Six Day War ammunition stash discovered by Western Wall

The ammunition was produced in 1956 by Greenwood and Batley Ltd factories in the UK.

By Aaron Sull, World Israel News

A stash of ammunition belonging to the Jordanian Army during the Six Day War was discovered at the bottom of a water cistern in the Western Wall tunnels during an archaeological dig on Wednesday.

The weapons stash included 10 Bren light machine gun magazines, bayonets, and parts of a British Lee Enfield rifle, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

Upon further inspection, IAA archaeologist Assaf Peretz determined that the ammunition was produced in 1956 by Greenwood and Batley Ltd factories in the UK.

Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, leading IAA archeologist Dr. Barak Monnickendam-Givon said he and his partner Dr. Tehila Sadiel were very happy to find relics that provide insight into a monumental war in Israel’s history.

“Usually, in excavations, we find ancient findings from one or two thousand years ago, but this time, we got a glimpse of the events that occurred 53 years ago, frozen in time in this water cistern,” Givon said.

“Apparently, this is an ammunition dump that was purposely hidden by soldiers of the Royal Jordanian Army during the Six Day War, perhaps when the Israel Defense Forces liberated the Old City.”

During the 1967 Six Day War, Israel captured Jerusalem’s Old City, eastern Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria from the Jordanians in addition to the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria.

This is the second historic finding discovered by Givon and Sadiel in the Western Wall tunnels

In May, the duo uncovered a vast network of 2,000-year-old underground chambers beneath the entrance lobby to the Western Wall tunnels. The chambers consisted of a courtyard and rooms arranged one above another connected by staircases hewn from rock.

Jordanian militarySix Day War