Ancient ritual bath used by Jewish elites during Roman era discovered in Jerusalem

Archaeological researchers have discovered the remains of an ancient Jewish bath in Jerusalem, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Archaeologists with Jerusalem’s Hebrew University announced the find of the “mikveh” during a salvage excavation that was underway to offer disabled access between the Western Wall and Jerusalem City.

The researchers believe the bath was used for ritualistic purification as part of a religious practice that started two millennia ago.

The structure was found within a private villa, is built of bedrock and has a vaulted ceiling. The Post said the remains still contained a number of cooking pots from the Roman era.

“The excavation revealed remains dating from the Second Temple, Roman-Byzantine, and Ottoman periods,” said Dr. Oren Gutfield of Hebrew University. “The number of water channels, cisterns and pools discovered in the area reflects the central role played by Jerusalem’s water supply throughout the ages.”

They believe the ritual bath was used by the city’s aristocracy during the Apostolic Era of the early Christian church. It was discovered near the Temple Mount in what ancient historian Josephus Flavius termed the “upper city,” which was an aristocratic region of Herod’s City.

Today that area is now known as the city’s Jewish Quarter.

The archaeologists believe the bath was built during the Second Temple period that ran through 70 A.D., during the earliest years of the Christian church.

“Among the finds were a section of the Ottoman-period phase of the Lower Aqueduct that transported water from Solomon’s Pools near Bethlehem all the way to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period,” the Post reported.

The Israeli newspaper added that the university, with the joint cooperation of Israel Antiquities Authority’s Jerusalem District will work to preserve the bath and incorporate it into the new Western Wall Elevator complex.