Monumental Second Temple Ritual-Bath Complex Found Near Temple Mount

Archaeologists have uncovered a large ritual-purification complex at the foot of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem that researchers believe was used by Jewish pilgrims during the late Second Temple period.

The discovery was announced by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on September 24. The complex is located in the Ophel, immediately south of the Temple Mount, near the Triple Gate, one of the principal entrances to the ancient Temple complex.

The site includes three large ritual baths, or mikva’ot, a monumental plastered pool, a paved plaza and an extensive water system. Researchers date the complex to the late Second Temple period, with the main construction taking place in the early first century CE.

One of the ritual baths is preserved to its full height of about 4.2 meters, or 14 feet, including its stone-vaulted ceiling and the shaft that supplied it with water. The Hebrew University team described that level of preservation as exceptionally rare for a Second Temple-period structure in Jerusalem.

The central plastered pool measures approximately 12 by 9.5 meters, or about 39 by 31 feet, with steps descending into it from all four sides. The entire complex covers roughly 280 square meters, or about 3,000 square feet.

Researchers also found a large drainage system beneath the site, with channels preserved in some places to more than two meters in height. The system carried water toward the Kidron Valley and may have been supplied by a branch of the aqueduct that served the Temple area.

Evidence from the site points to its destruction in 70 CE, when Roman forces destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple. Dozens of coins from the First Jewish Revolt were found on the floors and in destruction debris. Archaeologists also uncovered an earlier public purification complex beneath the main structure, likely dating to the first century BCE.

The find follows five seasons of excavations led by Hebrew University archaeologists Uzi Leibner and Orit Peleg-Barkat in cooperation with the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology.

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Original source: Hebrew University of Jerusalem