The Temple Mount: Is it REALLY Jewish?
By Greg Gulbrandsen
Introduction
The Jewish
Temples never existed, the Western Wall was really a hitching-post for Muhammad’s horse, the Al Aqsa
Mosque was built by angels, and Abraham, Moses, and Jesus are Muslims. So says Sheikh Taysir Tamimi,
Chief Justice for the Palestinian Authority and one of the most influential Muslim leaders in Israel.1
To quote Tamimi,
“About these so-called
two temples, they never existed, certainly not at the Haram Al-
Sharif (Temple Mount).”2
Another
Palestinian Muslim leader, Ahmed Qurei, states, “The world must be
mobilized against these Israeli attempts to change the symbols and signs of
Jerusalem.
There was no so-called Jewish Temple. It is imaginary. Jerusalem is one hundred
percent
Muslim.”3
Even
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas entered the fray when he released a
statement via his Chief-of-Staff Rafiq Al Husseini, indicating “Jerusalem is
Muslim. The blessed Al Aqsa Mosque and Haram Al-Sharif is one hundred percent
Muslim. The
Israelis are playing with fire when they threaten Al Aqsa with digging that is
taking
place.”4 That
is an interesting statement considering that most, if not all, of the digging
at the Temple Mount is
being performed under the auspices of the Waqf, the Muslim
religious authority in
charge of the Temple Mount.
Are these bold statements true,
either religiously or historically?
Biblical Background
According
to the Bible (or Torah), David conquered the Jebusite city of Jerusalem circa
1000 BC and formed what is known as the United Kingdom. Do we have any
nonbiblical evidence of this? First we must visit the pages of the Bible again.
We know from the Book of
Genesis, Chapter 35, that David’s progenitor, Jacob, had his name changed by God to that of Israel,
idiomatically meaning “(he who) prevails by God.” His
descendents became known
as Israel.
In the mid-thirteenth century BC, the
Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah, son of
Ramesses
II, recorded his military victories on a slab of black granite. Carved in this
granite are the names of his conquests in Canaan, including the line “Israel is
laid
waste.”5
Figure 1: Merneptah Stele with
inscription “Israel is laid waste…”6
Page 2
Thus, we
have two extra-biblical points with which we can work; the name of a people in
the Land of Canaan with the name of Israel and a date of around 1220 BC. There
is more.
The Moabite Stone, a black
basalt stele over three feet in height, was discovered
in 1868 by a German missionary. When translated, it contained the following
inscription from the
Moabite king Mesha about his rebellion against Israel:
…take Nebo against Israel…and I went
by night and fought against it
from
break of dawn till noon, and I took it and slew all…and I took from there the altar-hearths of Yahweh.7
This time we have three data points. First, the date of
the battle was in the reign of King Mesha, 930 BC. Second, he rebelled against
a nation called Israel. Lastly, he raided the Temple and took off with some
accoutrements to a deity named Yahweh.
Figure 2. The Moabite Stone dating
from circa 930 BC.8
This war with Israel is recorded in
the Bible in 2 Kings 3:4-27.
Page 3
In 1993,
according to Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University, “the single most significant inscription for the
historical validation [of Israel] was discovered at the site of Tel Dan in
northern Israel.”9 Named the Tel Dan Stele for its place of
discovery, it
records the victory of the Aramean King Hazael over the king of the “House of
David” in the ninth century BC.10 Interestingly, Finkelstein, not an
avid proponent of a large Israel kingdom, still regards this inscription, like the Moabite inscription,
as an “anchor for the history
of ancient Israel.”11 Thus, we have yet another data point.
