Amateur Archaeologists

This morning we went with a group of fellow Yeshiva students to East Jerusalem to explore the Temple Mount sifting project. In a nutshell, tons and tons of fill was carted from the Temple Mount to a site in Jerusalem. For the past few years, archaeologists have been sifting through the rubble to find archaeological treasure. They've found pottery, coins, glassware, relics, tile, mosaics, and so much more.

We were able to have a great lecture by Dr. Gabriel Barkay of Bar Ilan University, the project director (photo of Dr. Barkay below, pointing to photographs of key finds). After the lecture, we got to try our luck at sifting. Jen and I found some pottery and tile but others in our group discovered a lamp handle and a relic with writing. It was fascinating and worthwhile trip!

Here's some photos from the trip; from top to bottom - 1) Dr. Barkay lecturing in the field tent, 2) buckets of material to be sifted, 3) Tal (on left) and Jen (on right) washing their material and sorting, and 4) we place our discoveries into buckets labeled for various items (i.e. mosaics, bones, glass, metal, etc.)