When you buy through links on our situation , we may earn an affiliate commissioning . Here ’s how it works .
archaeologist in Israel have unearthed a serial publication of stone room and object that were probably used for adoration and ritual exercise in the Kingdom of Judah 2,800 years ago , they say .
The discovery is the only known ritual structure from this period in Jerusalem and one of just a handful unearthed so far in Israel , according to astatement .
An illustration of the newly unearthed structure as it likely stood 2,800 years ago.
Among the downfall of eight rock - swing chambers , archaeologists find an oil press , a winepress , an altar and a great standing endocarp , or consecrated pillar , known as a " massebah " in the Hebrew Bible . These artefact go out back to the First Temple menses ( 1200 to 586 B.C. ) ofancient Israel , suggesting ritual and cultic practice took billet close to the First Temple — the first Jewish temple , built by King Solomon , in which to revere God , according to Jewish tradition — which stood just a few hundred yards away on Jerusalem ’s Temple Mount .
archeologist fall upon the structure on the easterly slope of the City of David , an archeologic site in East Jerusalem that is reckon to be the city ’s ancient resolution core . The northern part of the structure was already known , having been unearthed in 1909 by British army officer Montagu Parker , but the site then stood untouched for 100 age .
Related:‘Mind - blowing ' discovery bring out 5,000 - year - old cultic construction in Israel
Researchers noted the presence of three V-shaped grooves in room 5 of the structure.
The reason for this could be the effectuation of religious reform by the then King of Judah , Hezekiah , who search to egest ritual sites and concentrate religious worship at the First Temple , Shukron say .
" The most authoritative breakthrough was expose in elbow room 4 , comprise the stone massebah and the platform built around it , " the researchers wrote in the article . This way was " undoubtedly " used for adoration , the researchers said , and it ’s potential the room next to it , elbow room 5 , was also used for religious activities and potentially forfeit .
Room 5 has three V - mould grooves carve into the stone storey , as well as other shapes engrave on the floor and wall . The grooves are " singular and ambiguous , " and worshippers may have used them to vanquish grapes for wine-coloured and nuts for crude oil , according to the clause .
A reconstruction of the excavation site in the City of David from above.
— 2,700 - twelvemonth - old archaeologic web site in Jordan may be a biblical place visited by King David
— fosse that protect ancient Jerusalem ’s royal line discover near parking lot
— Evidence of Assyrians ' subjugation of Holy Land discovered in Jerusalem
" Another possibility is that the V - determine grooves were used for a loom , " the researchers noted in the clause — although Shukron thinks they may have obtain a tripod used for ritual practices , according to the command .
Close to the structure , archaeologist found a small cave filled with objects also dating to the eighth century B.C. — including cookery pots , jars with ancient Hebrew inscriptions , scarabaeus , loom weights , grinding stones and stamp seals .
Although the purpose of the cave remains unclear , its discovery supports the version of the site as a cultic complex , according to the clause . " This complex extend profound evidence for the diverseness of cultic practices in the capital of the Kingdom of Judah , " the researchers wrote .
