Seeking Good in Temple Mount Terror Tragedy: Opportunity for Archaeological Discovery?

The Terror Attack on the Temple Mount

Last Friday morning, three terrorists killed two Border Police men, Haiel Stawi and Kamil Shnaan, at the Temple Mount compound and wounded others. Our hearts and prayers are with their families. Officer Haiel Stawi only became a father for the first time 3 weeks ago.

Master Sgt. Kamil Shnaan, left, and Master Sgt. Haiel Stawi, right

Following this shooting next to the Gate of the Tribes (Bab al-Asbat), the three terrorists fled into the Temple Mount compound, reportedly seeking refuge in the Islamic structures there, and were immediately shot by police.

As a result of this attack, for the first time in decades, the police closed all Old City gates and prevented Muslims from entering for the Friday prayers at the Aksa mosque. Later in the day, Jaffa Gate was opened to the public. No other violent incidents were reported Friday and Saturday.

As reported in The Jerusalem Post, Israel Police Commissioner Insp. Gen. Roni Alsheich said in a press briefing at Lions’ Gate that the measures were taken due to the uniqueness of the attack.

“We are talking here about live fire being shot at policemen inside the Temple Mount after weapons were smuggled inside the compound,” said Alsheich. “This is an unprecedented and unusual incident on the Temple Mount. This is a holy place for Muslims and the attack was carried out by Muslims.”

Alsheich added that it was important for police to search the compound for more weapons that may have been smuggled inside.

“There are some elementary measures that we need to take now and, first of all, a thorough search for firearms,” he said. “We must ensure that there are no more weapons on the Temple Mount. We will take our time and do it in a proper and thorough way.”

The police continued to search for firearms on Saturday and lifted the ban on Muslim worshipers entering the Temple Mount compound earlier today (Sunday) after new security measures were taken at the site. Despite Muslim protest, metal detectors were placed at the entrances to the compound in an effort to monitor and prevent smuggling of weapons inside. Israel continues to assure everyone that it has no plans to change the status quo on the Temple Mount, as Friday’s terror attack by the Temple Mount threatened to spark a third intifada.

Police officers conducting sweeps on the Temple Mount

Unprecedented Opportunity?

Word on the ground is that the security forces searching for hidden caches of weaponry on the Temple Mount have been given free rein to enter all structures and subterranean spaces, and to open any door or lock. The sweeping force is quite large, as evidenced by the large municipal crews sent to clean up after them this morning.

Plan of the Dome of the Rock, cave and pit (Pierotti 1864)

Research-wise, this is an unprecedented opportunity to have access to the entirety of the Temple Mount. This opportunity could be used to fully record all of the the previously uncharted subterranean cavities of the Temple Mount. Currently, research on the subterranean cavities of the Temple Mount is based mainly on surveys and measurements taken by explorers in the 19^th century such as Ermete Pierotti, Charles Warren, Charles Wilson, and Conrad Schick who were allowed access by the Muslim authorities. However, none of these researchers and explorers had unfettered access, and many spaces, such as the “Well of Souls” (the pit beneath the cavern under the Dome of the Rock), have never been thoroughly examined.

The most up-to-date map of the Temple Mount’s subterranean cavities (Kuemmel 1904)

During the past several years of our research, and while tracking the Waqf’s actions over the past two decades, we’ve encountered evidence of many additional cavities not shown on this 1904 map (above). If weapons are actually hidden on the Temple Mount, these hidden, undocumented recesses would be a logical place to look for them.

In 2009, our director Zachi Dvira published information (in Hebrew) about a series of such cavities previously unknown in the archaeological research of the Temple mount. Among other sources, evidence for such subterranean spaces can be found in the archives of the British Mandate-Era Department of Antiquities about which we just made a blog post. In the archives, there are descriptions for spaces we have never seen on a map such as “a huge space between the double and triple gates,” and “a secret rock-carved tunnel which starts in a pit in the “Elijah” room (near the Double Gate) and descends eastward for several dozen meters.”

We have accrued much more information about these cavities since that publication in 2009, and we hope to publish a second article about these spaces in the near future. Perhaps additional information can be gleaned from descriptions of these spaces by the police forces who searched the Temple Mount in its entirety this weekend.

More Information About the Terror Attack

High Alert Remains After Temple Mount Attack

Families, Friends Mourn ‘Beloved’ officers killed in Temple Mount Attack

Muslim Authority Protests Temple Mount Security Measures, Blocks Entrance

 

Advertisement

Treasures in the British Mandate Archives

Happy International Archives Day!

