JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—A 1,900-year-old ritual bath, or mikveh (miqwe), has been discovered at Ha-Ela Junction south of Beit Shemesh as part of the project to widen Highway 38. “We exposed a miqwe in which there are five steps; the fifth step being a bench where one could sit at the edge of the immersion pool. We found fragments of magnificent pottery vessels there dating to the second century CE, among them lamps, red burnished vessels, a jug, and cooking pots. Apparently the miqwe ceased to be used during the second century CE, perhaps in light of the Bar Kokhba revolt,” excavation director Yoav Tsur announced in an Israel Antiquities Authority press release. The team found that the water collection vat for the bath was enlarged some 1,700 years ago and may have been used to collect drinking water. In addition, graffiti left by two soldiers of the Royal Australian Engineers was found on the cistern’s ceiling. They had left their names and serial numbers in 1940. “It seems that the two were members of the Australian Sixth Division which was stationed in the country at the time of the British Mandate and was undergoing training prior to being sent into combat in France. Because France surrendered before the troops were ready they were ultimately sent to Egypt in October 1940 where they fought at the front in the Western Desert,” said archaeologist Assaf Peretz. Both men survived the war. To read about the study of other World War II-era sites, see ARCHAEOLOGY's "The Archaeology of WWII."