Figure 3. A photo of the Tel Dan
Stele taken by the author in Israel12
In 70 AD, Rome destroyed the Temple at Jerusalem. This is
an historical fact as
recorded by the Flavius
historian Josephus, in his book The
Jewish Wars. His
description
includes the account of
the triumphal return to Rome of General Titus with the spoils of
war:
The
spoils, in general, were borne in promiscuous heaps; but conspicuous
above all stood those captured in the Temple at Jerusalem. These consisted
of a golden table, many talents in weight, and a Menorah, likewise made
Page 4
of gold ... After these, and last of all
the spoils, was carried a copy of the Jewish Law. They followed a large party
carrying images of victory, all made of ivory and gold. Behind them drove Vespasian [who initially led the Roman forces before he was
proclaimed emperor in 69 C.E.], followed by Titus [who finally suppressed the rebellion]; while
Domitian [his
brother and future
emperor] rode beside them, in magnificent apparel and mounted on a steed that was in itself
a sight.13
Figure
4. The relief in Rome commemorating the return of Titus…with the menorah from the Temple at Jerusalem.14
From these extra-biblical data
points, we know the following:
1.
A people with the name Israel existed in Canaan in the Thirteenth
Century BC.
2. In 930 BC,
there was a war between Moab and Israel; that there was a Temple
in Jerusalem at that time; and the
name of the God of Israel was Yahweh.
3. In the northern
part of Israel at Tel Dan there was recorded the name of the
“House of David.”
4.
The Temple of Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans in 70 AD and was
commemorated,
in stone, by the Roman Arch of Titus and recorded by the Roman historian
Josephus.
Without a doubt, one can say there is a true and
historically recorded connection between the people of Israel and the site of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Page 5
Islamic Initial Conditions
The founder of Islam, Abu al-Qasim
Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abd al-
Muttalib Ibn Hashim, or just plain
Muhammad, was born in Mecca, Arabia, in 570 AD. There is no need to retell his
biography; suffice to say that he had his first religious
revelation in 610 AD. By 622 AD, the start of the Muslim era, the prophet
institutionalized the
foundations of Islam in Medina, the second most holy city in Islam.15 We notice that the first three
relevant data points in Islam, the birth of Muhammad, the initial revelations,
and the pilgrimage to Medina, all occurred over 500 years after the recorded destruction of Jewish Temple
in Jerusalem.
The death of Muhammad in 632 AD
marked the beginning of the Islamic
caliphate
and the first four leaders were known as the “Rightly Guided” caliphs. After an
internal struggle for leadership, the caliphate was first moved to Damascus and
then later
to Baghdad. As one can investigate, not once was Jerusalem part of the Islamic
political
or social infrastructure. The question then arises, why do Muslims call
Jerusalem their
third most holy city?
When Muhammad started Islam, he was
rejected by his own people. As a
merchant and caravan driver, he
encountered many different people, cultures, and beliefs, including Jews and Christians. Since
he was making little inroads with his own people, he decided on proselytizing to others;
trying to convert the Jews of Medina to Islam. To
make his faith more
amenable to the Jews, he commanded everyone to pray towards
Jerusalem. This mandate, however, is not in the Qur’an. Matter of fact, the
name
Jerusalem is never
mentioned in the Muslim holy book, not even once.
