I’ve mentioned the on-going sifting operation of the Temple Mount debris before (here and here), but I haven’t noted a relatively new video about the project.  The video is about 5 minutes long and gives a good overview of what they are doing and why.  If you’re interested in participating in the “excavation,” but don’t want to go alone, there’s a group going with the Associates of Biblical Research this summer.

The Jerusalem Post has a couple of recent articles related to Jerusalem and archaeology.
Police stop Islamic work on Temple Mount – The police won’t stop the Muslims from digging up the ground but they’ll stop them from replacing tiles.  I wouldn’t call this progress.

Digging too deep? – A report on the political aspects of the excavations in the City of David.

As always, don’t believe everything you read.

If you’re keeping up on the damage caused to the Temple Mount by multiple “excavations” of dubious legality, you’ll be interested in the report, “The Latest Damage to Antiquities on the Temple Mount,” published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.  The report surveys the situation since the 1990s, most of which is well-known to those who have followed the news, but this report handily summarizes the main points.  The major focus of the article is who is in control and thus who is responsible.  It concludes:

The Waqf, the Islamic Movement, and various Islamic groups have exploited the situation and have seriously damaged Temple Mount antiquities. The Israel Police plays the dominant Israeli role and its activities are coordinated with the prime minister’s office and the office of the attorney general, while the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Jerusalem municipality have only limited influence over what is done at the Temple Mount.

Haaretz reports the approval of the construction of a tunnel near the Western Wall. 

The Israel Antiquities Authority has decided to dig a tunnel under the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, close to the Temple Mount. Two weeks ago, the IAA denied such a decision had been made. The tunnel will connect those under the Temple Mount and the site of Ohel Yitzhak, some 150 meters from the Temple Mount wall. The decision to begin the dig was taken in spite the fact that no plan was filed to the planning authorities. Moreover, the Palestinians under whose homes the tunnel will pass were not consulted, even though the law grants them ownership over the territory under their property. (Meron Rapoport)

The third sentence should be corrected to read: “The tunnel will connect the Western Wall ‘rabbinic tunnels’ and the site of Ohel Yitzhak….”  Such a mistake might be excusable if not for the fact that dozens were killed as a result of a similar falsehood perpetuated by Yasser Arafat in 1996.  He inaccurately claimed that Israel was digging under the Temple Mount and 85 Muslims and 16 Israelis died in the riots that resulted. 

HT: Joe Lauer

Excavations are set to resume on the ramp in the Western Wall plaza that leads to the Temple Mount. 

From Arutz-7:

Archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) were told by the cabinet on Sunday to resume their excavations at the Rambam (Mughrabi) Gate leading to the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, with all due haste.
They were also told to work with “full transparency” and in coordination with “relevant bodies” so as to complete construction of a new permanent foot bridge to the Western Wall as soon as possible. The bridge is to be used by visitors and also by police. Work being carried out to replace the current walkway, which partially collapsed in a storm in 2004, was halted in June in response to rioting by enraged Muslims who claimed the work was a plot to weaken the foundations of the Al Aqsa mosque.
The construction site is located 60 meters away from the mosque and was found by numerous Israeli and international engineers to be no threat to the structure. Nonetheless, a new plan was proposed by Jerusalem planning officials that called for a shorter bridge along the existing route, and which would require less excavating and fewer pillars. A budget of NIS 3.5 million has been allocated for the project.
In the wake of the Muslim riots, UNESCO investigators were sent by the United Nations to inspect the repair work being carried out on the broken footbridge.

The rest of the story reviews other developments related to the Temple Mount in the past year.  We covered this story before here and here.

Zachi Zweig gives his perspective on the “Material from First Temple Period found on Temple Mount” story.  Zweig works with Barkay on the Temple Mount Debris Sifting project and his website on The Temple Mount Archaeological Destruction has done the most to make the issues known to the public.