Archaeologists spend a lot of time working with the fresh material coming out of excavations, but equally important is an archaeologist’s understanding of what came before. We must know about previous excavations, historical records, and the history of work at the site we are researching. Archives are a hugely important and often underutilized tool to help us do our job.

As we’ve said on numerous occasions, the Temple Mount Sifting Project is studying the first archaeological evidence from a large scale excavation of the Temple Mount.

This means that we have very little to work with. Not only is the material we are researching out of context because it was improperly excavated by bulldozer and without archaeological supervision, but we also have very little information from previous archaeological work on the Temple Mount. This means that every tiny scrap of information that we can gather is very precious to us.

In 2008, Zachi published published a paper in the annual New Studies on Jerusalem conference of Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies in Bar-Ilan University about his research in the British Mandate Archives. He discovered a whole list of remnants and features on the Temple Mount that he was surprised had not been published. They help fill in the picture of the history of the Temple Mount and how it has been used over time.

Byzantine mosaic floor beneath the Aksa Mosque. (photo credit:Courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority.)

One of the most important archives was a series of photographs in a file from the 1930s by R.W. Hamilton, the director of the British Mandate Antiquities Department. Due to severe earthquakes, major construction work was done in the Al-Aqsa mosque during the years 1938-1942. The work included excavations of pits under the mosque piers, and Hamilton published reports about the mosque, but ignored the substantial finds found under the earliest phase of the mosque. Among other things, Zachi discovered photographic evidence of a Byzantine mosaic floor under the Umayyad level of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and a Second Temple period ritual bath (mikvah).

The Byzantine floor was huge news and was even written up in the Jerusalem Post asking the question “Was the Aksa Mosque built over the remains of a Byzantine church?” Most historic records from the Byzantine period, including letters by Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem, make no mention of a building on the Temple Mount. This discovery of the Byzantine floors, as well as the numerous Byzantine period artifacts discovered by the Sifting Project, are evidence of a public building: possibly a church. Dr. Barkay has said, “It is hard to establish with certainty that this was indeed the site of a church, but without a doubt it served as a public building and was likely either a church or a monastery…This changes the whole history of the Temple Mount during the Byzantine period as we knew it.”

This is a fantastic example of the types of knowledge we can gain from research in archives and a reason that we are happy to share our research with you on International Archives Day. There are truly amazing things to be discovered in the dusty records forgotten by time.

HERE is a link to the full Hebrew article on academia.edu. Below is the abstract in English.

ABSTRACT

In the last century several digs were conducted on Temple Mount as part of renovations and new constructions at the site. These digs encountered ancient remains, and in some cases were documented by inspectors or random visitors. Most of these documentations were never published, although new archaeological information was revealed. Information and photos of the digs and the finds was gathered from the archives of Antiquities Debarment of the British Mandate, the Israeli Antiquities Authority and from private visitor’s documentation.

Due to severe earthquakes major construction work was done in the Al-Aqsa mosque during the years 1938-1942. The work included excavations of pits under the mosque piers, which in some cases reached the depths of about 7m. Substantial information regarding finds revealed in these digs was documented by R.W. Hamilton, director of the British Mandate Antiquities Department. Hamilton even conducted a small scale excavation consisted of seven trenches in order to study the structural history of the mosque. He published his results regarding the mosque, but ignored the substantial finds found under the earliest phase of the mosque. Information regarding these finds can be retrieved from photographs in the Department’s archive.

Among the finds retrieved from these photographs there are: A Byzantine mosaic floor under the Umayyad level of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, A Second Temple period ritual bath (Miqveh) at the eastern most entrance to the present mosque, two large cisterns under the Double Passage, a rock-cut passage with a descending staircase under the Double Passage, a lintel with a (Hebrew\Aramic?) inscription at the entrance of the rock-cut passage, and various architectural remains seen in the depth of the pits excavated under the mosque piers.

Under the Israeli control upon the Temple Mount a few large scale digs took place which revealed substantial finds. Among them are: A pre-Herodian massive wall near the northeastern corner of the raised platform (1970), ancient floor levels under the dome of the chain (1975), small walls located at the edge of the banks of the fosse north-west to the raised platform (1979), a huge substructure that connects the double passage with the passage of the triple gate (1977-2001), An Early Islamic – Medieval vaulted structure north of the eastern most vault of the Solomon’s Stables (1999), remnants of an ancient wall near the north edge of the raised platform (2007), ancient fills (probably from the Second Temple period) north and east to the raised platform (2007), remnants of a wall located east of the raised platform and south of the eastern staircase (2007), a cluster of First Temple period finds near the south eastern corner of the raised platform (2007), fragments of Umayyad pavement east to the Al-Aqsa mosque (2007), and many finds found out of context and could help to better understand the history of the Temple Mount.