Page 6
William
Montgomery Watt, the Professor Emeritus in Islamic Studies at the University of
Edinburgh, writes:
Muhammad’s position in Medina was
stronger, for the three main Jewish
clans had been eliminated. When Muhammad first went to Medina, he
expected the Jews there
would accept him as a prophet. When they failed
to do so, and instead made hostile criticisms, his attitude changed. This
was the underlying reason for the change of quibla (direction of prayer) in
624. Hitherto the
Muslims had followed the Jews in facing Jerusalem in
prayer, but now they turned round and faced Mecca instead.16
We now see that Muhammad never
mentions Jerusalem in his Qur’anic
revelations and he only required the
Jerusalem prayer direction as a way of enticing the Jews to follow him. Muslims, however, point to his “Night
Journey” as being to the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem. But in reading this passage in the Qur’an, it only
mentions the journey as to being to the “furthest mosque.” As previously
stated, it does not
mention Jerusalem. In
Arabic, the “furthest mosque” is written “al aqsa.”17 The actual verse is found in Sura 17:1,
Glory
be unto Allah who did take his servant for a journey at night from the Sacred Mosque [Mecca] to the
Furthest Mosque.18
Actually, when Muhammad died in 632 AD, Jerusalem was not
a Muslim city and
there were no mosques there to be found. So much so, Dr. Manfred R. Lehmann
writes:
In the days of Muhammad…Jerusalem was
a Christian city within the Byzantine Empire. Jerusalem was captured by Khalif
Omar only in 638, six
years after Mohammad’s death. Throughout all this time there were only churches in Jerusalem, and a
church stood on the Temple Mount (now proven by Zachi Zweig), called the Church
of Saint Mary of
Justinian, built in the Byzantine architectural style.19
The Dome of the Rock was built in 692 AD on the Temple
Mount by Khalif Abd
El Malik. The Al Aqsa Mosque, in reality, the rebuilt Church of Saint Mary, was
not
Page 7
completed
until twenty years later by his son…80 years after Muhammad’s death.20 These facts severely weaken the Muslim
claim of no Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. Indeed, this claim is actually fairly recent.
Islamic Revisionism
Research
has uncovered that the claim of Jerusalem as the Third Most Holiest site
in Islam is basically an invention of the Twentieth Century by the Grand Mufti
of
Jerusalem, Haj Amin al
Husseini. In the 1920 - 1930’s, there was an immigration of
Jewish refugees to the
Holy Land. Some of this immigration was in response to the
world-wide call of Zionism and the creation of a Jewish State, but most of it
was from the
need to escape the fascist anti-Semitic governments of Europe and Russia. But
even
before this immigration,
Jerusalem was a Jewish city. The conclusion of various census
numbers from the late
1800’s indicate, “The city of Jerusalem has had a Jewish majority
since about 1896.”21
The Grand Mufti, a rabid Jew-hater and Nazi sympathizer, alarmed
at this situation, wanted
a way to rally the Muslim world to his cause. The Mufti knew
that slogans alone would not do the trick. Therefore, he created a religious
conflict by
calling for a holy war. He addressed the Muslims of Palestine by radio and in large
gatherings with the
rally cry, “Down with the Infidels.”22
From the
moment the British Mandate appointed him as Grand Mufti, al Husseini
worked endlessly to raise Jerusalem’s status as an Islamic holy center. Before
he started
on this project, the Temple Mount had been severely neglected by the Muslim
community. Al Husseine renovated some of the Temple Mount structures and
started an
unceasing campaign regarding the imminent “Jewish threat” to Muslim holy sites.23
Page 8
Figures
5 and 6. These two photos taken in the 1920’s clearly show the neglect the Temple Mount suffered over the year’s
under exclusive Muslim control24
Emanuel A. Winston, the eminent
Middle East Analyst, writes,
Joseph
Goebbels said that “if the lie is big enough and told often enough,
it will be believed.” This myth of Jerusalem as Islam’s third holiest city
based on the mythical
ascension of Muhammad from Al-Aksa to Heaven
has grown exponentially
in the recent telling since 1967. When you tell a
Big Lie and repeat it often, it achieves credibility and has legs of its own.
In Islam, telling a lie to an infidel for the sake of enlarging your own
believer’s faith or defeating the
infidel is acceptable, even desirable.25
Page 9
Recent Archaeology Refutes Muslim Claims
In
1999, the Muslim Waqf (The Islamic Trust) that controls the Temple Mount
allowed an illegal
construction program on the southeast corner of the site known as
Solomon’s Stables. This project resulted in much irreversible historical
destruction. The
reason given, ostensibly, was to create an emergency exit for the new
el-Marwani
Mosque located in the underground vaults.26 Another new mosque was
also built in the
passage-way area of the ancient Hulda Gates.27 All of this new
construction seems to
have been executed in order to increase the Muslim claim to the Temple Mount,
to take
control of any vacant areas, and thus mitigate any Jewish claims. These actions
are
indicative of an escalating trend by the Israeli Islamic movement to prevent
any scholarly
archaeological research on the Temple Mount which would then lend credence to a
historical Jewish claim.
