REINA, ISRAEL—Arutz Sheva reports that a second workshop where vessels were carved from chalkstone has been discovered in Lower Galilee. Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists say they have uncovered thousands of chalkstone cores and fragments of stone mugs and bowls in the small cave. Excavation director Yonatan Adler explained that according to ancient Jewish ritual law, vessels made of pottery are easily made impure and must be broken. Tableware made from stone vessels, however, was not thought to become ritually impure. The discovery of another chalkstone workshop in Galilee suggests that residents observed Jewish purity laws. The excavation could help scholars determine how long these laws continued to be observed among the Jews of Galilee during the Roman period. To read about another recent discovery in Israel, go to “Sun and Moon.”
