Bryan ----------
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/476592.html
Remnants of the Temple? Not in this garbage By Danny Rubinstein The removal of refuse from the Temple Mount is being criticized by some experts, but does the dirt really hold any archaeological treasures?
"What do you care if we get rid of this pile of garbage?" asks Mohammed Abu-Kitesh, a long-time Waqf worker, pointing to the mounds of dirt and building debris piled up on the eastern side of the Temple Mount esplanade.
About two weeks ago, the Waqf (the Muslim religious authority) authorized a visit by a group of Israeli guests, led by archaeologist Meir Ben-Dov, to the various sites on the mount. Abu-Kitesh wanted us to see the dirt and debris that have piled up over the past four years. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAI) has examined the piles and declared them free of significant findings.
However, after a petition to the High Court of Justice by the Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of the Antiquities on the Temple Mount, a temporary injunction was issued prohibiting the IAI, the defense minister, and the prime minister from authorizing the Waqf to remove the mounds. Why?
About 10 years ago or more, the Waqf, which manages the Temple Mount, began to clean out the subterranean space on the southeastern side of the plaza, known as Solomon's Stables.
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When the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, large portions of these courts were also destroyed. The arches that supported them collapsed, many stones were removed from the mountain, and the site stood deserted for hundreds of years. The Byzantines sought to perpetuate the ruination in order to prove that Jesus was right when he predicted the destruction of the Temple. Only about 600 years after the destruction, the new Muslim rulers of Jerusalem began to restore the esplanade. They rebuilt the large retaining walls on the foundations of the Herodian walls, and recreated the underground spaces and the arches of Solomon's Stables. But the new level created by the Muslims in constructing the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque was not the same as the Herodian level - it was lower.
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All scholars agree that the Temple was built above this level.
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The conclusion is that there is no chance today of finding any remnant of the structures that once stood in the Temple courts. All scholars agree on this point. They also all agree that the arches of Solomon's Stables, in their present form, date from the Early Muslim period or later.
The place now looks nice and clean. After the work carried out by the Waqf, the large halls were paved with marble and covered with costly rugs. Two ancient remains from the time of Herod have been preserved here. The first is a stone with Herodian carvings in secondary use in the southern wall. The second is a protrusion that is the spring of an ancient arch. These two elements have not been damaged by the Waqf's work. It will always be possible to remove the marble flooring and excavate if so desired. The Waqf therefore rejects the accusations that they sought to wipe out the remains of Jewish antiquities in Solomon's Stables. The Waqf says it employed an archaeologist to supervise the work, which it says was carried out with full scientific oversight.
Rabbi Goren allowed it
There is no doubt that the Waqf's work had a political agenda.
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whereas halakha (Jewish law) had for generations prohibited Jews from ascending to the area of the mosques, these permits encouraged groups of national-religious yeshiva students to try to enter the southern portion of the Temple Mount. Moreover, in political talks, like those held about a decade ago by Yossi Beilin and Mohammed Abbas (Abu Mazen), the Israelis proposed that Jews establish a synagogue in Solomon's Stables. Similar ideas were brought up later in the failed Camp David summit.
Palestinian spokesmen began to view such proposals as Jewish attempts to take over Al-Aqsa the way the settlers took over the mosque at the Cave of Machpela in Hebron. It was apparently in this context that the Waqf hastily cleaned out the halls and prepared them for Muslim prayer.
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