Figure
7. The southeast corner of the Temple Mount. Underneath the area
labeled “The Pit” material from Solomon’s Stables was illegally removed.28
Page 10
Zachi
Zweig, a researcher from Bar-Ilan University who specializes in Temple Mount research, quotes the Committee
for the Prevention of the Destruction of
Antiquities on the Temple Mount; “For over 30 years Israel has in fact
delegated almost all authority over the Temple Mount to the Islamic Clerics. By
doing this, Israel showed her
commitment to respect the rights of Muslims.”29
To a
degree, the secretive and underhanded excavation (after all, some of it was performed at night) by the Muslim
authorities may have backfired. During the
construction of the el-Marwani Mosque, dump truck loads of history-laden
material were deposited in a garbage dump and along the slopes of the Kidron
Valley. For even though the Waqf had forbidden archaeological examination at
the Temple Mount, the debris, though disturbed and no longer in-situ, has revealed much to historical
investigators. For it was
this same Zachi Zweig, who as an archaeology student, first understood the
archaeological
importance of the “discarded” material.
Figure
8. Picture of the pit looking southeast
from Temple Mount plateform30
At the mount,
bulldozers, backhoes, and other heavy equipment dug down to a
depth of over 12 meters to allow for a grand staircase. When asked, a Muslim
Page 11
construction
representative told Zweig that “All they did was just remove the ‘Christian
layers’ from the mount and returned it to its ‘Muslim’ state; as it has always
been.”31
Figure 9. Tons of “debris” litter the
side of the Kidron Valley”32
Zachi Zweig realized the enormity of the destruction
happening right in front of everyone. The Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA)
refused to act (out of fear of Muslim reaction) on his alarms. When he pressed
the point by trying to get the Israeli media involved, the IAA had Zweig detained. He relates,
On early
Monday morning, January 17th, the head of the theft
unit…raided my home…I
refused to cooperate in this political
investigation by the IAA, but agreed to be questioned by police. They
refused to let me see a
lawyer, and after a few hours of trying to scare me
that if I wouldn’t talk to the IAA I would spend the night in jail, they gave
up, and allowed the
investigation to be conducted by the police. After the
police heard the whole
story, they laughed at the IAA and said that they
had nothing with which
to press charges against me.33
Conclusion: So it REALLY is Jewish!
It has been clearly shown in
extra-biblical literature and archaeology the Jews
were
in the ancient land of Canaan for over 1500 years before Muhammad was even
born,
let alone the rise of the Muslim Empire. Jerusalem and the Temple Mount are
Jewish; and
Page 12
were later shared by the Byzantine
Christians even before one Muslim ever stepped foot
on its sacred soil. As for the disposition of the removed soil, in an interview
with Israeli
National Radio, Dr. Gabriel Barkay stated, “What they [the Waqf] did was an
archaeological disaster…that material is the only material available from the
Temple
Mount.”34
Dr. Barkay was alluding to the lack of
normal methods of archaeological
excavation. Normally, each stratum is
individually excised in order to properly date the
material and found artifacts. In the Solomon Stables excavation, the material
was
removed as if it were a
regular construction operation, with absolutely no thought of
archaeological consideration. When the material was finally salvaged and moved
to the
national park area, it
was too mixed to use this type of analysis. Barkay and Zweig
decided upon a straight
sifting analysis, hitherto unheard of in the world of archaeology.
