By Ted Belman
Remember how horrified we all were when the Wakf, without permission, excavated earth from the Temple Mount which had lay undisturned since the destruction of the Second Temple.
Did you know, Rare and Ancient Coins were Found on Temple Mount.
Millennia-old and exceptionally rare coins from among the first-ever minted by Jews were discovered on the Temple Mount, evidence of the Jewish people’s deep ties to the hallowed site.
The coins bear the letters “YHD,” or Yehud,” the Aramaic name for the biblical kingdom of Judea, and are dated to the end of the fourth century BCE.
According to one of the co-directors of the project, Zachi Dvira, only five other coins of this kind have been found in the 150 years of archaeological digging in ancient Jerusalem sites.
The New Israeli Shekel also bears the letters “YHD,” exactly as they appear on the newly unearthed coins.
The five small coins, three in pristine condition and two showing signs of wear, were discovered as part of the Temple Mount Sifting Project, an archaeological initiative started in order to sift thousands of tons of dirt illegally excavated and dumped in the Kidron Valley by the Islamic Waqf in 1999.
The Waqf excavations significantly compromised the archaeological integrity of the Temple Mount and sparked outrage in Israel, leading many to suggest that the Waqf was intentionally attempting to eradicate evidence of two Jewish Temples that stood on the Mount for more than 800 years.
The sifting project, which has operated since 2004 in the Emek Tzurim National Park, aims to salvage religious and historical artifacts from the rubble, as well as to educate the public about the veracity of Jewish history on the Mount.
Though state funding for the project halted in 2017, the Temple Mount Sifting Project is now aiming to bring mobile sifting units of Temple Mount dirt to Israeli schools and communities, enabling children to learn about Jewish history in Jerusalem and to participate in the sifting themselves.
More than half a million artifacts have been pulled from the rubble so far by 200,000-plus participants, including 6,000 ancient coins.
As soon as the DEBRIS began to make it’s appearance, a state of utter confusion and conflicting reports also emerged. The Archaeological Govt Dept denied it, until it became far too overwhelming to do so, then they relapsed into sullen silence.
My recollection of those days, when I was actually living in Israel, are that the Muslim excavations and destruction of precious and irreplacable artifacts still went on- with both sides denying it.
The Govt. did it’s famous “see not-hear not-and speak not” imitation of those 3 famous apes, and were hard at work practicing TED’S Headline on his article just above.
I squarely blame the pusillanimous attitude of the Israeli Govt. which seems always to enter stasis whenever a situation erupts requiring it to deal firmly with their barbaric, medieval, unwanted squatters. The original discovery place (in situ) having been deliberately destroyed, It has become impossible to date the artifacts closer than a century or so, depending on whether they can be compared with other similar items which were more precisely identified. And personal relationship to a historical figure mentioned in the Torah, becomes almost impossible.
The damage to the history of our heritage has been enormous. In recent years we were entertained with front page pictures of huge trenches and mechanical diggers, along with piles of sewer pipes cutting into the sacred platform of the Mount..Not a word of protest from the govt. Not a “cease and desist”…nothing…NOTHING..the thing that the government does best.
Even the Southern Wall bulged and buckled, on the verge of collapse from this internal mayhem, until hurried expert repairs. It would have given me a certain, doubtless perverted, feeling of “satisfaction, if the whole wall has collapsed one night into massive rubble. THAT might have got the Govt. off it’s collective fat behind, and stopped the wanton destruction. Nothing less would have done it.
They always have been like “The Brave Brave Mouse” who was “Not Afraid Of Anything”…”Except”…..
Being a highly technological country Israel should have some of the best optometrists and eye surgeons in the world. Also the same quality of otolaryngologists. Surely there could be a battalion of such, attached to the Knesset, strictly for their medical attention and treatment.
Perhaps 2 battalions of psychiatrists as well…..!!