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Roman Bathhouse Discovered in Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced today the discovery of a second-century Roman bathhouse in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. The excavation was being conducted in advance of construction of a ritual bath (miqve). According to archaeologist Ofer Sion:

It seems that the bathhouse was used by these soldiers who were garrisoned there after suppressing the Bar Kokhba uprising in 135 CE, when the pagan city Aelia Capitolina was established. We know that the Tenth Legion’s camp was situated within the limits of what is today the Old City, probably in the region of the Armenian Quarter. This assumption is reinforced by the discovery of the bathhouse in the nearby Jewish Quarter which shows that the multitude of soldiers was spread out and that they were also active outside the camp, in other parts of the Old City.

Roman bathhouse in Jerusalem. Photo courtesy of IAA.

The discovery of a paw print on one of the roof tiles created some excitement:

Another interesting discovery that caused excitement during the excavation is the paw print of a dog that probably belonged to one of the soldiers. The paw print was impressed on the symbol of the legion on one of the roof tiles and it could have happened accidentally or have been intended as a joke.

Dog paw print in Roman tile. Photo courtesy of IAA.

Yuval Baruch, Jerusalem district archaeologist, explains the larger significance:

What we have here is a discovery that is important for the study of Jerusalem. Despite the very extensive archaeological excavations that were carried out in the Jewish Quarter, so far not even one building has been discovered there that belonged to the Roman legion. The absence of such a find led to the conclusion that Aelia Capitolina, the Roman city which was established after the destruction of Jerusalem, was small and limited in area. The new find, together with other discoveries of recent years, shows that the city was considerably larger than what we previously estimated. Information about Aelia Capitolina is extremely valuable and can contribute greatly to research on Jerusalem because it was that city that determined the character and general appearance of ancient Jerusalem and as we know it today. The shape of the city has determined the outline of its walls and the location of the gates to this very day.

The press release and three high-resolution photos (including the two photos above) are available at the Israel Antiquities Authority site (temporary link). The story is also reported by the Jerusalem Post, Arutz-7, and CNN.

UPDATE (11/23): The Jerusalem Post now features a 2.5 minute video of the discovery. Several new photos are posted at CBS News.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem

Weekend Roundup

Chris Harrison has several interesting graphics at “Visualizing the Bible,” including one entitled “Biblical Social Network (People and Places).”

I love the work of Biblical Backgrounds, Inc., and was excited to see their new website on a recent visit.

Raphael Golb was sentenced to six months in prison for his internet crimes related to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Robert Cargill has posted his response to the sentencing.

In a paper to be presented at SBL, James Davila has posted his SBL paper online: What Just Happened: The Rise of “Biblioblogging” in the First Decade of the Twenty-First Century.”

Ferrell Jenkins has posted an interesting quote about “Rachel’s Tomb” from the father of historical geography, Edward Robinson.

A documentary shot in 1969-70 linked at Leen Ritmeyer’s site has stunning aerial footage of Iran, including Persepolis and Susa.

PBS will be premiering “Quest for Solomon’s Mines” on November 23. You can watch a preview online. Luke Chandler wonders how the Khirbet Qeiyafa excavation will be treated.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Weekend Roundup

Scientists Drilling under Dead Sea

From Haaretz:

Drilling is to begin Wednesday half a kilometer into the bed of the Dead Sea to study hundreds of thousands of years of geological history, in the largest-scale scientific drilling ever carried out in Israel.
The material to be extracted will form a column only a few centimeters thick – but 500 meters long. Through it, scientists will be able to document the climate in the region to a precision level of within a few years, and learn about the earthquakes that shaped the landscape during this time.
The sponsor of the project, the International Continental Drilling Program, is a consortium of several countries that conducts two scientific drillings a year, and finally chose the Dead Sea area after repeated requests over recent years. Locally, the project is being supported by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the Tamar Regional Council.
The drilling, which is expected to cost approximately $2.5 million, is a regional project, implemented jointly with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, as well as with Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Japan and the United States.

The full story is here.

Dead Sea shoreline

Tagged Dead Sea, Technology

Calendar Give-Away

This week marks the first give-away from BiblePlaces.com. If all goes well, we hope to have about one a week through the end of the year. For this first one, we have a beautiful 2011 calendar produced by Lamb & Lion Ministries (previously described here). The calendar features our photos of gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. Three winners will be selected from those that enter by Sunday 5:00 pm.

Enter your name and email address below. After the drawing, only the winners will be contacted and all other names and email addresses will be deleted.

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Tagged Give-Away

National Geographic: Archaeological Views on David’s Kingdom

The cover story of the current issue (December 2010) of National Geographic is entitled “Kings of Controversy,” and it considers the archaeological debate over the kingdom of David and Solomon.

The story is interesting and well-written, and it gives a good presentation of the debate from a mainstream perspective.

On one side is Israel Finkelstein, somehow considered the “establishment, a Goliath fending off upstart assaults on his chronological order.” On the other side, those launching the “upstart assaults” are such novice scholars as Amihai Mazar, Thomas Levy, Eilat Mazar, and Yosef Garfinkel. The writer got his Davids and Goliaths mixed up, for it is actually Finkelstein’s theory which is the late-comer and the minority position among scholars today.

If you’re at all interested in what archaeologists are saying today about this contested issue, the article is worth your time. The photo gallery is viewable at a separate link.

Tagged Jerusalem, Shephelah

New Discoveries on Avenue of the Sphinxes

From Adnkronos Culture and Media:

Archaeologists in the southern temple city of Luxor have unearthed twelve new sphinx statues and a road from the reign of ancient Egyptian pharaoh Nectanebo I (380-362 BC), Egypt’s culture minister Farouk Hosny announced on Monday.
The sphinx statues are inscribed with Nectanebo I’s name and were found in the last sector of the Avenue of the Sphinxes, one of the most important archaeological and religious paths in Luxor, the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes.
The mythological creatures with human faces and reclining feline bodies were typically used to decorate the tombs of ancient Egyptian rulers.
The Avenue of the Sphinxes, built by Nectanebo I, runs from Luxor to nearby Karnak, where it connects to the temple of the goddess Mut. Karnak and contains a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, monumental gateways to temples, and other buildings.
The archaeologists discovered the new sphinxes at the end of the newly unearthed road of Nectanebo I, said Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The story continues here. A better photo is posted in this article.

HT: ANE-2

Avenue of Sphinxes, Luxor

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt