Area J was on a low level, west of the entrance to the cave. A square (3×3 m) was opened in the location of the toilet’s waste water collecting basin (Fig. 2). Two stone items were found in the upper layer of fill:
1. A ceremonial hammer head (mallet) made of soft limestone and worked on a lathe
(max. diam. 5.3 cm, height 6.2 cm; Fig. 3). The words ‘King Solomon’ are engraved above a circle containing the broken symbols of a compass and square, and the word ‘Jerusalem’ is engraved on its base. A hole on the side for a wooden handle was drilled until the center of the hammer head.
2. A fragment of a rectangular stone tablet with a frame (8.3×9.0 cm, thickness 1 cm; Fig. 4). Two acacia (mimosa) branches that are of symbolic importance to the Order of Freemasons are carved on the tablet. They are on either side of part of a square and a compass inside a circle. In the middle of the square and compass is the letter ‘G’, alluding to the word Geometrician (geometry), which is one of the liberal arts and not as customary assumed an abbreviation of the word God. The letters MSNS are engraved below the circle; these are part of the abbreviation of the sovereign lodge of Freemasons of Egypt. Below the branches are three letters in English: ALE, which are part of the name of the city of ‘Jerusalem’.
The two items belong to the souvenir industry of the Order of Freemasons, which were manufactured in the cave in the 1920s and 30s. The stones were taken from the cave because of the connection that the members of the order ascribed to the quarrying of the Temple’s stones by King Solomon. Several similar mallets are known from Masonic centers in Australia, New Zealand, Tel Aviv and Haifa (information communicated in correspondence with members of the Order of Freemasons).
The area of the square (2.0×2.5 m, 1.8 m below the surface) was reduced after the removal of the surface level, which contained soil mixed with stone fragments (max. depth 1 m). The bottom part of the fill contained mainly debris from dressed building stones that were removed from the quarry and potsherds. The finds recovered from this layer included two cooking pots from the Roman period (Fig. 5:1, 2), as well as three glazed bowls (Fig. 5:3–5), the neck of a jar (Fig. 5:6) and a mold-made lamp (Fig. 5:7), all from the Mamluk period. Ten coins were found, of which five were identified:
 
No.
IAA No.
Minting Authority
Dates
Mint
Locus/Area
1
141650
Alexander Jannaeus
104–76 BCE
Jerusalem
1100/11004
2
141648
Herod
37–4 BCE
Jerusalem
1100/11002
3
141647
Archelaus
4 BCE –6 CE
Jerusalem
1100/11001
4
141649
Maurice Tiberius
587/8 –590/1 CE
Constantinople
Surface /11049
5
141651
Byzanto-Arabic
636–697 CE
 
Surface /11050
 
 
Area P. After the surface level was revealed by means of mechanical equipment, a survey was conducted with a metal detector and forty-one coins were collected, of which twenty-nine were identified. The coins have no clear archaeological context, but their presence indicates the periods when the cave was used.
 
No.
IAA No.
Minting Authority
Dates
Mint
Locus/Area
1
141646
Hasmonean
134–37 BCE
Jerusalem
Surface /11026
2
141659
 
6 BCE–129 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11035
3
141653
Tiberius
29/30 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11029
4
141652
Autonomous
105/10 –166/7 CE
Tyre
Surface /11028
5
141654
 
351–361 CE
 
Surface /11027
6
141655
Byzanto-Arabic
636–697 CE
 
Surface /11030
7
141666
Abbasid
832–834 CE
Al-Quds
Surface /11058
8
141680
Abbasid
Ninth century CE
 
Surface /11074
9
141657
Dukes of Normandy
935–1145 CE
Normandy
Surface /11033
10
141676
Mahmud Ben Zanji
1147–1174 CE
 
