Of course such excavations are connected to the politics of the present, but the connection to the original truth of Biblical times is much more than politics. It is a race to find and preserve what we all know is true before the Palestinians can chop it up and bury it. Even from a strictly secular, archaeological viewpoint, the true history of Jerusalem needs to be uncovered and preserved. One might ask, what sort of faith or culture is desperate to hide the true facts of history? A false faith or culture which cannot stand when confronted with the evidence, is my only conclusion.