MIGDAL, ISRAEL—A bronze incense shovel and a bronze jug were unearthed next to each other in a storehouse near a dock at the site of Magdala, a Jewish settlement located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The site is known for its ritual baths and a first-century synagogue decorated with mosaic floors. Carvings on the Magdala Stone, found in the synagogue’s main hall, depict the Second Temple of Jerusalem and a seven-branched menorah. The shovel also dates to the Second Temple period, and may have been used to rake or gather embers from incense burned in rituals or as a tool for daily tasks. “A similar incense shovel and a jug as those found here in Migdal were discovered by Yigael Yadin in a cache dating to the time of the Bar Kokhba uprising which was revealed in the Cave of the Letters in the Judean Desert. Incense shovels have also been found in the Galilee at Bethsaida, Taiyaba and in Wadi Hammam, and across the country, but all-in-all this is a very rare find,” archaeologist Arfan Najar said in a press release from the Israel Antiquities Authority. For more on archaeology in Israel, go to "Autumn of the Master Builder."
