Temple Mount Sifting Project Unveils Artifacts From the Time of David - CBN News Chris Mitchell

Temple Mount Sifting Project Unveils Artifacts From the Time of David

07-09-2019

CBN News Chris Mitchell

JERUSALEM, Israel – Jerusalem’s Temple Mount has never been excavated, at least publicly.  

However, an illegal construction project twenty years ago led to discoveries about its ancient past. 

In 1999, the Islamic group responsible for the Temple Mount began construction on a large underground mosque.  They broke a law prohibiting unauthorized construction, and during the project dumped tons of debris into the Kidron Valley. 

Israeli archaeologists began sifting through the debris in 2005 in hopes of finding artifacts that point back to the Jewish temple that once stood in Jerusalem.

Over the years, The Temple Mount Sifting Project has uncovered a treasure trove of artifacts. 

“The Temple Mount Sifting Project is an archeological adventure whose purpose is to find the empirical proof of what was on the Temple Mount thousands of years ago,” Shlomo Zwickler from American Friends of Beit Orot told CBN News.

Throughout its history, more than a quarter of a million volunteers have worked on the sifting project making it the largest archeological project in history. 

Since its beginning, the project has uncovered enormous archeological evidence. 

“We have until now, approximately a half a million finds … the vast majority of the material is from the first temple period and on, starting in the 10th century B.C., which is the time of David and Solomon.  And that goes hand in hand with the biblical account,” the project’s director Gabi Barkay said.

While the sifting project began years ago, a new phase is just beginning. 

“Fifty-two years ago right here on this hallowed ground that we’re standing on right now that one of the decisive battles of the six day war took place,” he told CBN News.  In fact, it was the battle just before the command was given to descend the Mount of Olives,cross the Kidron Valley and ascend the Temple Mount … for the first time in two thousand years." 

  Some believe the evidence from the project validates the Jewish claim and connection to the city of Jerusalem. 

“It’s very simple.  There’s no project that (shows) his better than this one. It proves that everything that we said about it and dreamt about it and prayed about it is true,” said Zvi Koenigsberg 

“And we know where we came from of course based on our faith, of course on our heritage but also based on the empirical evidence that we find based on where we were,” explained Zwickler.

Barkay says the importance of the Temple Mount to the Jewish people and to the world is profound.    

“First of all, the Temple Mount is the soul, heart and spirit of the Jewish people.  It is mentioned and indicated more than twenty times in the New Testament.  It is a focal point in the ministry of Jesus.  And it should be one of the cornerstones of western civilization … it is also the archeological site number one in the country.  And probably one of the most important archeological sites of the world.” 

Now they're sending out an open invitation for more to come. 

“This sifting project is really going to be a major thing for people from around the world to put their hands into and work through soil that came in from the temple itself from some point in its history,” said Stephen Pfann of The University of the Holy Land. 

Zwickler invites people everywhere to “come sift the dirt from two thousand years ago.  Come be part of history.  What was and also what will be.” 

Temple Mount Sifting Project Unveils Artifacts from Time of David - CBN News Chris Mitchell

Temple Mount Sifting Project Unveils Artifacts from Time of David

06-07-2019

CBN News Chris Mitchell

JERUSALEM, Israel – Jerusalem’s Temple Mount has never been excavated, at least publicly.  

However, an illegal construction project twenty years ago led to discoveries about its ancient past. 

In 1999, the Islamic group responsible for the Temple Mount began construction on a large underground mosque.  They broke a law prohibiting unauthorized construction, and during the project dumped tons of debris into the Kidron Valley. 

Israeli archaeologists began sifting through the debris in 2005 in hopes of finding artifacts that point back to the Jewish temple that once stood in Jerusalem.

Over the years, The Temple Mount Sifting Project has uncovered a treasure trove of artifacts. 

“The Temple Mount Sifting Project is an archeological adventure whose purpose is to find the empirical proof of what was on the Temple Mount thousands of years ago,” Shlomo Zwickler from American Friends of Beit Orot told CBN News.

Throughout its history, more than a quarter of a million volunteers have worked on the sifting project making it the largest archeological project in history. 

Since its beginning, the project has uncovered enormous archeological evidence. 

“We have until now, approximately a half a million finds … the vast majority of the material is from the first temple period and on, starting in the 10th century B.C., which is the time of David and Solomon.  And that goes hand in hand with the biblical account,” the project’s director Gabi Barkay said.

While the sifting project began years ago, a new phase is just beginning. 

“Fifty-two years ago right here on this hallowed ground that we’re standing on right now that one of the decisive battles of the six day war took place,” he told CBN News.  In fact, it was the battle just before the command was given to descend the Mount of Olives,cross the Kidron Valley and ascend the Temple Mount … for the first time in two thousand years." 

