On an ancient road to the Temple, archaeological innovation, mystery and dispute

Archaeologists and historians call the subterranean road the ‘Stepped Street.’ Those who prefer to link Jerusalem’s Jewish past to its present tend to call it the ‘Pilgrims’ Path’ or the ‘Pilgrimage Road.’ It was built starting in 20 CE by the Romans, said Levy, and completed under the governance of Pontius Pilate in about 30 CE. A recent study of coins collected at the site appears to confirm this dating.

‘We assume there are weapons stockpiles on the Temple Mount’

‘The Palestinians will never drop the matter of the Temple Mount. It’s a tool that they, and parts of the Arab and Muslim world, use to take on Israel,’ former Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman and former head of the Shin Bet security agency MK Avi Dichter tells Israel Hayom in a special weekend interview.

The Temple Mount’s treasure trove

A small clay bulla, or seal, that was used to sign official letters in the days of the kingdom of Judea waited nearly 2,600 years amid the rubble at the foundations of the Western Wall to be discovered by Israeli archaeologists. For eight years, the rubble has been cleared away, one bucket after another, and taken directly to the site of the Ancient Jerusalem Sifting Project, which is run under the auspices of Ir David Foundation.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar condemn Israel over Temple Mount clashes

Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Sunday joined a chorus of condemnation of Israel for using force against Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount, after clashes erupted there between the Israel Police and Muslim worshipers earlier in the day.

New discovery in Jerusalem’s City of David: 2,000-year-old pilgrimage road

In 2004, a sewage pipe burst in the middle of the neighborhood of Silwan in southeast Jerusalem. The municipality sent in a crew of construction workers to fix the leak, and as is the case in Jerusalem and especially in neighborhoods adjacent to the Old City, they were accompanied by a team of archeologists.

Temple Mount Sifting Project reboots, aims to salvage ancient temple artifacts

Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Zeev Elkin played show and tell at the June 2 Cabinet meeting this week. To mark Jerusalem Day, a national holiday celebrating the 1967 reunification of Jerusalem, Elkin brought to the Prime Minister’s Office a rare 2,700-year-old First Temple clay sealing impression, fittingly inscribed with the name of a priestly family of Temple Mount political administrators.

A new mosque on the Temple Mount?

Jewish activists are claiming that a new mosque has been inaugurated on the Temple Mount, despite a court order that the status quo be upheld on the holy site.

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