“One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure” - On the Temple Mount
Dump digging has long been a rewarding way by which we can have a glimpse of how people lived in the past.
“One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure” on the Temple Mount is rich with implications.
No doubt the most excavated place on earth this has always been a random and controversial undertaking with all the parties in dispute over what if anything can be excavated.
It is no surpise then that in the past illegal excavations took place. And most were not stopped until they were well into the digging.
The fill or debris from these excavations always went somewhere and it was only if outside the temple mount tha the debris could be sifted.
Here are the results of the sifting projects thus far.
"The Temple Mount Sifting Project is under the auspices of Bar-Ilan University, and is funded by private donors through the Israel Archaeology Foundation. The sifting activity operated during the years 2005-2017 at the Emek Tzurim national park with the cooperation and funding of the Ir-David foundation. On June 2019 the sifting facility moved to the Masu’ot Lookout with generous support from American Friends of Beit Orot. We are currently working to try and raise the funds necessary to complete our research and operate the sifting.." from the website: tmsifting.org

Debris removed from Temple Mount sparks controversy
"(2013) The adage that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” rings especially true on the Temple Mount, where even the smallest piece of ancient trash – such as a seal bearing the name “Bethlehem” or a bell that possibly fell off a priests’ robe – can reveal volumes about religious practices.Workers from the Temple Mount Sifting Project say that over the past week, six to eight garbage trucks, illegally removed debris, possibly rich in archeological finds, from the site.But Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said the debris had been “modern trash” that needed to be dumped, and that it was done in cooperation with the Antiquities Authority and under police supervision.." from the article:
What We Learned from Sifting the Earth of the Temple Mount
Despite Jerusalem being one of the most excavated cities in the world, for a variety of religious and political reasons, the Temple Mount has never been systematically excavated.[2]The project that we run, the Temple Mount Sifting Project, only came about accidentally, as a result of surprising circumstances.
As a consequence of the Israeli victory over Jordan in the Six Day War, on June 7, 1967, Israel unified Jerusalem and gained sovereignty over the Old City of Jerusalem. Soon after, on June 17, Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan returned the managerial control of the Temple Mount to the Jordanian Waqf, the Islamic Religious Trust appointed by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, as the civil administration of the Temple Mount.
The Dump
In the late 1990s, under the auspices of the Waqf, the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel[3]decided to convert a large underground structure, named by the Crusaders “Solomon’s Stables,” into a huge new mosque.[4] The Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement brought heavy machinery to bulldoze a massive area in the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount for a stairway down to the new underground Al-Marwani Mosque there.

Working day and night for three days, without any archaeological supervision and in violation of the Antiquities Law of the State of Israel,[5] they created space for a stairway down to the mosque. In a later phase, the ground level in the southeastern area of the Temple Mount, north of the new Stairway, was lowered by about 1.5 feet to enable paving large parts of the area. About 400 truckloads (approximately 9,000 tons) of archaeologically rich soil were removed, and unceremoniously dumped, mostly in the nearby Kidron Valley..." from the article: What We Learned from Sifting the Earth of the Temple Mount
Temple Mount Secret Debris: An Archaeological Goldmine [Unseen Footage]
Video from Sergio & Rhoda in Israel
"Temple Mount has a few mysterious that most people don't know about. The mountain of "trash" that is behind the Dome of the Rock is actually a debris from the illegal excavation at Temple Mount in 1999. This Debris holds 1st and 2nd temple period artifacts. In this video, Rhoda and I, together with our friends Jeremy and Jocelyn go on an unscripted expedition to the Temple Mount. Little did we know, today happens to be the Jerusalem day. A day which is usually known for civil unrest in this area. But this did not prevent us from seeing the debris, and also, accessing a completely new spot - the wall on top of the Eastern Gate. Join us in another adventure of the Unscripted series." from video introduction
Untold Archaeology of the Temple Mount — Rare Footage
Video from Sergio & Rhoda in Israel
"Archaeology at the Temple Mount is strictly forbidden. However, over the past hundred years, the Temple Mount went through many renovations, during which archaeologists were able to document incredible findings. These findings and much more we reveal in this video. We will enter the Temple Mount through the Moors Gate, walk to the Dome of the Rock and examine where the Ark of the Covenant could have stood, see the Golden Gate, and then peak into the archives of the Al-Aqsa mosque to find out what lies underneath it. So join us for this adventure as we explore the Temple Mount." from video introduction
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