Hebrew University archaeologists have found the oldest known alphabetical inscription from Jerusalem, dating back to the period of Kings David or Solomon, 250 years before the previously oldest known written text.

The inscription was found near the Temple Mount but is not in Hebrew and was from the pre-Temple period, in the language of one of the peoples who occupied Israel at the time, according to the archaeologists.

Reading from left to right, the text contains a combination of letters approximately 2.5 cm tall, which translate to m, q, p, h, n, (possibly) l, and n. Since this combination of letters has no meaning in known west-Semitic languages, the inscription’s meaning is unknown.

The archaeologists suspect the inscription specifies the jar’s contents or the name of its owner. Because the inscription is not in Hebrew, it is likely to have been written by one of the non-Israeli residents of Jerusalem, perhaps Jebusites, who were part of the city population in the time of Kings David and Solomon.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar unearthed the artifact, in the Canaanite language and engraved on a large pithos, a neckless ceramic jar found with six others at the Ophel excavation site. He said it is the only one of its kind discovered in Jerusalem and is an important addition to the city’s history.

The previously oldest known script, in Hebrew, was from the period of King Hezekiah at the end of the 8th century BCE.

The inscription was engraved near the edge of the jar before it was fired, and only a fragment of it has been found, along with fragments of six large jars of the same type. The fragments were used to stabilize the earth fill under the second floor of the building they were discovered in.

An analysis of the jars’ clay composition indicates that they are all of a similar make, and probably originate in the central hill country near Jerusalem.

According to Prof. Ahituv, the inscription is not complete and probably wound around the jar’s shoulder, while the remaining portion is just the end of the inscription and one letter from the beginning.

This jar fragment from the time of Kings David and Solomon is the earliest alphabetical written text ever discovered in Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Authority’s official website again has disseminated inciting anti-Israel propaganda focusing on the supposed Jewish plot to take over the Temple Mount.

Calling the Israelis on the Temple Mount ”fanatics,” the WAFA site quoted Muslim Waqf officials that the Jews “were escorted by police, held prayer rituals and destroyed olive branches in the yards in a clear provocative manner to the feelings of the hundreds of Muslims who were on the site and who reacted yelling Allah Akbar (God is great) in Arabic.

“Israeli fanatics are increasing their provocative tours of the Muslim compound to create daily presence there with a goal to eventually take it over and build their temple on the ruins of al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.”

There is at least one statement in the propaganda that is correct. Jews do indeed offend the sensibilities by ascending the Temple Mount. Then again, the very presence of Jews in the Old City, let alone all of Israel, is offensive to the Palestinian Authority.

The allegations that the Jews “held prayer rituals” is nothing less than an outrageous lie. Jews trying to pray on the Temple Mount wish it were true, but Muslim officials constantly monitor all Jews at the Temple Mount and, with police cooperation, do not allow Jewish visitors to bring with them any prayer books or any other Jewish symbols.

Police often remove Jews for even moving their lips, despite admonitions by the Supreme Court.

The Palestinian Authority is committed to halt all incitement against Israel, a promise which the United States claims it has faithfully upheld.

PA media at least twice a week, if not more, report that police have “stormed” the Temple Mount and that every Jewish action there is intended to prepare for rebuilding the Holy Temple.

If that were true, it would mean a lot of employment for hundreds of Muslim Arab workers.

Israel’s Temple Institute, which encourages praying on  the Temple Mount and working to build the Third Temple, has released a video production that shows children taking adults out of synagogue on Tisha B’Av to join them to rebuild the Temple.

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel discourages Jews from praying on the Temple Mount because of Halachic issues, while the Temple Institute and many other rabbis have ruled that Jews can ascend to certain areas of the Temple Mount.

Jews around the world are in the traditional Nine Days, the last part of the three-week period of mourning over the destruction of the First and Second Temples, both of which were destroyed in Tisha B’Av, or the Ninth of the Hebrew month of Av that began on Monday.

The Temple Institute has produced a two and a half minute video entitled “The Children are Ready II,” a sequel to last year’s video at this time.

The video shows men sitting on the floor and reciting the Lamentations that are said on Tisha B’Av, while children decide it is time to bring out their tools and get to work to rebuild the Temple instead of only crying over the past.

They march into the synagogue and convince the adults to leave behind their prayer books and come with them.

“Tisha B’Av is not about just mourning; it is about contemplating a world devoid of the Holy Temple, a house of peace and prayer for all nations, and it’s about asking ‘when will the mourning stop?’” said Rabbi Chaim Richman, international director of the Temple Institute.

“Last year, ‘The Children are Ready’ inadvertently outraged the Arab world with the Egyptian government releasing a formal complaint and rebuttal videos made by Hamas and other Islamist organizations,” the Institute commented Monday.

The Palestinian Authority and the entire Arab world have increasingly published propaganda about Jews trying to take over the Temple Mount and rebuild the Temple, and the new video is likely to cause an uproar among Muslims, particularly since the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins this week.

Does the IDF tell solders not to eat in front of observant troops on Yom Kippur? Not a chance. That’s religious coercion. But they are told not to eat or drink when Muslims are nearby during Ramadan.

