“Bethlehem” from IAA Dig Found by Archaeologist IAA Arrested

Life’s little ironies department: After the Muslim Waqf (the religious authority responsible for the Temple Mount) illegally excavated a huge hole on the Temple Mount with a bulldozer to widen access to an underground mosque and then dumped the excavated material into the adjacent Kidron Valley, a young archaeology student named Zachi Zweig began rummaging around to see if there were any ancient artifacts in the dump. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) had Zweig arrested for digging without a license. Zweig’s teacher, prominent Jerusalem archaeologist Gaby Barkay, teamed up with him and obtained a permit to take the dumped […]