The Project Background
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the most sacred site for Judaism. It was the site of the First and Second Temples and other national institutions. The site is also sacred for Christianity and was used by the Crusaders in the medieval times. Since the Early Islamic period the Temple Mount has been the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest mosque in Islam, and also the site of the shrine of the Dome of the Rock.
Even though the Temple Mount has played a major role in the history of Jerusalem, no systematic archaeological excavation has ever taken place there, in spite of the fact that Jerusalem is one of the most excavated cities in the world. The Waqf, the Muslim trust which manages the site, has always objected archaeological research.
On various occasions during the last century the Waqf conducted construction and renovations without any archaeological supervision or control, causing severe damage to ancient remains. The peak of these construction projects occurred during the years 1999-2000, when large scale earthworks took place using heavy machinery; the purpose being to create an entrance to Solomon’s Stables (an ancient subterranean structure) which had been converted into a new mosque. In addition, in an open area on the eastern side of the Temple Mount, the ground level was lowered with bulldozers in order to lay new pavement slabs. About 400 truckloads of soil saturated with archaeological artifacts from all periods in the history of Jerusalem, were removed and dumped in various locations, mainly in the nearby Kidron Valley.
These works were illicit and disregarded Israeli antiquities laws which require a salvage excavation prior to any construction in an archaeological site. In a proper archaeological excavation the exact location and context of artifacts are documented, and the finds are removed with great care. When an archaeological site is excavated brutally with heavy machinery, ignoring the context and finds, major archaeological data are lost and can never be retrieved. However, out-of-context finds that are recovered from archaeological sites still preserve some valuable archaeological information. These finds, when studied thoroughly, can increase the information about the site, especially if it hasn’t previously been excavated, such is the case with the Temple Mount.
The Temple Mount Sifting Project was established with the purpose of sifting all the debris removed from the Temple Mount and to try to retrieve as many artifacts as possible, using the wet-sifting technique. Most of the finds can be identified and dated by matching them to parallel finds found in a clear context elsewhere. This comparative methodology is widely used in archaeological surveys studying sites only by collecting artifacts from the topsoil.
Unique methodological techniques were developed in the Temple Mount Sifting Project, which is somewhere between a survey and an excavation, in order to study the finds. After the identification and sorting, advanced quantitative analytical techniques are used to reveal the unique patterns of the material culture of the site.
The National Parks Authority allocated a special site in the Emek Tzurim National Park, and special installations were set up in order to allow large groups of volunteers and visitors to participate in the wet sifting.
It’s disgusting how many artifacts these muslims dump every year. Once these things are lost you can’t get them back.. It makes me so mad.