The IDF has instructed soldiers “to show considerable consideration” for Palestinian Authority Arabs during the Muslim month of Ramadan by not eating, drinking or smoking in their presence.

Ramadan begins this Wednesday, and religious Muslims observe it by fasting from sunrise to sunset during most of the month.

Soldiers were particularly admonished to be respectful of Muslims at crossings through the security fence in Judea and Samaria.

In addition, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz ordered a lifting of restrictions on PA Arabs “to improve their fabric of life.” An announcement of the easing of measures was sent to the Palestinian Authority hierarchy and to the international community. If God forbid there are any terrorist attacks against Jews during Ramadan because of the easing of security, these “goodwill” measures” supposedly will convince everyone else that Israel does not deserve them.

Among the lifting of restrictions, coordinated with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, all PA Arabs form age 60 and over will be allowed to cross from Judea and Samaria into the rest of Israel without permits.

All women, as well as all men age 40 and over, will be allowed during Ramadan to enter the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount on Friday without permits. They also may bring with them all of their children up to the age of 12, but youth from ages 12-16 also can enter freely “depending on the situation.”

As many as 20,000 Arabs will be allowed on the Temple Mount during the week during the month of Ramadan.

Up to 500 Arabs from Jordan will be allowed into Judea and Samaria, and the Allenby Bridge from Jordan will be open 24 hours a day.

Four Israeli Jewish teenagers were detained by police Wednesday for bowing down at the Temple Mount, an act that seen as a prayer and which is prohibited by the Muslim Waqf, the Muslim religious administration that is authorized by Israel to manage the holy site.

A rabbi also visiting the site told Israel National News that the four did not bow down

By Faigie Heiman I’m not a blogger, a jogger nor do I twitter, or book my face. The social media is not my domain, but when I’m annoyed, or gratified with editorials or articles that appear in newspapers or magazines, I write a letter to the editor.

In May, the weekend Magazine section of the Jerusalem Post featured an article by Seth Frantzman titled: Forgotten History, an informative piece relating to the history of the Western Wall whereby Frantzman quotes Knesset Member Dov Lipman in a discussion in the Knesset.

“It is very interesting relating to the Kotel that in our history we see old photos of women and men praying together. It isn’t an orthodox synagogue; it’s a place we all value and does not have the Halacha of a synagogue.”

Isi Liebler, a popular blogger, wrote an article about Religious Tolerance and Mutual Respect and he too brought up the same point, that men and women can be viewed at the Kotel together, without a divider, in all the early twentieth century pictures.

A popular Israeli radio commentator spoke about the same phenomenon, and that was enough to trigger my letter of response to Frantzman’s article. Forgotten History, as featured in the Jerusalem Post, was a good reminder of the past but regrettably, some historical facts were omitted. Those like MK Lipman who wonder why men and women are pictured together without a mechitza, have forgotten history. They have forgotten when, and where the divider was born, and why it does not appear in those old photos.

 The Sanctuary was built with an ezrat nashim, a separate area for women. Sacrifices were offered at the Sanctuary and after the destruction, animal sacrifice was replaced with prayer time, held in small or large quarters, with areas for women to emulate Temple custom. The Western Wall, the single remaining remnant of the Temple was not in our hands, not under Jewish sovereignty. Throughout the ages foreign rulers applied regulations as to what they permitted along the narrow alley below the Wall. Dividers were forbidden, and most often, prayer too.

It is wise to remember that the Kotel is now in our hands. It is neither an amphitheater nor a circus, nor an ordinary street, and age-old Jewish customs should be respected. The area begs to be a peaceful place of prayer, with traditions valued as in days of yore.

When I sent the above observation to Isi Liebler he answered immediately.

Thanks. That may be so. Nevertheless, for hundreds of years the Kotel served as a shrine for private prayer and meditation rather than exclusively as a Bet Knesset.

Do the Lieblers and Lipmans prefer to have the Kotel returned to pre-67 condition? Is that the solution, Moslem sovereignty over the narrow street at the Wall so that the area can operate as a place for a dozen Jews, men and women, to mingle and meditate? Should we turn the clock back to foreign rules and regulations?

The Six Day War brought about the most stunning miraculous victory for Israel, and changed political and spiritual facts on the ground. It reunited Jerusalem and opened the area at the Kotel to hundreds of thousands of people to pray, visit, and meditate daily.  After over two thousand years of foreign rule, the Temple Mount and the Kotel were returned to our hands. A mechitza, a divider was necessary to implement traditional prayer service and was set up by the Ministry of Religious Affairs immediately after the area was opened to the public in 1967. That mechitza is respected by the large majority of men and women in Israel and around the world.

Yerushalmi Kugel

I remember the first Shabbat kiddush I attended after the Six Day War whereby Yerushalmi noodle kugel was served. It was dished out on small plates, a thin slice of pickle alongside the kugel. As soon as the plates of kugel were visible, everyone in the overcrowded room grabbed a plate. My husband was concerned that I wouldn’t `be quick enough, that I wouldn’t know how to grab a plate. He pushed his way over to check if I had a piece of kugel. “No” I answered. “I didn’t get kugel, but it’s okay, even if the service is not my style, it’s okay, I can eat kugel at home.”

