January 15, 2013 - BiblePlaces.com

Copper Wash Basin Moved to Temple Exhibit

The Temple Institute moved a giant copper laver, or wash basin, to the new home of its exhibit of Temple articles on Monday. A statement by the Temple Institute said the basin, which is 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) tall and 2.8 meters (9.1 foot) in diameter is kosher for use in the Third Temple and can be used to purify 12 priests at once. The statement also said the new basin has advanced systems that make it possible to overcome certain problems in Jewish law, as was done at the time of the Second Temple.

See the full article for a photo. For more information about the background of the construction of the laver, see the website of the Temple Institute.

Tagged Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Antiquities Theft at Shiloh

Arutz-7 reports on the theft of a vessel from Shiloh discovered a week ago.

An ancient vase that provided evidence that Shilo was sacked by Philistines has been stolen from the Shilo site. Avital Sela, who manages the site, told Arutz Sheva that once the vase was discovered to have been stolen, a complaint was filed with police. Sela explained that the vase, which was dated precisely to the year in which the destruction of Shilo was assumed to have taken place, "connected all of the Biblical pieces into one puzzle."

The full story is here.

Tagged Excavations, Samaria