In an underground cave on the eastern slopes of Mount Scopus, a large stone tool workshop dating back some 2,000 years has been uncovered, alongside mikvahs, water reservoirs and quarries – a find that reinforces the site’s centrality on the ancient road east of Jerusalem. The site was discovered following a pursuit of antiquities thieves
A large stone tool workshop from the time of the Second Temple, which produced tools for Jews some 2,000 years ago, was uncovered in a cave on the eastern slopes of Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. This was during an inspection activity and the capture of a gang of antiquities robbers by the Robbery Prevention Unit at the Israel Antiquities Authority.
In the cave where the workshop operated, which was located underground, hundreds of fragments of stone tools, production waste, and unfinished tools were discovered.
The discovery of the workshop was made possible after the inspectors of the Robbery Prevention Unit at the Israel Antiquities Authority identified suspicious activity at the Ras Tamim antiquities site. Following the identification of fresh excavation signs and attempts to break into the underground, the inspectors began conducting ambushes and observations, with the aim of identifying the antiquities robbery squad and capturing it during the robbery.
After surveillance and documentation, five suspects in the antiquities robbery were arrested late at night at the site, in possession of extensive excavation equipment, including a generator, quarry tools, and a metal detector. Some of the suspects were caught underground, while others, who were acting as lookouts and guards, were caught above ground.
The suspects were arrested, interrogated, and confessed to the charges against them. They will soon be indicted for damage to an antiquities site and illegal excavation of an antiquities site – offenses for which the penalty prescribed by law is up to five years in prison.
After capturing the suspects, Israel Antiquities Authority inspectors searched the cave. To their amazement, they discovered hundreds of fragments of unique stone tools.
"Factories for the production of stone tools from the Second Temple period in the Land of Judea in archaeological research," says Dr. Eitan Klein, Deputy Director of the Robbery Prevention Unit at the Israel Antiquities Authority"In the Mount Scopus area, a workshop was discovered when the Naomi Shemer Tunnel was built between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim, and another workshop was uncovered in the village of Hizma. However, the discovery of the workshop now is particularly important, because a broad picture of the area is already emerging: in addition to the workshops, a host of other finds dating back to the days of the Second Temple were discovered – tombs, large water reservoirs, a purification bath and a limestone quarry. The discovery of the workshop reinforces the assessment that this was an important and central site located on the ancient main road that was used by pilgrims who came to Jerusalem from the east – from the Jericho area, across the Jordan and the Dead Sea. It seems that the vessels produced there were marketed in the streets of Jerusalem to the city’s residents and pilgrims during the Second Temple period.".
The production and use of stone tools was unique to the Jewish population in the Jerusalem and Judea area during the Second Temple period. Ancient sources describe a revolution in the field of purity and impurity during this period, in which there was widespread strictness in the laws of impurity and purity that affected every person – this is in contrast to earlier periods, in which purity mainly affected the priests and those who served in the sanctuary in the Temple service. Sage sources described this phenomenon with the expression "a breach of purity in Israel" (Tosefta, Shabbat, 1, 7). During this period, purification mikvahs began to be installed in private homes, in villages and towns in the countryside, alongside large purification mikvahs in the city of Jerusalem, near the Temple and along the roads leading up to Jerusalem.
The stone tools from the maker are now on display in the new exhibition "Criminal record" at the National Archaeological Center of Israel in Jerusalem. In the exhibition, the Israel Antiquities Authority is revealing to the public for the first time the world of antiquities robbery in Israel and the fight against it. The guided tour of the exhibition takes visitors behind the scenes of the war on antiquities robbery; through spectacular items that have been uprooted from their historical context in Israel and around the world, the chain of robbery is presented - from illegal excavation to the trade market, collecting and smuggling. The exhibition also reveals the activities of the "Antiquities Police" - the robbery prevention unit in the Israel Antiquities Authority, which operates day and night, in the field and in the interrogation rooms, to break the chain, protect the heritage sites and the historical story of all of us. Details on the Israel Antiquities Authority website
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One response
Very beautiful. Knowing our past is important, because it shows us where we have come and where we are capable of going. Both physically and spiritually – in connection with God, who commanded purity and the building of the Temple.