Bronze Arrowhead of the First Temple Period (10th Cent. BCE)

A bronze leaf-shaped (lanceolate) arrowhead (6.6 cm long), dated to the 10th century BCE, the early First Temple Period. This arrowhead may have come from the Temple area, or from the administrative center of the time, also located within the confines of the modern-day Temple Mount enclosure. Arrowheads from this period are rarely found in Israel, and this one may attest to the existence of an armed force on the Temple Mount during this period.