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Kid Volunteer Uncovers 3,000 Year Old Seal From Jerusalem Sifting Project

AP
AP
September 29, 2015

A 10-year-old volunteer unearthed a 3,000-year-old seal from King David’s time in the 10th century BCE in the Temple Mount Sifting Project in Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Post reported:

Dr. Gabriel Barkay, co-founder and director of the project--which sifts through thousands of tons of illegally removed earth from the contested holy site in 1999 by the Wakf religious trust to build a mosque-- said that the finding is unprecedented. ... The seal--discovered by Matvei Tcepliaev, a Russian 10-year-old boy who volunteered at the Temple Mount Sifting Project--was only recently deciphered by archaeologists, he said. According to Barkay, since the project’s inception in 2004, more than 170,000 volunteers from Israel and around the world have taken part in the sifting.

Barkay, a well-known archaeologist who has led the project for over a decade, described the seal as "the first of its kind to be found in Jerusalem."

"The dating of the seal corresponds to the historical period of the Jebusites and the conquest of Jerusalem by King David, as well as the construction of the Temple and the royal official compound by his son, King Solomon," Barkay said.

"What makes this discovery particularly significant is that it originated from upon the Temple Mount itself."

Individuals working for the project have uncovered hundreds of pottery shards and other ancient artifacts from the earth material. Currently, 500,000 finds from the project have yet to be analyzed.

Published under: Israel , Jerusalem