A salvage excavation near the Temple Mount by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s (HU) Institute of Archaeology has unearthed a unique ritual bath (“mikveh”) dating back to the Late Second Temple period (1st Century CE).

The ritual bath was found within a private villa, hewn into the bedrock and featuring a vaulted ceiling with fine masonry typical of the Herodian period. It is located on top of a cliff in the “Upper City”—a phrase coined by historian Josephus Flavius to describe the area of Herod’s City which housed Jerusalem’s elites. A plastered water cistern was uncovered near the same villa. It had been in use until the destruction of the Second Temple by Rome in 70 CE, and held the remains of nearly 40 cooking pots, some still intact.

Source: INN Photo: View of the ritual bath (left) and surrounding remains of Herodian-period struct - Assaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority