An Israeli tour guide discovered a pillar thinking he had made a major discovery only to find that the government had been hiding its existence for years.

The pillar is believed to be 2,800 years old and could be a landmark in mapping Old Testament locations. Archeologists believe that the pillar could connect Israel today with Judaism’s historical roots.

However, the pillar is located in the West Bank. The West Bank being a disputed location and considered by many to not be part of the nation of Israel, it makes it virtually impossible for Israeli scientists to excavate the site.

“The complex reality in Israel sometimes brings the scholarly discipline of archaeology in contact with political issues regarding the subject of historical roots and rights,” the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) told FoxNews.com in an email. “When a significant archaeological discovery requires additional research, the IAA sees that this is carried out. Such is the case in this issue: the IAA is operating in effort to carry out a full excavation of the site, which will enable thorough study of the findings and their disclosure in both popular and scholarly publications.”

Yosef Garfinkel, a professor of archeology at Hebrew University, told FoxNews he examined the pillar and that it marks the entrance to a water tunnel during the First Temple period. The First Temple was built by King Solomon.