100 Year-Old Turkish Hand Grenade Found in Jerusalem City Wall

Conservation work on the ancient Jerusalem City Wall took an interesting turn on Monday when a grenade was discovered inside the wall. The 100 year-old grenade was found during joint work being done by the Prime Minister’s Office, the Jerusalem Development Authority, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), and the Jerusalem Municipality, dubbed the Jerusalem Walls Conservation Project.

It is part of the Jerusalem old city walls rehabilitation project

The ancient Turkish hand grenade is from the time of the Ottoman Empire and was found near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s old city. Part of the old city wall connected to Damascus Gate is undergoing treatment.

The grenade was discovered on July 5 by an IAA team working under the direction of conservator Fuad Abu Taa. The team was dismantling fragments of a crushed stone that needed to be replaced in the wall and found a fist-size chunk of metal in the center of the wall.

The metallic shape and unusual location was enough for workers to summon police to the site. According to the IAA, the police confirmed it was a grenade from the Ottoman period with c. 200-300 grams of explosives inside. The grenade was removed and detonated.

“The stone was partially crushed and someone probably chose it as a place to hide the hand grenade,” stated Yoram Saad, head of the Implementation Branch of the IAA Conservation Department in a press release.

The Jerusalem City Walls Project includes extensive measures to conserve and rehabilitate the old city walls after years of destruction, neglect, and weathering.