Munir al-Nuwayhi

Munir al-Nuwayhi was an Israeli-Arab archeologist working on a long term project near the Temple Mount under Yoram Louvish. The two had a rocky but somewhat respectful relationship and generally spoke to each other in English, a foreign and thus neutral language.

Louvish quietly invited al-Nuwayhi along with Eric Katz and Orly Binur to work on an irregular if not illegal dig under the Temple Mount. A hidden tunnel had been dug from a passageway to the Western Wall that went deep into the lower levels of the Mount. At the end of the tunnel Katz and Binur noticed something strange which turned out to be old stonework. Al-Nuwayhi identified the style as dating from before the Babylonian conquest making it from the period of the First Temple.