  Some believe the evidence from the project validates the Jewish claim and connection to the city of Jerusalem. 

“It’s very simple.  There’s no project that (shows) his better than this one. It proves that everything that we said about it and dreamt about it and prayed about it is true,” said Zvi Koenigsberg 

“And we know where we came from of course based on our faith, of course on our heritage but also based on the empirical evidence that we find based on where we were,” explained Zwickler.

Barkay says the importance of the Temple Mount to the Jewish people and to the world is profound.    

“First of all, the Temple Mount is the soul, heart and spirit of the Jewish people.  It is mentioned and indicated more than twenty times in the New Testament.  It is a focal point in the ministry of Jesus.  And it should be one of the cornerstones of western civilization … it is also the archeological site number one in the country.  And probably one of the most important archeological sites of the world.” 

Now they're sending out an open invitation for more to come. 

“This sifting project is really going to be a major thing for people from around the world to put their hands into and work through soil that came in from the temple itself from some point in its history,” said Stephen Pfann of The University of the Holy Land. 

Zwickler invites people everywhere to “come sift the dirt from two thousand years ago.  Come be part of history.  What was and also what will be.” 

The Bible Confirmed: The War that Catapulted Archaeology in Jerusalem - CBN News Chris Mitchell

The Bible Confirmed: The War that Catapulted Archaeology in Jerusalem

05-10-2017

CBN News Chris Mitchell

JERUSALEM, Israel – In the past 50 years, archaeologists have uncovered some of history's most significant finds in and around Jerusalem. Those discoveries became possible when Israelis unified their ancient capital in June of 1967.

When 10-year-old Eilat Mazar first heard that Israel recaptured the Old City, she felt as if part of her family had come home.

"Even as a child, I mean very young, I could sense that this was a huge event," Mazar told CBN's Chris Mitchell. "It's like you get something back. People related to it like returning a lost son. That's what we were expecting, for now it's happening."

Gabi Barkay, who was 23 at the time, said he felt like his apartment added a room.

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"It was [as] if I visit the backroom in the apartment in which I live that I was prohibited from entering for years and suddenly it opens," Barkay explained. "Just imagine, it's my house, it is my city and suddenly I can see it with my own eyes and touch it."

Now both Mazar and Barkay are among Israel's leading archaeologists. We talked with Barkay at the Temple Mount Sifting Project, where teenage volunteers were working.

"It was a revolution, and you were part of that revolution," he said. "I started my career then."  

We sat down with Mazar at Hebrew University overlooking the city.

Eilat Mazar Sits Down with Chris Mitchell, Photo, CBN News

"After the '67 war, what did it mean for archaeology?" Mitchell asked her.

"I would say that it's a turning point," Mazar said.

Both Barkay and Mazar described how the Six-Day War redefined archaeology in Jerusalem.

"In a couple of years after the Six-Day War, the results of Jerusalem archaeology accumulated to be much more than whatever was done 150 years beforehand," Barkay said.

From 1948 to 1967, Jerusalem was a city divided by minefields, barbed wire and barricades, but suddenly after the Six-Day War and years of neglect, the doors of ancient Jerusalem opened to archaeologists, who longed to uncover its ancient past.

Mazar's grandfather, Benjamin, worked on the first excavations at the southwestern wall of the Temple Mount.

"My grandfather excavated 10 continuous years without stopping," she said. "This was a fantastic project … they revealed fantastic remains of ancient Jerusalem from all periods."

"It caused a boom of archaeology. There were suddenly budgets for archaeology.  There was a public interest in archaeology of Jerusalem," Barkay said. "People come and visit the archaeological sites of Jerusalem."

Gaby Barkay Talks with Chris Mitchell, Photo, CBN News

Since 1967, Mazar and Barkay have made some of Israel's greatest finds.

"We showed and reveal[ed] King David's palace. We showed now more of King Solomon's construction; (the) city just as the Bible describes," Mazar continued. "He built a city wall around the Temple, around his own palace."

"We discovered the earliest biblical manuscripts ever discovered, predating the Dead Sea Scrolls by many centuries," Barkay said. "These are two tiny scrolls of silver. We have the priestly blessing, 'the Lord bless you and keep you' in both of them."

"Did many of these discoveries after the Six-Day War, did they confirm the biblical record of Jerusalem?" Mitchell asked Barkay.

"In general, the answer is yes," he said. "The research that emerged from the results of the excavation fits well the historical data embedded in the Old Testament."

Perhaps Mazar's greatest find brought the Bible to life.

"From the biblical times, finding the seal impression from King Hezekiah himself – this is unparalleled, unheard of – to come as close as you can imagine to a biblical figure, not to mention such a king as King Hezekiah. So to find his seal impression, it's almost touching him," said Mazar.

