[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: the irony: while there certainly should be
concern for this 21 kg. marble column fragment, one would hope that there
would be considerably more concern over the wholesale destruction of
antiquities on the Temple Mount carried out under the auspices of the Moslem
Waqf over the years.]

Twelve Years after a Stone Disappeared from an Israel Antiquities Authority
Excavation South of the Temple Mount, a Tourist from New York Confessed:
"I Took It. My Conscience Bothers Me and I Am Asking for Forgiveness"

The stone, which weighs twenty one kilograms, was returned to Jerusalem this
week

In 1997, a twenty one kilogram fragment of a marble column disappeared from
one of the excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority was conducting south
of the Temple Mount.

Several weeks ago, the IAA received an unexpected e-mail from a priest in
the state of New York: "I am requesting forgiveness for a member of my
congregation", he writes. "The fellow confessed to me that twelve years ago
he took a stone from Jerusalem and his conscience has bothered him ever
since. I wish to return the stone to Israel and hope that you will forgive
the man for his transgression".

A letter from the fellow was attached to the heavy stone fragment, which
arrived in Jerusalem in a wooden crate that was specially constructed for
the flight back to Israel. "I came to Israel on an organized trip. As a
student of archaeology, I was very excited when we visited an excavation
south of the Temple Mount. I asked how I can purchase a stone from the
excavation because I wanted a souvenir with which to pray for Jerusalem and
was told it was not possible. On the last day of the trip our Israeli tour
guide approached me and took the stone fragment from inside his coat. 'Take
it', he said. 'It's a present from me'. I asked him how he obtained the
stone and he replied, 'It's okay; don't worry'. I was very happy and took
the stone with me on my flight back to New York. Only later did I realize
that he probably took the stone from the excavation without permission. For
the past twelve years since then, rather than remind me of the prayer for
Jerusalem, I am reminded of the mistake I made when I removed the stone from
its proper place in Israel. I am asking for your forgiveness".

According to Yuval Baruch, Jerusalem District Archaeologist in the IAA, who
directed the excavation from which the stone was taken, "What we have here
is a column fragment that was discovered during the excavation of one of the
Umayyad buildings located south of the Temple Mount, similar to others that
were found and that are on display in the archaeological garden in the
Davidson Center. These are four very large structures that extended over an
area of c. 200 dunams, which were probably the official palace complex of
the Umayyad caliphs c. 1,200 years ago".

Shay Bar Tura, Deputy Director of the Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities
Robbery in the IAA, stated, "Because of the unique case of sincerity and the
fact that the item was ultimately returned, we decided not to take any legal
steps against the people who were involved in the incident. In the coming
days the stone will be turned over to the State's Treasures after which it
will be returned to the archaeological garden from whence it was taken. It
should be emphasized that any activity conducted at an antiquity site
requires permission from the IAA. Taking archaeological artifacts from
antiquities sites constitutes a severe criminal offense which is punishable
by law with imprisonment".

Click here to download high resolution pictures:
www.antiquities.org.il/images/press/stolen_stone.zip

In the pictures:
Shay Bar Tura displays the package and the stone. Photograph: courtesy of
the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Picture of the Umayyad buildings in the excavation that was conducted in
1997 south of the Temple Mount. Photograph: courtesy of the Israel
Antiquities Authority.

For further details; kindly contact: Yoli Shwartz, Israel Antiquities
Authority Spokesperson 052-5991888 dovrut@israntique.org.il