Surface /11070
11
141681
Al-Mansur Qalawun
1279–1290 CE
 
Surface /11076
12
141663
Henry II
1284–1324 CE
Cyprus
Surface /11055
13
141665
Henry II
1284–1324 CE
Cyprus
Surface /11057
14
141674
Al-Nasir Muhammad
1329/1330 CE
Damascus
Surface /11068
15
141661
Al-Mansur Abu Bakr
1341 CE
Damascus
Surface /11042
16
141662
Al-Mansur Abu Bakr
1341 CE
Damascus
Surface /11043
17
141660
Al-Nasir Hassan
1348 CE
Damascus
Surface /11041
18
141667
Al-Nasir Hassan
1355 CE
Damascus
Surface /11059
19
141656
Al-Ashraf Sha'ban II
1363–1377 CE
Damascus
Surface /11032
20
141675
Al-Mansur ‘Alaa Al- Din ‘Ali
1377–1381 CE
TarablusSyria
Surface /11069
21
141664
Mamluk
Fourteenth century CE
 
Surface /11056
22
141658
Mamluk
Fourteenth century CE
 
Surface /11034
23
141668
Mamluk
Fourteenth century CE
 
Surface /11060
24
141669
Mamluk
Fourteenth century CE
 
Surface /11061
25
141673
Mamluk
Fourteenth century CE
 
Surface /11067
26
141679
Mamluk
Fourteenth century CE
 
Surface /11073
27
141677
Al- Daher Abu Sa‘id Khushkadam
1461–1467 CE
Halab
Surface /11077
28
141671
Al-Nasir Muhammad
1496–1498 CE
Damascus
Surface /11064
29
141670
Mamluk
Fifteenth century CE
 
Surface /11062
 
Area Q. Cavities that have yet to be documented are located beneath the level of the cave that is open to the public. A rock-cut opening was surveyed and documented in the western side of one of these halls. Its upper part consisted of a hewn arch (1.2×2.2 m) and its lower part was hewn and built (width c. 3, height 2.1 m; Figs. 6, 7). Two trial squares were excavated on both sides of the opening and doorjambs that were adjoined to walls built of roughly hewn quarrying stone debris were exposed (northern wall—W252–length 2.2 m, width 1.2 m; southern wall—W253–length 1.7 m, width 1.4 m). The upper sockets of the door hinges (northern socket diam. 0.16 m, depth 0.12 m; southern socket diam. 0.13 m, depth 0.1 m) were chiseled in neatly dressed corners (northern 0.45×0.57 m, southern 0.3×0.3 m) that served as a doorframe. In front of the northern doorjamb was the bottom base of the door hinge (0.4×0.5 m), where the bottom socket was hewn (0.10×0.12 m) in line with the upper corner of the door. This was one of the only places in the cave where construction could be discerned, as well as the closing off of a cavity rather than just rock-cutting. No ceramic artifacts were found when the collapse from the front of the opening was removed.
A survey with a metal detector was conducted along the surface of the large hall that was accessed by the rock-cut opening and twenty-seven coins were found, of which two are modern and one is illegible. Coin No. 9 is the only onen in the entire collection that is made of silver.
 
No.
IAA No.
Minting Authority
Dates
Mint
Locus/Area
1
141689
Hasmonean
134–37 BCE
Jerusalem
Surface /11021
2
141692
Alexander Jannaeus
80/79–76 BCE
Jerusalem
Surface /11025
3
141691
Augustus
5/6–10/11 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11023
4
141688
Nero
58/59 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11019
5
141687
Great Revolt
68/69 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11018
6
141690
Leo I
457–474 CE
 
Surface /11022
7
141686
 
Second half of fifth century CE
 
Surface /11017
8
141683
Abbasid
Ninth century CE
 
Surface /11014
9
141693
Amory I
1163–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11081
10
141682
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11012
11
141684
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11015
12
141685
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11016
13
141694
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11082
14
141695
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11083
15
141698
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11088
16
141699
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11089
17
141700
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11090
18
141701
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11091
19
141702
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11092
20
141703
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11093
21
141704
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11094
22
141705
Al-Malak Al-‘Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud
1146–1174 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11095
23
141696
Al-Malak Al-Nasir Salah Ad-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub
1190 CE
Jerusalem
Surface /11084
24
141697
Zanji
 
 
Surface /11085
 
The excavation in the new areas and the metallic survey conducted in them facilitated collecting additional information about the periods when the cave was in use. The documentation, photography, drafting and metallic survey of the lower level of the cave are especially important, as it has not yet been studied.