EXCAVATION REPORT/TEMPLE MOUNT (JERUSALEM)

PRESENTED TO
PROFESSOR LEE CASTILLO

FOR

BIBL 471- BO3

BY
REV. JOSEPH T. WHITAKER, III
LU23755920

JUNE 15, 2014

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND---------------------------------------------------------------------------1
OBJECTIVE OF THE CURRENT EXCAVATION----------------------------------------------------3
PROGRESS AT THE SITE--------------------------------------------------------------------------------4
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF DISCOVERIES TO BIBLICAL STUDY-------------------------------5

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Introduction/Report
This report will identify the historical background of the Temple Mount located in Jerusalem. Any currently known excavations at the Temple Mount will be addressed. The objective of the current excavation will be noted. The progress of the excavation will be reported. The significance of discoveries to biblical studies will be clarified.
Historical Background The Bible and the science of archaeology have identified the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as being the location of the historical Jewish Temples; with the exact location being established by God on a high hill in the Moriah mountain range north of the City of David. According to Randall J. Price there were actually three Temples, “in historical succession” located at the present location of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem; between 960 B.C. and 70 A.D. The First Temple was built by King David’s son Solomon (I Chronicles 28:6). Solomon’s Temple was started in 967 B.C. and finished in 960 B.C. The First Temple was destroyed in 586 B.C. by the Babylonian army. The Temple was rebuilt under the direction of the governor Zerubbabel. The foundation was laid in 538 B.C. and the Temple was dedicated in 515 B.C. This rebuilt Temple is designated as the Second Temple. Rome’s appointed Judean king, Herod the Great, completely restored the Second Temple, from 19 B.C. with dedication taking place in 29 B.C. Price states, “Although historically and architecturally this was a third building, religiously it was still considered the Second Temple, 3 because the offering of sacrifices was not interrupted.” The Roman army under Titus destroyed the Second Temple in 70 A.D. The Temple Mount has been identified biblically and archaeologically as the same location where the Patriarch Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. There have been several archaeological excavations that have occurred at the Temple Mount during the past 150 years. The first were accomplished by the British Royal Engineers in the 1870s. A survey was implemented by Charles Wilson and Charles Warren was one of the first to excavate the Temple Mount area. In 1930, R. W. Hamilton, the director of the British Mandate Antiquities Department, conducted the only archaeological excavation ever undertaken at the Temple Mount’s Aqsa Mosque.
Objective of the Current Excavation There are a number of peripheral current excavations that are taking place that are intimately connected to the actual Temple Mount. The scope of this report will only allow an adequate examination of the well-known Temple Mount Sifting Project. Archaeological excavation is not taking place, in any official capacity where the present site of the Muslim Dome of the Rock is located. Volatile religious and political realities prevent the implementation and orchestration of a legitimate archaeological excavation from the area that is believed to be the exact location of 4 the historic Jewish Temples. The Temple Mount Sifting Project began in 2004. Archaeologists Dr. Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira, under the endorsement of Bar-llan University established a project for sifting the earth debris that was being removed from the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount Sifting Project was established to retrieve as many artifacts as possible, using the wet-sifting technique. As of 2014 there have been more than 130,000 people that have participated in the sifting.
Progress at the Site Very unique and invaluable finds are occasionally recovered. Included in the discoveries are artifacts, such as, inscriptions or fragments of walls or pottery, and inscribed seals or sealings (bullae). A noteworthy clay sealing that was discovered has an impression bearing the letters LYHW and AMR. Archaeologists believe that it is possible to complete the writing as “Belonging to Yahu, son of Immer”. The Immer family was a well-known priestly family that lived during the end of the First Temple period, around the 7th and 6th Centuries BCE, and the Post Exilic Period. The Bible sheds its light upon the discovered clay sealing. Pashur son of Immer is mentioned as a chief officer in the house of God. (Jeremiah 20:1). From 2004 up to the present date, the Sifting Project has discovered and salvaged over five thousand coins and numerous other artifacts. The recovered coins, range from tiny silver coins from the Persian Period (4th Century BCE). The first coin discovered in the Sifting Project gave great excitement, because of its symbolic nature. It was minted during the First Revolt against the Romans, before the destruction of the Second Temple by Titus in 70 A.D. The coin carried the phrase “For the Freedom of Zion”. The name Zion was the name of the Temple Mount dur- 5 ing ancient time. A very rare coin of silver that was minted during the Great Revolt against the Romans (66/67 CE) was recovered. This is a half-shekel coin that was used to pay the Temple tax. The coin was remarkably preserved, but it did reflect flaws that were caused by the destruction of fire inflicted upon the Temple in 70 A.D. This is the first discovery of a coin of this category that originated from the Jewish Temple Mount itself. The Sifting Project has established itself to be a vast treasure of knowledge that can be utilized for study and documented research of archaeology and history relative to the Temple Mount. It has been reported that less than half of the debris transported from the Temple Mount has been examined. It is said, that the Temple Mount Sifting Project is moving forward to achieve its important goals as quickly as possible.
Biblical Significance It is a well-known archaeological reality that the veracity of the Bible has been brought into serious doubt and question, concerning the factuality of named and biblically identified persons, places, and objects. The wonderful discoveries that are occurring because of the scientific work of such legitimate archaeological groups, as the Temple Mount Sifting Project, is a help beyond measure, to reveal and outline the great historical and archaeological integrity and value of the Bible. The factual record of archaeology reveals that not one certified archaeological discovery has every successfully controverted the historical and archaeological statements of Scripture. To the contrary, legitimate archaeology has contributed greatly to the authenticity of the Bible. 6 The discoveries of archaeology, such as those made by the Temple Mount Sifting Project, have priceless value in further establishing and preserving the legal record that gives the God-given and secular right of claim and ownership to the sacred land of Israel, which would include every inch of property within the boundaries of Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. So, then, the biblical significance of the archaeological excavation conducted at the Temple Mount, would include not only the reliability of the Bible as a legitimate historical document, but also as a confirmation that contributes and assists in establishing Israel’s legal claim upon the Holy Land.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Eerdmans’ Handbook To The Bible. York: Lion Publishing, 1973.
Excavations at the Temple Mount: (January 15, 2014): Accessed: June 15, 2014. www.Wikipedia/ExcavationattheTempleMount .
Halley’s Bible Handbook. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1962.
Holman Bible Dictionary. Nashville, TN: Holman bible Publishers, 1991.
Lockyer, Herbert. All the Men of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958.
Price, Randall J. The Stones Cry Out: What Archaeology Reveals About the Truth of the Bible. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1997.
The Temple Mount Sifting Project: Accessed: June 15, 2014. www.templemount.wordpress.com .

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[ 1 ]. Randell J. Price. The Stones Cry Out: What Archaeology Reveals About the Truth of the Bible: Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1997: 177
[ 2 ]. Ibid., 178-79.
[ 3 ]. Holman Bible Dictionary: (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 1991). 10
[ 4 ]. Halley’s Bible Handbook: (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1962). 101
[ 5 ]. Eerdmans’ Handbook To The Bible: (New York: Lion Publishing, 1973). 141
[ 6 ]. Herbert Lockyer. All the Men of the Bible: Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958: 29
[ 7 ]. Excavations at the Temple Mount www.Wikipedia/ExcavationattheTempleMount Note: This page was last modified on 15 January 2014 (accessed June 15, 2014)
[ 8 ]. The Temple Mount Sifting Project. www.templemount.wordpress.com (accessed June 15, 2014)