This past summer, Herbert W. Armstrong College sent 13 students and two alumni to participate in this latest phase of Eilat Mazar’s dig. The students arrived on site in May and stayed through August. The group made up about a third of Dr. Mazar’s workforce.
Armstrong College students have participated in Dr. Mazar’s excavations since 2006, laboring on the dig site and helping to document and process the finds.
When Dr. Mazar found herself with the unusual problem of having too much gold on her hands, she turned to the college to assist her in discreetly preparing to publish her initial research on the items. “Gold attracts attention,” she told the Trumpet. Not wanting to risk disrupting the excavation that had only just begun, and desiring to research further into the items, she chose to wait a few months before publicizing the finds.
Armstrong College students and Trumpet staff helped Dr. Mazar prepare a 17-minute film (recorded in both Hebrew and English) detailing the significance of the Ophel treasure. They also assisted in creating her press release and promotional videos in preparation for the public announcement of the discovery, as well as the English translation of The Discovery of the Menorah Treasure at the Foot of the Temple Mount.
“She described the project as one that should shake the world with excitement, but before then, everything would have to be done in secret,” said Armstrong College senior Jessie Hester, who flew to Jerusalem in early June to tape the project. “Then we went to work on it.”
Finally, on September 9, Dr. Mazar called a press conference and announced it to the world.