Figure 10. Aerial view of the Temple
Mount Sifting Project.”35
Page 13
Started in
2004, through a series of sifts, both dry and wet, and with the help of
many volunteers, “The Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation,” as it’s
officially
named, has uncovered a myriad of historical artifacts. Accurate dating is still
accomplished, but it is being achieved via pot-shard typography, artistic
styling, coin-
dating, and other accepted scientific methods. Artifacts from the First Temple,
Hasmonean, Second Temple,
and Early Byzantine periods have all been unearthed; all of
which predate even the
birth of Muhammad, let alone the expansion of the Muslim
empire. Islam only arrived in Palestine in 638 AD. Except by the strength and
fortitude of
an archaeological student and the unwavering support of his mentor, all would
have lost.
Zachi Zweig, Dr. Gabi Barkay, and thousands of volunteers have mitigated what
was
originally thought to be a disaster. The dark Islamic revisionist lie is shown
to be false by
the archaeologist’s light of day. The Temple Mount really is Jewish…and always
has
been!
Figure 11. Wet sifting helps expose
artifacts from the dirt and ash.36
Page 14
Figure 12. Zachi Zweig shows
volunteers how to recognize important artifacts37
Figure 13. Half-Shekel Coin just unearthed (October
2008) from Temple Mount “debris.”
Dated from 66/67 AD, its obverse Hebrew inscription reads,
“Holy Jerusalam.”38
Indeed, the Thirteenth Century Muslim biographer Yakut
wrote, “Mecca is holy to
Muslims; Jerusalem is holy to the Jews.”39
Page 15
Notes
1. Aaron Klein, “Moses, Jesus ‘really
prophets of Islam’ Chief Muslim claims
Jewish
Temples never existed, Al Aqsa by angels,” WorldNetDaily.com, March 15, 2007,
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=40628
(accessed December 1, 2008).
2. Ibid.
3. Hillel
Fendel, “PA Official Claims Temple Mount Not Jewish,” IsraelNN.com, November 9, 2008,
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128306
(accessed December 2,
2008).
4. Aaron Klein, “Temple Mount ‘100%
Islamic,’ Warning: ‘Any action thay
offends
holt site will be answered by 1.5 billion Muslims” WorldNetDaily.com, June 1,
2008,
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=65919 (accessed December 1, 2008).
5. Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher
Silberman, The Bible
Unearthed:
Archaeology’s
New Vision of Ancient Israel and The Origin of its Sacred Texts (New York: The Free Press, 2001), 57.
6. Alfred Hoerth and John McRay, Bible Archaeology: An Exploration of the
History and Culture of Early Civilizations (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005), 85.
Page 16
7. Wikipedia, Mesha
Stele,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesha_Stele (accessed December 2, 2008).
8. Hoerth and McRay, 121.
9. Finkelstein and Silberman, 19.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Greg Gulbrandsen, Photograph: Tel Dan Stele, Jerusalem, June 2008.
13. Steven Fine, “The Temple Menorah -
Where is it?” Bible
Archaeology
Review 30 (04, 2005),
http://www.cojs.org/stevenfine/files/The_Temple_Menorah.pdf (accessed December 1, 2008).
14. Ibid.
15. Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History (New York: The Modern Library, 2000), xiii.
Page 17
16. William Montgomery Watt, Islam: A Short History (Oxford: Oneworld Publications,
1999), 32.
17. Dr.
Manfred R. Lehmann, “The Moslem Claim to Jerusalem is False: There were no mosques In Jerusalem in
632CE,” Emet News Service, May 11, 2004.
http://emetnews.org/analysis/false-claim.php (accessed December 2, 2008).
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
21. Ami
Isseroff, “Population of Ottoman and Mandate Palestine: Statistical and Demographic Considerations,” Mideastweb, http://www.mideastweb.org/palpop.htm (accessed December 2, 2008).
22. Joseph E. Katz, “The Islamic Claim to the Temple
Mount is Very Recent,” EretzyIsroel.org, 2001,
http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/templemount.html (accessed December 1, 2008).
