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Passover Update

We are all facing troubled times. Here at the Temple Mount Sifting Project we have chosen to continue sifting, even without guests or volunteers. We want to keep the fire burning, a sort of eternal flame. The present situation is forcing all…
The next heap to be sifted -KIF10
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KI10 Here We Come!

When we transported the piles of Temple Mount soil debris from their initial dumping sites, we hypothesized that the piles were not evenly and completely mixed, but rather were distributed like a lightly tossed salad, such that different piles…

Find & Finder of the Month: A Bulla of an Unknown Type, Discovered by the Schwartzes

This month we present you with Miriam and Elie Schwartz, of Philadelphia, PA, who found a small pottery shard, which may look unimportant at first glance (even to some of our seasoned archaeologists). However, on careful examination, some interesting…

The History of The Temple Mount in 12 Objects: #4 The Early Second Temple Period

Rejoice! Our series - The Temple Mount in 12 objects is back! We turn our attention now to the Persian Period. The Persian Period begins in 539 BCE, with the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus the Great and ends in 333 BCE, when the forces of Alexander…
Joe Putting with his find
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Find of the Month: Ancient Key Opens the Door to Mystery – Pastor Joe Putting

Along with the resumption of the sifting we decided also to revive our Find of the Month posts, fondly remembered from our years of sifting at the Tzurim Valley. This month we are excited to announce the discovery of a fragment of an…
sorting artifacts for the opening exhibition
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Complete Pandemonium Towards the Jerusalem Day Exhibit

Hey there, Ladies and Gents! So, the lab is in complete pandemonium and we have been working around the clock to prepare the Jerusalem Day exhibit. When we scheduled the opening of the new sifting site to the first Sunday in June, we were…
gibeon sealing found in the sifting
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The History of the Temple Mount in 12 Objects: #3 The Late First Temple Period

As we continue with our 12-post series on objects in the history of the Temple Mount, let us turn to the Late First Temple period – Iron Age IIb-c, in the 8th through 6th centuries BCE. During this time of the year, multitudes of business…
First Temple period arrowhead
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The History of the Temple Mount in 12 Objects: #2 The Early First Temple Period

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up and meet this month’s guest – the earliest piece of weaponry ever to be recovered from the Temple Mount: The arrowhead is made of bronze, in a flat, lanceolate shape, while the tang (the bit that gets…
Egyptian amulet
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The History of the Temple Mount in 12 Objects: #1 The Late Bronze Age

Hello everyone! As those of you who follow our newsletter know, the blog is about to embark on an exciting new journey: Inspired by the British Museum's A History of the World in 100 Objects, we will, over the course of the coming year, showcase…
Yeshurun schoolgirls sifting
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Our New Mobile Sifting Program

The Mount Comes to You Hello everyone, we have some news to share with you. The Temple Mount Sifting Project is renewing its activity outside the lab! For the first time in the history of archaeological research in Israel –the site will be…
IAA photo of the exposed Temple beams
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Send Us Your Pictures

Hello everyone! Do you have pictures from your visit to the sifting site or the research lab? Cute pictures of your kids, awesome pictures of you holding what you found, great pictures of you smiling with Dr. Barkay? Well, we want them! We…
IAA photo of the exposed Temple beams
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New Year for the Trees, New Life for Ancient Forgotten Beams

Happy Tu B’Shevat! Today is the Jewish new year for the trees which is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat. Customs vary, but many Jews will eat a new fruit they haven’t tried before or eat one (or all!) of…