Century-old hand grenade from Ottoman times found in wall in Jerusalem’s Old City
By APWednesday, July 7, 2010
Century-old grenade found in Jerusalem wall
JERUSALEM — Israel’s antiquities agency says workers found a century-old hand grenade in Jerusalem’s Old City.
The Israel Antiquities Authority says workers doing restoration at the city’s historic stone walls were digging through crushed stone when they found a “fist-sized chunk of metal.”
The antiquities agency said on Wednesday the workers concluded it was a grenade hidden there about 100 years ago.
Police bomb disposal experts later identified it as an Ottoman-era grenade holding 200 to 300 grams of explosives — enough to kill a person at close range. The bomb squad took it away and blew it up in a safe place.
Jerusalem’s Old City was controlled by the Ottoman Empire for 400 years before the British captured it in 1917. It has been the site of countless battles.