"Is there any connection between what you've discovered and the time when Jesus was here in Jerusalem?" Mitchell asked.

Excavating in Jerusalem, Photo, CBN News

"Yes for sure; yes, for sure," Barkay said. "For example, in the Book of Acts and in the Gospel of John there is a mentioning of the eastern porch of the Temple Mount, which is pre-Herodian, which appears under the name of the porch of Solomon – and over there lies a capital which originates from the porch of Solomon. We have the floors upon which the coins were rolling when Jesus turned upside down the tables of the money changers. We have those very floors. We have those very coins."

"The biblical stories and the New Testament stories, by the way, it goes together because just prove quite accurately the development of Jerusalem the way Jerusalem is described is quite accurate," Mazar said.

Today, 50 years after the war, Jerusalem is an open city. Visitors can come to see the excavations below the City of David, at the pool of Siloam where Jesus healed the blind man or the massive dig next to the walls of the Old City.

Click here to get tickets for "In Our Hands: The Battle for Jerusalem"

"People can come and see for themselves and this is the best you can ask for," Mazar said. "Come and see."

And for these lovers of history, the city has captured their hearts.

"I come in the morning and sleep with Jerusalem. I come and excavate in Jerusalem, it's 100 percent on my mind, besides my family, we are very family people," Mazar said.

"It is a wonderful city," Barkay said. "There is no other place on earth that can compete with Jerusalem." 

Watch story here

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Ancient Engraving of Menorah Found on Temple Mount May Have Just Ended Centuries of Biblical Debate By Lea Speyer BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

This 1,000-year-old potshard found on the Temple Mount depicting a menorah may have ended centuries of debate on the original design of the Temple Menorah. (Photo: The Temple Mount Sifting Project)

Ancient Engraving of Menorah Found on Temple Mount May Have Just Ended Centuries of Biblical Debate

By Lea Speyer December 10, 2015 BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“And you shall make a menorah of pure gold…And six branches coming out of its sides: three menorah branches from its one side and three menorah branches from its second side…” (Exodus 25:32-40)

Just in time for Hanukkah, a 1,000-year-old archaeological find may just have ended a centuries old debate on what the original design of the Menorah in the Holy Temples resembled.

Discovered by the Temple Mount Sifting Project, the 1,000-year-old potsherd originating from the Temple Mount bearing a symbol resembling a menorah is being hailed by archaeologists as a significant discovery.

According to archaeologists, based on the type of clay and texture of the potsherd, the find dates back to the Byzantine rule over Jerusalem (324-640 CE). Although the whole design of the menorah is cut off because the potsherd is broken, archaeologists believe that the drawing was an attempt to draw the Temple Menorah.

“What makes this discovery significant is that it originated upon the Temple Mount itself. The design of the menorah upon the potsherd may shed light upon an age-old debate regarding the appearance of the menorah that stood in the Heikal (hall) of the First and Second Temples,” said Zachi Dvira, Co-Founder and Director of the project.

The origins of the design of the Menorah are found in the Book of Exodus (25:32-40):

“And you shall make a menorah of pure gold. The menorah shall be made of hammered work; its base and its stem, its goblets, its knobs, and its flowers shall all be one piece with it. And six branches coming out of its sides: three menorah branches from its one side and three menorah branches from its second side…so for the six branches that come out of the menorah…And you shall make its lamps seven…”

While the Bible instructs which materials to use, how to form the Menorah and what designs to incorporate, rabbinic scholars – including Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known as Rashi (1040-1105 CE), Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra (1089-1167 CE), and Maimonides (1135-1204 CE) – have battled over whether the branches were meant to be round or straight.

The potsherd, although fragmented, clearly depicts a menorah with straight branches, unlike other ancient representations in which they appear in a circular fashion. The base of the menorah can only be partly seen and archaeologists believe it was composed of three legs (two angular and one straight).

At the top of the menorah, the branches are polygonal depressions which may represent the almond shaped cups that held the oil for the wicks.

“As the potsherd dates to centuries after the destruction of the Second Temple and the incision was done after firing the clay, it is difficult to deduce from it anything concrete regarding the original shape of the Menorah, but we can learn about how Jews living in Jerusalem during the Byzantine period or later understood the design of the menorah,” stated Dvira.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project, with support from the City of David Foundation and under the auspices of Bar-Ilan University, was formed in 1999 in response to the illegal removal of tons of earth from the Temple Mount by the Islamic Waqf without archaeological supervision.

“Since the Temple Mount has never been excavated, the ancient artifacts retrieved in the Sifting Project provide valuable and previously inaccessible information.  The many categories of finds are among the largest and most varied ever found in Jerusalem. Even though they have been extracted from their archaeological context, most of these artifacts can be identified and dated by comparing them with those found at other sites,” said Dvira.