 

 

How Did We Get Here?

Staff Spotlight for February: Zachi Dvira

How does a computer programmer stumble into directing a hot-topic salvage archaeology project? This is the story of our Director, Zachi Dvira.

After a short hiatus during our crowdfunding campaign, our Staff Spotlight is back on and this month, it falls on Zachi. Many people have read interviews and articles about Dr. Gaby Barkay, but what do you know about the student turned director of our project?

Zachi grew up in Herzliya and only really got started in archaeology at age 25. From age 9, he was programming computers. After the army, he went into computer graphics and animation and even started his own business. One Sukkot, he left his office for eight days, and the heat from the sun coming through the windows destroyed all of his hard drives. All of his files and big projects were lost.

Zachi felt like he needed a change. He had just spent time traveling in the Caribbean and South America and became more interested in archaeology. He was intrigued by St. Augustine in Columbia and its unique culture. He was a city boy, but when he got back to Israel, he started traveling within Israel and visiting the archaeological and historical sites here. He was amazed at the number of things that he didn’t know and that he hadn’t done in Israel. Zachi’s late grandmother also fanned the spark of interest in archaeology and would talk to Zachi about excavations and discoveries.

Zachi had been interested in the Bible since he was a teenager and he had been researching the Torah text and its relation to modern Judaism. After the loss of his files, Zachi went back to programming, but he also wanted to learn archaeology on the side because of his sincere interest in the subject. He also wanted to gain the tools he needed to research more about the Bible and the source of Judaism. Zachi enrolled at Bar Ilan University, and as he learned more and more, he felt like he really began to better understand the text of the Bible and the context in which it was written.

So how did the Sifting Project start?

Illicit bulldozing in 1999

Zachi was interested in the Temple Mount and he was doing a seminar with Dr. Gaby Barkay about Jerusalem. He had to write a paper about Jerusalem in the 10^th Century BCE. At that time, there was a claim that the Temple Mount was not a part of Jerusalem in the 10^th century and that it was only added later on.

Even in 1998, there had been reports of trucks leaving the Temple Mount with earth, and when the large Awaqf excavation took place in 1999, someone who had followed the trucks told Zachi where to find the dirt that they had dumped. Zachi had the idea that he could maybe find something from the 10^th century BCE and give evidence that the Temple Mount was a part of Jerusalem at that time. He had no idea that it would become a whole project.

With other friends and archaeology students, Zachi surveyed some of the earth removed from the Temple Mount, but it was professors like Dr. Barkay that were able to date and identified the artifacts and who realized that they were dealing with something immensely important.

Zachi and Gaby decided to establish an official project for sifting this debris and the Temple Mount Sifting Project was established in 2004. Zachi was in the middle of his MA studies. I asked him what his dreams are for the project, and he said that because this project has exceeded all hopes and expectations, it is difficult to talk about dreams. The dream of finding a few inscriptions or seals, well we found them. In any excavation you want to uncover more finds that shed a lot of light on history, and with our project, even just the statistics of the finds that we have can lead to new understandings.

Data-mining TMSP data

Of all things, Zachi is very interested in the implementation of advanced quantitative analysis techniques in archaeology. This is what his MA thesis was about. He researched automatic typology methods and wrote about how to use data mining for analyzing archaeological databases to reveal patterns in the data, which consequently raise new research questions.

While Zachi has found a number of nice coins and some inscriptions for the project, the research and the library is more interesting for him. Like all of us, there are so many things that Zachi would like to research and to delve into, but unfortunately there just aren’t enough hours in the day. This is the never-ending problem of an archaeologist. You learn one thing that leads you into a whole new category of topics you didn’t even know you were interested in, which leads you to something else, and the process of learning and striving to know more and better understand is a lifelong pursuit.

This is what led Zachi to the British Mandate archives where he discovered a whole list of remnants and features on the Temple Mount that he was surprised had not been published. They help fill in the picture of the history of the Temple Mount and how it has been used over time. He wrote a whole article about this and we are now waiting for it to be expanded upon and translated into English. This is also a part of his PhD thesis that he has just started.

Basically, we are very lucky to have Zachi, his experience, and his passion for learning and truth leading our TMSP team. This is just a small glimpse into the man, but hopefully it gives you a little bit of insight into the quiet powerhouse behind our project.

Discussing stone weights in the lab