Rowan 11:40  |  Itsik 19/10/06   18.   Archeologists must have full access to the Temple Mount 11:48  |  AV 19/10/06   19.   The Wakf, the Protege of Moshe Dayan 12:02  |  Nora 19/10/06   20.   Temple Mount Artifacts 12:15  |  Lou 19/10/06   21.   # 9 Rowan 12:46  |  ChanahS 19/10/06   22.   Now It Says "Temple treasures" 13:35  |  Rowan Berkeley 19/10/06   23.   #21 ChannaS 13:53  |  Itsik 19/10/06   24.   Rowan Berkeley 14:04  |  Itsik 19/10/06   25.   about rowan 14:17  |  ralph 19/10/06   26.   Isn`t it Ironic? 14:17  |  Aryeh 19/10/06   27.   Rowan`s posts 14:22  |  ABC 19/10/06   28.   And Stonehege was built by Ruppert Murdoch 14:30  |  Ilan 19/10/06   29.   Are we Jews so beaten down? 14:32  |  Bennie 19/10/06   30.   #27 ABC 14:46  |  Itsik 19/10/06   31.   #7 Fritz 15:59  |  George 19/10/06   32.   DUMPED TEMPLE MOUNT RUBBLES 17:07  |  Nora 19/10/06   33.   Fritz 20:48  |  Jane 19/10/06   34.   Major crime by Israel 20:56  |  Boris 19/10/06   35.   How Long Will The Israeli Govt Cowar ? 21:31  |  Steve 19/10/06   36.   #5 Rowan Berkeley 23:04  |  Boycott 19/10/06   37.   #16 Nora 23:07  |  Boycott 19/10/06   38.   #28 Ilan 23:11  |  Boycott 19/10/06   39.   #27, 30 ABC 23:16  |  Boycott 19/10/06   40.   Finkelstein is an extremist minimalist 02:06  |  AV 20/10/06   41.   Regarding the Exodus 02:11  |  AV 20/10/06   42.   The Temple of God 05:51  |  AV 20/10/06   43.   Temple Mount 13:26  |  deborah 20/10/06   44.   I volunteered!!! 23:15  |  Jennifer 24/10/06   45.   let`s defend our culture! 20:32  |  Jeff 25/10/06   46.   Re: #6 15:54  |  Jeff 26/10/06   47.   Jeff 01:25  |  Donna 27/10/06   48.   1st Temple Artifacts found in dirt from Temple Mount 14:54  |  Stephen C Wallace 27/10/06   49.   Re: Rowan Berkeley and all commentors 21:29  |  Derek 30/10/06   50.   Nora`s response 00:32  |  Mary 27/11/06   51.   Temple Mount desacration 06:51  |  Jerry 17/02/07   52.   sifting this summer? 00:25  |  kathy 01/05/07   53.   negativity 22:34  |  wendyinthewind 25/07/07   54.   Rowan Berkeley 23:11  |  Simah 07/07/08

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