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DAVID HARRIS

BENJAMIN MAZAR. Under the Byzantine-era neighborhood along the southern wall of the ancient Temple Mount, archaeologist Benjamin Mazar uncovered remains from the Second Temple period. Between 1968 and 1978, Mazar excavated roads, shops, cisterns, ritual baths, and chalk vessels—all witnesses to ancient pilgrimage activities just outside the Temple complex. Systematic analysis and publication of Mazar’s excavation is one the main goals of the current archaeological project at the Ophel.