Monumental Second Temple Ritual Baths Uncovered at the Foot of the Temple Mount
If you have ever stood in Jerusalem and gazed up at the massive southern wall of the Temple Mount, it is easy to let your imagination drift back 2,000 years. You can almost picture the bustling crowds of ancient Jewish pilgrims—carrying their basket offerings, singing the Psalms of Ascent, and making their final approach to the holy site during the major festivals of Passover, Shavuot, or Sukkot. Now, a stunning new archaeological discovery has brought the physical reality of those ancient crowds into breathtaking focus. Following five seasons of intensive excavations at the Ophel archaeological site just south of the Temple Mount, a team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has uncovered a monumental, highly sophisticated complex of ancient ritual purification baths—known as mikvaot . And this find isn't just another scattered collection of stone basins. It is a masterclass in ancient engineering that directly illuminates what the final days of the Second Temple period ac...