Friday, July 22, 2022

Elevator archaeology: a priestly mikveh?

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Mikveh Found Near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount May Have Been Used by Priestly Family (Sam Sokol, Haaretz). HT Rogue Classicism.
“During the Herodian period, the area in question was home to the city’s wealthiest residents. While several other ritual baths have been unearthed in the area, the importance of this particular discovery stems from its striking proximity to the Temple Mount—raising the question of who lived in this grand villa on the eve of the city’s destruction,” said Michal Haber, one of the supervisors of the dig, adding, “It may well have been a priestly family.”
Background on the excavation is here and here.

For another ancient and possibly priestly mikveh, see here. For the mikveh discovered under the floorboards of a family's living room, see here and here. For the relocated mikveh near Kibbutz Hannaton in the Jezreel Valley, see here and links.

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