Temple Mount Sifting Project 4.21

In 1999, the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement conducted illegal renovations on the Temple Mount and disposed over 9,000 tons of dirt mixed with invaluable archaeological artifacts into a makeshift garbage dump in the Kidron Valley. Innumerable artifacts were destroyed or lost, veritable treasures that would have provided a rare glimpse of the region’s rich history. In 2004, The Temple Mount Sifting Project was born under the direction of archaeologists Dr. Gabriel Barakay and Zachi Dvira in order to sift through this neglected earth and to find, preserve, and research the artifacts dating to every time period of the Temple Mount’s rich history. These artifacts represent the first-ever archaeological data originating from below the Temple Mount’s surface.