23. Ibid.
Page 18
24. Ibid.
25. Emanuel A. Winston, “The Greatest Lie Ever Told About
Jerusalem,” The
Winston Mideast
Analysis & Commentary,
January 7, 2001.
http://www.gamla.org.il/english/article/2001/jan/win2.htm
(accessed December 2, 2008).
26. Hershel
Shanks, “Israeli and Palestinian authorities are failing to protect the
Temple Mount.” Biblical Archaeology Review, July 18, 2007. http://www.bib-
arch.org/online-exclusives/temple-mount-destruction-07.asp (accessed December
4,
2008).
27. Mark
Ami-El, “The Destruction of the Temple Antiquities,” Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, August 1, 2002.
http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp483.htm (accessed
December 3, 2008).
28. Zachi
Zweig, “What Can We Learn from this Destructive Dig?” The Temple Mount Archaeological Destruction, November 21, 2007, http://www.har-
habayt.org/pictures/survey.html
(accessed December 3, 2008).
29. Zachi Zweig, “The Destruction of the Temple Mount
Antiquities.” The
Temple Mount
Archaeological Destruction,
November 21, 2007, http://www.har-
habayt.org/destruct.html
(accessed December 3, 2008).
Page 19
30. Wikipedia. “Construction works
taking place on the southern tip of the
Temple Mount. The waqf is building a
new mosque in the area of Solomons Stables.”
February
21, 2007, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_mount_works.jpg (accessed December 3, 2008).
31. Zachi
Zweig, “The Story Behind Our Survey” The
Temple Mount Archaeological
Destruction, November 21,
2007, http://www.har-
habayt.org/behind.html (accessed December 3, 2008).
32. Zachi Zweig, “New Substantial
Discoveries in Past Waqf Excavations on
Temple
Mount” The Temple Mount
Antiquities Salvage Operation, December 26, 2005. http://www.zachi.info/bait/TMsifting1.pdf
33. Zweig, “The Story Behind Our
Survey.”
34. Dr. Gabriel Barkay, “Exclusive: Dumped Temple Mount
Rubble Yields Jewish Artifacts,” IsraelNN.com, April 14, 2005,
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/80176
(accessed December 2,
2008).
35. Greg Gulbrandsen, Photograph: Aerial View TMSP, Jerusalem, June 2008
Page 20
36. Greg Gulbrandsen, Photograph: Wet Sifting of Dirt and Ash, Jerusalem, June 2008.
37. Greg Gulbrandsen, Photograph: Zachi Zweig Shows Volunteers, June 2008.
38.
Zachi Zweig, “Fourth Progress Update,” The
Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage
Operation, October 29,
2008, http://www.echad.info/sifting/reports/4th_ Update.pdf (accessed December 4, 2008).
Page 21
Bibliography
Ami-El,
Mark. “The Destruction of the Temple Antiquities,” Jerusalem Center for Public
Affairs, August 1, 2002.
http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp483.htm (accessed December 3,
2008).
Armstrong, Karen. Islam: A Short History. New York: The Modern Library, 2000.
Barkay, Dr. Gabriel. “Exclusive: Dumped Temple Mount Rubble
Yields Jewish
Artifacts,” IsraelNN.com, April 14, 2005.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/80176
(accessed December 2,
2008).
Finkelstein,
Israel and Neil Asher Silberman. The
Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New
Vision of Ancient Israel and
The Origin of its Sacred Texts. New York: The Free
Press, 2001.
Fendel, Hillel. “PA Official Claims
Temple Mount Not Jewish,” IsraelNN.com
November
9, 2008, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128306 (accessed December 2, 2008).
Fine,
Steven. “The Temple Menorah - Where is it?” Bible Archaeology Review 30 (04,
2005),
http://www.cojs.org/stevenfine/files/The_Temple_Menorah.pdf (accessed
December 1, 2008).
Gulbrandsen, Greg. Photographs:
Tel Dan Stele, Aerial View of Temple Mount Sifting
Project , Wet Sifting, Zachi Zweig shows
Volunteers, June 2008.