The traditional style at the Kotel is one of a mechitza for prayer in adherence to orthodox Jewish custom. If individuals or groups find it tasteless they can pray or eat at home, or wherever their palate is sated. Not everyone must, or can, enjoy their portion of kugel in an authentic Yerushalmi setting.

With all due respect to Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky, the Kotel does not belong to everyone. The Kotel is a historic religious Jewish site, and it should be dealt with according to tradition.   Conventional prayer service as practiced in orthodox houses of prayer cannot satisfy all the people, all the time. Sufficient if it satisfies most people most of the time. If fifty Jews for Jesus want to hold a Sunday morning prayer service at the Wall, must that also be tolerated?

Some will argue, “but they too are Jews, they also need to be accommodated!”

Yes, they may be Jews, but there are red lines, there are traditional rules and the Rabbi of the Kotel draws the red lines, he is in charge, and his rulings should be upheld.
For the uninformed, religious prayer custom at the Kotel did not change after 1967. Former tradition was reinstated. The women who are disturbing the peace today are doing so first with tallit and tefillin, to be followed by removal of the divider. The egalitarian service they desire, and the means to achieving it, is a disservice to the entire House of Israel, and their behavior at the Kotel can, G-d forbid, bring the House down.

 Faigie Heiman is an accomplished short-story and essay writer and the author of a popular memoir titled Girl For Sale. Born and raised in Brooklyn she made Aliya and lives in Jerusalem since 1960.

A Hebrew-language TV report of Channel Two here on the activities of the various Temple Mount groups:

and it includes a bridegroom ascending on the day of his wedding, Yehudah Glick, Women of the Temple learning various Temple-associated commandments, lobbyists working with MKs, altercations, the Temple Institute, etc.

Editor’s Note: Please make an effort to follow the above video, although we can’t offer an English language translation yet. At minute 2:30, follow the exchange between Rabbi Yehuda Glick and two other fellows, where they pretend to be having a mundane conversation while, actually, citing verses from the prayer. Then watch how the Arabs are going crazy when they detect that a Jew dares to pray up there. Rabbi Glick then points out how very powerful they must think we are, if the prayer of a single Jew causes them such a fit. It made me realize how we could have this entire country to ourselves, if we only said we wanted it. The problem begins and ends with Israeli officials, in government and in the police force, who cannot even imagine a situation where a Jew would pray on Temple Mount and the Arabs would let it be.

They have a problem with their imagination.

___________

And caught this:

The forum of Palestinian journalists (FPJ) strongly denounced the desecration of the Aqsa Mosque by a group of Israeli journalists on Thursday.  In a press release on Friday, the forum said that extremist Jewish journalists working for Israel’s TV channels 1, 2 and 10, the newspapers Maariv and Israel Today, and the Hebrew news website Walla had defiled the Aqsa Mosque’s courtyard under police guard.

An Israeli archaeologist escorted the journalists during their tour at the Aqsa Mosque…The forum emphasized that such visit was part of the Israeli plans to Judaize the Aqsa Mosque and divide it between Muslims and Jews as a prelude to seizing it.

Shalom u’verachah.

I was pleased to hear in your answer to my question at the recent [Likud] faction meeting that the agreements between Jordan and the Palestinian Authority on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem issues are insignificant because the state of Israel is the exclusive sovereign power on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem.

Despite that, I was surprised to learn that the MK Miri Regev-led Knesset Interior Committee and I, a Knesset member, were not allowed to visit the Temple Mount due to security considerations. Can’t the police enforce the law and allow members of Israel’s Knesset – who represent the sovereign power on the Mount – to visit there? And if the police are too lazy to do so, why don’t you, the prime minister of Israel, direct them to allow Knesset members to ascend the Mount so that we may perform our duty there as representatives of the sovereign power?

It is impossible to not think that the reason that I was personally barred from the Temple Mount, as were Knesset committee members, is because in the eyes of the wakf we represent Jewish sovereignty on the Mount. I wonder how the wakf’s threats to riot if we visit the Temple Mount actually dictate your approach to the issue. How is it that you, the prime minister of Israel, break these laws of the state of Israel: the Immunity for MKs Law, the Jerusalem Law, and the Personal Honor and Freedom Basic Law? How do you surrender, de facto, our sovereignty in the very heart of our eternal capital, Jerusalem – because of the wakf’s threats?

This apprehensiveness can raise many doubts as to the ability of your government to deal with much larger and greater powers than the wakf.

I know that you did not create the difficult situation on the Temple Mount, but continuing to bury our heads in the sands of security considerations creates a situation in which the government of Israel loses its sovereignty at the rock of our existence. If you do not clearly act to change the situation, you are liable to find yourself going down in history as the prime minister under whom Israel lost its sovereignty over the Temple Mount.

I am sure that the Israeli police and security services will know how to prevent any disturbances or to nip them in the bud if and when you direct them to do so.