Meet the Team Mondays: Uriel Joshua Prince

Uriel Joshua Prince – Uriel made Aliyah with his parents and six siblings from Monsey, New York, to Jerusalem. Following completion of high school at Hartman, Uriel attended the Hesder Program of Yeshivat Ma’alot. After his time in the yeshiva, he entered his military career beginning with Field Intelligence, and ending in the Rabbinic unit of the IDF. He completed his BA at Ariel University in Archaeology and the History of the Land of Israel, and is currently starting an MA in Archaeology and Scriptures. An aspiring archaeologist, Uriel began his time with the Sifting Project shortly after our grand opening this year, and has been a part of the sifting team since. When asked to reflect on his time with the TMSP, and think about what the most valuable experience he’s had so far, he answered that he “Enjoys most telling people that every find is important, from the smallest pot shard to ancient coins. It’s all part of a bigger picture, and will help people of different faiths come together.”

Among the artifacts of the Temple Mount Project, Uriel finds himself particularly drawn to the ancient Jewish coins from the Return of Zion period through the Great Revolt against the Roman, saying that “These coins are like a window into the past, where we can see the thought and spirit of the Jewish people in their historical context, a world where the rich and the poor gave the same half-shekel in an act of equality,“ and with look of intrigue on his face, continued “Perhaps most interesting, is that through these specific coins, we can know what the Jews were thinking in the first moments of their return, or in the final moments of their rebellion.“ He has also participated in several other digs both independently, and with his university program, prior to the TMSP. The first dig that Uriel participated in was the excavations of the fortress of Khirbet Qeiyafa, and later on he joined the projects of the Second Temple Era Ritual Baths of Pisgat Ze’ev, and the Iron Age Fortress of Auja Fuqa. Uriel is academically interested in archaeology in the Land of Israel and the Levant, from the Chalcolithic Period forward. When he’s not searching or digging for Temple treasures, Uriel likes to play the flute and guitar!