Hoerth, Alfred and John McRay. Bible Archaeology: An Exploration of the
History and
Culture of Early Civilizations. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005.
Isseroff, Ami. “Population of Ottoman
and Mandate Palestein: Statistical and
Demographic
Considerations,” Mideastweb, http://mideastweb.org/palpop.htm (accessed December 2, 2008).
Katz,
Joseph E. “Islamic Claim to the Temple Mount is Very Recent,” EretzyIsroel.org,
2001,
http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/templemount.html (accessed December
1, 2008).
Klein, Aaron. “Moses, Jesus ‘really
prophets of Islam’ Chief Muslim claims Jewish
Page 22
Temples
never existed, Al Aqsa by angels,” WorldNetDaily.com, March 15, 2007,
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=40628
(accessed December 1,
2008).
Klein, Aaron. “Temple Mount ‘100%
Islamic,’ Warning: ‘Any action that offends holy
site
will be answered by 1.5 billion Muslims.’” WorldNetDaily.com, June 1, 2008,
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=40628
(accessed December 1,
2008).
Lehmann,
Dr. Manfred R. “The Moslem Claim to Jerusalem is False: There were no
mosques In Jerusalem in 632CE.” Emet News Service, May 11, 2004.
http://emetnews.org/analysis/false-claim.php
(accessed December 2, 2008).
Shanks.
Hershel. , “Israeli and Palestinian authorities are failing to protect the
Temple
Mount.” Biblical
Archaeology Review, July
18, 2007. http://www.bib-
arch.org/online-exclusives/temple-mount-destruction-07.asp
(accessed December
4, 2008).
Watt, William Montgomery. Islam: A Short History. Oxford:
Oneworld Publications,
1999.
Winston, Emanuel A. “The Greatest Lie Ever Told About
Jerusalem,” The
Winston
Mideast Analysis & Commentary, January 7, 2001.
http://www.gamla.org.il/english/article/2001/jan/win2.htm
(accessed December 2,
2008).
Wikipedia,
“Construction works taking place on the southern tip of the Temple Mount,”
February 21, 2007,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_mount_works.jpg
(accessed December 3, 2008).
Wikipedia, Meshe
Stele,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesha_Stele (accessed December 2,
2008).
Zachi
Zweig, “The Destruction of the Temple Mount Antiquities.” The Temple Mount
Archaeological Destruction, November 21, 2007, http://www.har-
habayt.org/destruct.html
(accessed December 3, 2008).
Zachi Zweig, “Fourth Progress Update,” The Temple Mount Antiquities
Salvage Operation, October 29, 2008,
http://www.echad.info/sifting/reports/4th_Update.pdf
(accessed December 4,
2008).
Zachi
Zweig, “What Can We Learn from this Destructive Dig?” The Temple Mount
Archaeological Destruction, November 21, 2007, http://www.har-
habayt.org/pictures/survey.html (accessed December 3, 2008).
Zachi Zweig, “The Story Behind Our
Survey” The Temple Mount
Archaeological
Page 23
Destruction, November 21, 2007,
http://www.har-habayt.org/behind.html (accessed December 3, 2008).
Zachi
Zweig, “The New Substantial Discoveries in Paste Waqf Excavations on Temple
Mount” The Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage
Operation, November 21,
2007,
http://www.zachi.info/bait/TMsifting1.pdf
(accessed December 7, 2008.
I want to thank Dr.
Gabi Barkay, Zachi Zweig, Gordon Franz,
Rabbi
Chaim Richmond, and Mike Caba, for all their help in my research for this paper.
The author, Greg Gulbrandsen, retired from
the State University of
New
Paltz in 2003 where he was the Director of the Media Center. Prior to
his university experience, he was an engineer, a teacher, and photographer.
Greg now divides his time between writing and archaeology in the United
States
and Israel. He can be reached at gulbrang@newpaltz.edu.
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