BEERSHEBA, ISRAEL—Archaeologist Daniel Varga of the Israel Antiquities Authority said an image of a nine-branched menorah has been found on a fragment of an oil lamp unearthed at a 2,000-year-old settlement in the Negev Desert, according to a report in The Times of Israel. Other artifacts suggestive of Jewish religious practice at the site, located on the southern edge of Judea, include ritual baths and stone vessels associated with purity laws. Olive and date pits, baking ovens, and underground chambers that may have been used for storage have also been unearthed. Nabataean pottery and pottery imported from the Greek islands and other Mediterranean locations suggest an overlap of cultures, added archaeologist Shira Bloch. To read about a major building project of Herod, king of Judea, go to “Autumn of the Master Builder.”
