Most of what is in this Arutz-7 interview with Dr. Gabriel Barkay is not new, but some things are worth hearing again.

Of the discoveries that have been made in the Temple Mount Sifting Project (unfortunately translated in the article as “Screening the Waste”!):

Barkai explained that despite the conditions, “We have made thousands of amazing finds that have changed the way we understand that period.”
Asked later to elaborate, he told Israel National News, “For instance, we have found many small floor tiles, of different colors, which confirm the Talmud’s description of the floor of the Second Temple as being reminiscent of the ocean.”
Other finds have included fragments of stone decorated with ornaments known to be from the Second Temple Period, arrowheads from Nebuchadnezzar’s army and also from the Romans, as well as coins and decorations from many periods. Among the most exciting finds were bullae (seal rings), ostracons written in ancient Hebrew script, seals, and more.

Of the agenda to rewrite history in order to eliminate a Jewish connection to the Temple Mount:

Barkai explained that in addition to building mosques on the site, the Moslems clearly have the goal of detaching Israel from its past and Holy Temple connections: “They wish to undermine Jewish ownership and bonds to the Temple Mount. They’ve built a giant mosque there in Solomon’s Stables [under the Temple Mount] and another one nearby – but aside from that, they have an ideological goal which is even making inroads to naïve circles in the west, and it is called ‘Holy Temple denial.’ They act as if there never was a Holy Temple. This is very very grave; regarding the Holocaust, there are living people who still remember it, but the same cannot be said regarding the Temple…”
“We must demand that Israeli law and sovereignty be enforced on the Temple Mount,” Barkai concluded.

The full article is here.

Share:

The Passover celebration began last night, and yesterday afternoon police arrested a man allegedly preparing in an illegal way.  From the Jerusalem Post:

Jerusalem District police officers detained extreme right-wing activist Noam Federman Monday afternoon, after he was caught driving his vehicle with a kid – a young, male goat – in his car.
Federman is suspected of intending to ritually slaughter the animal in the recently renovated Hurva Synagogue located near the Temple Mount in the Old City.
Police said right wing activists threatened repeatedly this week to come up to the Temple Mount and conduct ritual slaughter there during the Pessah holiday. They also suspect Federman was planning to slaughter the animal on the Temple Mount proper, and not in the synagogue.
Federman was taken in for interrogation and the innocent animal was transferred to the Agricultural Development Unit in the Agriculture Ministry.

This article raises several questions in my mind.  How did police know the goat was in Federman’s car?  Is there a law against having a goat in your car?  Is there a law against having a goat in your car with certain intentions in your mind?  How does the reporter know that the animal is innocent?

The full story is here.

Share:

The LandMinds show at Israel National Radio (Arutz-7) has two interviews this week that may interest readers.  Each interview is 48 minutes and may be downloaded in mp3 format.

James Monson describes his years living in Israel and the creation of maps for students of Bible. 

Monson was one of the creators of the long-lived Student Map Manual, and for the past decade he has been creating resources for Biblical Backgrounds, Inc.  His influence on students of historical geography can hardly be overstated. 

Gabriel Barkay discusses his work over the past decade sifting the material illegally removed from the Temple Mount.  He also answers questions on a variety of archaeological subjects.

I don’t have time to listen to these interviews in full before posting this notice, but I expect that both interviews are fascinating and worth the time.

Readers may be interested in following the LandMinds show regularly:

LandMinds broadcasts live on www.israelnationalradio.com every Wednesday evening from 5-7pm Israel time, 10-12 EST, 3-5pm in the UK, and rebroadcast during the week. You can also listen live with your iPhone!

HT: Yehuda Group

Share:

From the Jerusalem Post:

Fifteen policemen were lightly wounded in their attempt to restore order on the Temple Mount after Arab youths emerging from Friday prayers started hurling rocks down onto those worshiping at the Western Wall. Having restored calm with the use of stun grenades, police left the Temple Mount compound in cooperation with the waqf to allow older worshipers to leave. […] The repeated clashes in Jerusalem follow Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s announcement incorporating the Cave of the Patriarch’s in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem onto Israel’s list of national heritage sites.

The full article is here.  The Haaretz article is similar, but adds this statement:

The clashes later calmed when adult Muslim worshippers dispersed the young stone throwers.

Share:

You never know what will start a riot in Israel.  In this case, it was the government’s adding two historical sites to a list of 150 that should be restored.  Today Israeli police forces entered the Temple Mount in order to remove 20 masked protesters who were throwing objects at tourists.

G. M. Grena notes that BAR has posted a good photograph of the Qeiyafa Ostracon.

Egypt has announced the discovery of a large red granite head of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in his mortuary temple on Luxor’s West Bank. 

Tom Powers has followed up the “Under the Temple Mount” post here with some beautiful watercolors of the same areas on his blog.

If you’re looking for more reaction to Eilat Mazar’s “10th century” “wall” announced last week, take a look at this roundup by John Hobbins.  I expect to post more on the matter this coming week.

Today is Purim and in honor of this festive holiday, the Israel Antiquities Authority has posted an online exhibit of “Masks, Rattles and Purim Customs.” Some images are available in high resolution here (zip).

Share:

I want to return to a recent post on the 360 degree views in Jerusalem.  There are some images here that I did not notice or note carefully before, including Solomon’s Stables, the Well of the Souls, and the passageway of the Double Gate. 

First, go to the Al Aqsa tour.  Counting the images from the left, #6-8 show Al-Marwani Mosque, built a decade ago inside the area known traditionally as “Solomon’s Stables.”  You can see the Herodian masonry in the columns. 

#9 is the Well of the Souls, the cave underneath the Dome of the Rock. 

#10-11 were taken inside the passageway of the “Double Gate.”  If you look up you can see the beautifully carved (but now plastered over) domes from Herod’s time. 

These are really extraordinary images of places that are very difficult for non-Muslims to access.  The limited captions on the website do not explain what you’re seeing.  Leen Ritmeyer has a nice screenshot showing the domes.

Share: