Restoration team finds purported Ottoman grenade in J'lem

Weapons was found nestled in the Old City walls beside Damascus Gate.

By NOAH RAYMAN
Relations between Israel and Turkey may have sunk to a new low since the late May raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla, but a renovation project in Jerusalem’s Old City came upon an artifact on Monday that harks back to times when interaction between the two was even less cordial.
The Jerusalem Walls Conservation Project discovered what they believe to be a Turkish grenade, nestled in the shattered stone of the Old City walls beside Damascus Gate, it announced on Wednesday.
Police who arrived on the scene believe that the rusted metal scrap – containing as much as 300 grams of explosives – dates back nearly a century to when the Ottoman Empire dominated the region.
Erring on the side of caution, the police carried out a controlled detonation of the artifact rather than enable further examination.
“They didn’t want to take any chances,” said Yoram Saad, head of theImplementation Branch of the Israel Antiquities Authority ConservationDepartment. He said he had an opportunity to observe and photograph thegrenade, but he did not handle it.
It was a policeman who identified the grenade as Turkish, though Saadsaid the team cannot be sure of the grenade’s origin without furtherresearch, now impossible.
The team found the grenade wedged inside a stone that appearedshattered on purpose – indicating that someone may have sought to hidethe grenade over eight decades ago.
The grenade was found by a team of conservationists working to restoresections of the Old City walls, a joint project by the Prime Minister’sOffice, the Jerusalem Development Authority, the Antiquities Authority,and the Jerusalem Municipality.
Saad said that renovations of the Old City have uncovered a range ofartifacts testifying to Jerusalem’s tumultuous history, including its20th-century transitions. Jordanian inscriptions attest to thatnation’s control of the Old City, while British objects reflect theBritish Mandate.