A possible column from the Jewish Temple (not on the Temple Mount) |
Why
so little news?
The Times of Israel, which wrote
about the find in May, reported the secrecy could be because of its location: The remains are in the politically charged West Bank, on
the outskirts of an Arab village and on land privately owned by a Palestinian —
all reasons the Israeli government might deem attempting an excavation there a
major political headache to be avoided.
Tropper,
the guide, said he hoped interest from professional archaeologists would prod
the government to conduct an excavation. The site could be a source of income
for the Palestinian owners and the nearby village, he suggested.
The Israel Antiquities Authority has been careful in its
public responses to reports of the new finding, but did not rule out an
excavation.
“This is indeed an important find, which preliminary
information dates to the time of the kings of Judah,” the authority said in a
statement Sunday.
“At the same time, it should be known that the subject is
sensitive and requires treatment that is delicate and responsible. The
Antiquities Authority, along with all other relevant authorities, has been
dealing with this for some time in an attempt to bring about the complete
excavation of the remains, and will continue its attempts to do so.”
The
Times of Israel also reported further details from experts about the column.
Archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel with Hebrew University called the
construction of the column’s capital (its top) “first rate” and said there is
“definitely something important there from biblical times, the 9th or 8th
centuries BCE.”
He continued saying it is at the
entrance of a carved water tunnel that goes 250 yards underground, suggesting
it could be the Siloam Tunnel under is now the Palestinian
neighborhood Silwan. This project, the Times of Israel reported, is
thought to have been headed by King Hezekiah.
2 Kings 20:20 of the Bible states
Hezekiah “made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into
the city [...].”
The Jewish Press, which first reported on the find in
April, wrote that political reasons could be to blame, citing Israeli
authorities as “trying to silence this discovery”.
The
Jewish Press reported guide Binyamin Troper, who also is a training
coordinator at Kfar Etzion field school, first seeing the carvings of
the top of the column in a cave when he was helping a tourist who needed
assistance. It is speculated that the column runs down to a complete — yet
buried — structure.
Tropper
alerted Kfar Etzion Director Yaron Rosenthal, who the Press reported
saying the find could offer details of Jewish kings from Biblical times. Not
only that but he said it could be a rare opportunity to find a whole building
that hasn’t had a “secondary use,” in later centuries.
But
Rosenthal approached an official with Israel’s Antiquities Authority who told
him, “Yaron, please, you found it, but we know about it. Now forget the whole
thing and keep your mouth shut.”
Watchman comment: Friends, water was absolutely critical for the Jewish Temple for purification reasons and to wash away the blood from all the sacrifices. The temple was located near a siphon well. There are only 12 known siphon wells in the world. I believe God created the siphon well near the city of David in old Jerusalem for His temple.
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