Jerusalem wall may alter history

An Israeli archaeological report suppressed for the last 10 years sug gests that remains of a historic Jewish temple may have been uncovered for the first time, reports Monitor contributor Abraham Rabinovich. The remains were found on Jerusalem's Temple Mount almost precisely where a controversial researcher places the outer wall of the temple built by King Herod 2,000 years ago.

The researcher, Dr. Asher Kaufman of Hebrew University, says the find confirms his theory that the Islamic Dome of the Rock, almost universally said to lie on the ruins of the temple, was in fact built just 50 me ters south of the temple site.

The government archaeologist who saw the wall remains said in an interview Wednesday that he had deliberatly refrained from publishing his findings for political reasons.

The problem is the proximity of the Jews' most holy site to the Islamic shrine. There has been a fear throughout the Muslim world since the "six-day war" in June 1967 that the Jews intend to destroy the Dome of the Rock and the adjacent Al Aksa Mosque.

The archaeologist, who asked to remain anonymous, said what appeared to be the Herodian wall was uncovered in 1970 by Arab workmen digging a water reservoir.