Destruction of antiquities 1995-2001

For safety reasons, the Israel Police required an emergency exit to be built in the new mosque in Solomon’s Stables, and in August 1999, Prime Minister Ehud Barak authorized its construction. However, this authorization was given without any examination of the plans for the opening, its size or location. Moreover, Ehud Barak did not even take to trouble to convene the special ministerial committee that the law stipulates is solely authorized to decide on any changes in antiquities sites used for religious activity, or ask to see the authorization from the IAA and the Jerusalem municipality as required by law. 

In November 1999, thanks to authorization received from the prime minister, a large bulldozer, dozens of trucks and tractors began extensive digging in the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount compound to open the “emergency exit.” In just three days, a huge crater and a monumental entrance into Solomon’s Stables had been dug. The crater covered an area of 40x50 meters and was 12 meters deep on its southern side, where five large arches that were part of the ancient structure of Solomon’s Stables were discovered. The arches, each eight meters high and four meters wide, were sealed shut. The opening of the two eastern arches created the monumental entrance into Solomon’s Stables. The excavation of the immense crater continued undisturbed for three days and three nights, until Prime Minister Ehud Barak finally gave the order to stop the digging.

Despite the serious nature of the deception and the terrible destruction perpetrated on the site, no one did anything to prevent the Waqf from proceeding with their destructive plans. A broad staircase rising from the new entrance created in the ancient arches up to the Temple Mount esplanade was built. Retaining walls and colossal terraces to support the earth were built on the sides of the crater. The development work on the front of the huge entrance continued nonstop until March 2001, from which time the paving work of the area stretching from the new entranceway northward in the direction of the Golden (Mercy) Gate, and westward in the direction of al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock continued without interruption, all to realize the master plan to convert the entire Temple Mount compound into a single constructed mosque.

The plan is to elevate the Temple Mount’s level of sanctity in Islam, and to unite the Dome of the Rock, the al-Aqsa mosque with the new mosque in Solomon’s Stables and the historic structure of Golden (Mercy) Gate, along with all the open areas between them into a single, immense constructed mosque. And indeed, in October 2006, a further stage in the plan came to light when it was reported that Jordan’s King Abdullah planned to erect a new minaret 42 meters high next to Golden (Mercy) Gate. It has been learned that the minaret was recently constructed in Jordan, where it is waiting for permission from the prime minister to be brought into Israel and erected on the Temple Mount.

To read the article in the Jerusalem Post, click here.
 

The excavation of the crater was illegal and performed without coordination with the Israel Antiquities Authority, and without carrying out a properly executed archeological excavation. The director-general of the IAA termed this action an “archeological crime” because of its severe nature and the enormous damaged caused to the antiquities. The excavation of the crater destroyed ancient structures found under the surface, as can be seen in the attached film and in the pictures of the destruction of the crusader structure located at the eastern side of the crater. The destruction of this site continued even after the completion of the excavation of the crater, during the construction of the massive entrance to the new mosque.

Similarly, the Waqf destroyed the walls that sealed the northern arches of Solomon’s Stables. It was only after the two eastern arches were completely opened, and as a third arch was being opened that the police finally decided to enforce the law and prevent further destruction. By this stage, a great deal of important data for the historical study of the Temple Mount had been lost forever.

The excavation of the deep crater involved the removal of approximately 12,000 tons of earth filled with antiquities from the most important historical site in the country, if not in the entire world. There is no question that this earth contains extremely valuable findings that could testify to the nature of the Temple Mount compound and provide major historical evidence to tell the story of its 3,000 years of existence. These findings have been lost forever..

“It goes without saying that this earth is an separable part of the Temple Mount compound and should be treated exactly the way the earth removed from all archeological excavations is treated, perhaps with even greater caution because of the great importance of the site. This earth almost certainly contains major archeological findings from the various periods during the existence of the Temple Mount compound.”

[From the expert opinion provided by professors of archeology Ephraim Stern, Amichai Mazar and Roni Reich]

Archeological testing carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority that sampled a small amount of the dumped earth discovered artifacts from as early as the First Temple period, including potsherds, coins, stone utensils, shards of glass, bricks and metals from various periods.
The small proportion of the earth dumped on the slope of the Kidron was not mixed with present-day debris. This earth was thoroughly sifted at the welcome initiative of Dr. Gabriel Barkai and Zachi Zweig. The sifting of the earth has been going on for a few years now under the management of a group of volunteers who have mobilized to salvage the findings that sill remain in the piles of earth. Thousands of findings of major importance, including coins, seals, ornamented architectural fragments, arrowheads, weights, inscriptions, icons and of course, potsherds have been discovered by the filtering of the earth, which as stated was removed from its archeological context.
 

Examples of findings uncovered by the filtering: 

A Babylonian arrowhead

Roman playing dice

Hellenist arrowhead

מטבע 'מחצית השקל'

A Hebrew bulla

A YHD coin

In wake of the excavation of the immense crater on the Temple Mount, the wanton destruction of the antiquities and the undermining of the Temple Mount’s status as an archeological site, archeologists, jurists, intellectuals, authors and security experts formed theTemple Mount Antiquities Rescue Committee. In June 2000, the committee sent an impassioned appeal in the form of a petition to Prime Minister Ehud Barak asking him to halt the destruction of antiquities being carried out in the Temple Mount compound under Israeli sovereignty. The petition was signed by 82 Knesset members, although not a single Arab Knesset member agreed to sign it. The wide range of signees is indicative of the broad consensus in Israeli society against any damage to antiquities or the status of the Temple Mount. The signees of the petition accuse the prime minister of sanctioning the Waqf’s actions.
 

To see the text of the petition as published in the media, click here

Because the prime minister did not respond to the serious charges, and the destruction of the antiquities on the Temple Mount continued, Temple Mount Antiquities Rescue Committee decided to petition the High Court of Justice against the prime minister, the attorney general, the Israel Police, the Israel Antiquities Authority, the city of Jerusalem and the Islamic Waqf. Because general elections had been held just a short time before the petition was submitted to the High Court of Justice and the government of Ehud Barak was soon to be succeeded by a government headed by Ariel Sharon, the judges of the High Court of Justice recommended withdrawing the petition in order to give the new government time to deal with the matter.
However, the Sharon government made no fundamental changes – nor has there been any such change up to the present – in the enforcement of law on the Temple Mount, and the official authorities, such as the IAA and the city of Jerusalem, have not fulfilled their role as required by law. We have, however, seen an increase in awareness on the part of the police regarding the historical and archeological importance of the Temple Mount, and greater efforts to prevent further damage to antiquities.
It is noteworthy that earlier, on July 12, 1999, the Temple Mount Faithful movement had petitioned the High Court of Justice on the matter of the excavation of the crater in the Temple Mount compound (8666/99), and its petition was also denied. This was despite the fact that the judges determined in their ruling that there was room for the court’s intervention regarding the violations of the law on the Temple Mount, but only if there was compelling reason to overstep the executive authority whose role it is to decide on questions related to the Temple Mount.