Archeologist Finds Treasure at Temple

Eilat Mazar, an archeologist at Jerusalem Hebrew University, made an amazing discovery this summer. During excavations at the foot of the Temple Mount, she found a treasure of 36 gold coins plus gold and silver jewelry. Mazar, who calls the discovery “a breathtaking, once-in-a-lifetime” event, dates the items back to the late Byzantine period, or the early seventh century. The gold was found about 150 feet away from the southern wall of the Temple Mount in a ruined Byzantine building. Mazar also found a gold medallion with an image of a menorah on it, a pair of gold earrings, a gold-plated silver hexagonal prism, and a silver ingot.