The Temple Mount Archaeological Destruction

The Temple Mount, one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, has never been archaeologically excavated. Since 1996 the Wakf (the Muslim Trust) has been doing construction work on the mount in order to build the biggest mosque in the Middle East. Until recently the work consisted of mainly renovating an existing structure. This structure is known as Solomon Stables, which was last in use by the crusaders in the medieval era. In early November 1999 the Wakf began digging a monumental entrance to the mosque, since it is an underground structure. Bulldozers and other heavy machinery that caused irreversible archaeological damage dug this hole, 50 meters long, 25 meters wide and 12 meters deep. This digging constitutes a violation of Jerusalem's municipal construction law and also, more importantly, a violation of the Israeli antiquities law. The government of Israel, in the name of peace, decided to turn a blind eye and thereby unofficially approved this violation of the law.

For years the Wakf is denying that there was any historical presence on the mount before the Moslem era. The current dig, according to the Wakf, is just removing the 'Christian' strata, and returning the mount to its original Moslem state. According to a Wakf worker, who participated in the early constructions in 1996, all the earth they took out was filtered and scanned by a metal detector. Stones with decorations and inscriptions were recut, so that markings were destroyed. In the recent construction the Wakf could not filter all the earth because of the huge amount that came out from the massive construction. However the Wakf had sifted through the piles of earth, removing large items of value, before loading it on the trucks. Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) officials confirmed this, saying that items such as columns and large, decorated building stones had been kept on the mount. Hundreds of trucks were seen removing the earth from the mount and dumping it in a garbage site and in the Kidron valley.

Recently the Waqf has enlarged the scope of construction. The eastern section of the Temple Mount has become a construction site. A building of a forth mosque is planned in the Area. Trees have been uprooted and some building has begun to take place. Access to whole construction area is forbidden to IAA inspectors and journalist. The police are not allowed to take any photographs or document the new destruction.

The IAA says they could not do anything because they have no backup from the Attorney General. Unfortunately the IAA did not really protest to the government about allowing such a crime to occur. The main problem is that the IAA is managed by a politician and not by an archaeologist, who would put his professional ethics before his political interests. In additional to this the IAA has claimed that the archaeological damage is not that severe, because the digging consists of mainly removing medieval fills. But pictures that are published on this site prove that there is severe damage to ancient remains of structures. A survey of pottery from the earth taken out of the Mount, proves that there is also damage to relics from the time of the first and second temple.

Materialien + Kommentare
http://www.har-habayt.org/
The Temple Mount Archaeological Destruction
What can we learn from this destructive dig?
The Story Behind Our Survey
NewCatch.com/countercens/

kuckuck > info