The Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered a roughly 2,000-year-old Second Temple–period stone workshop at Ras Tamim on Mount Scopus following a theft-prevention operation. Five suspects were arrested at the scene with excavation equipment and later confessed; they face charges carrying up to five years in prison. Inspectors documented hundreds of stone vessel fragments and production waste in an underground cave; the finds are now displayed in the "Criminal Past" exhibition in Jerusalem and shed light on ancient pilgrim routes.
2,000-Year-Old Second Temple Workshop Unearthed on Mount Scopus After Sting Operation
Newly discovered limestone shards and vessels on display in the new "Criminal Past" exhibit at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel, February 16, 2026. (photo credit: Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority)
Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) uncovered a Second Temple–period stone workshop at the Ras Tamim site on the eastern slope of Mount Scopus in Jerusalem after a theft-prevention investigation led to the arrest of five suspects.
The discovery followed careful surveillance by the IAA’s Theft Prevention Unit after staff noticed unauthorized digging and other suspicious activity at the site. The unit conducted ambushes and monitoring operations to identify those responsible for illegal excavations and antiquities looting.
Late one night, officers arrested five people at the site. Investigators found extensive excavation equipment in their possession, including a generator, quarrying tools and a metal detector. According to the IAA, several suspects were located inside an underground cave while others acted as surface lookouts. All five were taken into custody, questioned, and ultimately confessed; they are expected to face charges that carry sentences of up to five years in prison for damaging and illegally excavating an antiquities site.
Israel Antiqtuities Authority apprehends antiquities looters at the Ras Tamim antiquities site on Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, February 16, 2026. (credit: Israel Antiquities Authority, The Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit)
After the arrests, IAA inspectors entered the cave where the suspects had been found. Inside they documented a workshop dating to roughly two thousand years ago that contained hundreds of stone vessel fragments, production debris and unfinished pieces. The assemblage supports the interpretation that the area served Jewish pilgrims approaching Jerusalem from the east during the Second Temple era.
The finds are on public display at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem as part of the "Criminal Past" exhibition, which reveals the methods and consequences of antiquities looting and the efforts to combat it.
Significance and Context: Dr. Eitan Klein, Deputy Director of the IAA’s Theft Prevention Unit, noted that workshops producing chalk limestone vessels from the Second Temple period are already known in the Judean hills. He added that nearby discoveries include tombs, a limestone quarry and large water reservoirs, including a mikveh, dated to the same era—together painting a broader picture of ancient activity along this pilgrim route.
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said the discovery underscores Jerusalem’s role not only as an archaeological landscape but as "a window into a world preserved deep within the ground." He added that attempts to loot antiquities are not merely financial crimes but efforts to "steal our identity," and pledged continued decisive action to protect the nation’s heritage.
For further details, the IAA has published additional information on its website.
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