A dramatic discovery on the eastern slopes of Mount Scopus is shedding new light on Jerusalem during the days of the Second Temple. While conducting an undercover operation to apprehend antiquities thieves, inspectors from the Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered a large underground stone vessel production facility dating back some 2,000 years. Hundreds of stone vessel fragments, unfinished pieces, and production waste were found inside the cave, alongside evidence of extensive activity in the surrounding area—including water reservoirs, a limestone quarry, tombs, and a purification bath (mikve). What began as a criminal investigation has turned into a remarkable window into the spiritual and daily life of Jewish pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

Researchers say the workshop was strategically located along the main road used by Jewish worshipers traveling from Jericho, the Jordan Valley, and beyond to the Temple in Jerusalem. Stone vessels from this period are widely understood to have been uniquely associated with Jewish purity practices in the late Second Temple era. Archaeology continues to confirm what Scripture records: Jerusalem was not a mythic city but a thriving center of worship, pilgrimage, and covenant life. The discovery of yet another production facility reinforces the historical and spiritual centrality of the Temple and the devotion of those who ascended to it in obedience to the Law.

SOURCE: IAA