DISCOVERY: Ancient Jewish private ritual bath is unearthed in Jerusalem's City of David

A private ritual bath, or "mikveh" in Hebrew, from the Second Temple period was recently found during an excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the City of David.

It was revealed north of the Pilgrimage Road and just 60 meters south of the Temple Mount. This discovery is in the excavation area alongside the trench that drains water from the Temple to the Kidron Valley. It is the second mikveh to be uncovered and the first private mikveh in this area.

The mikveh is about two meters deep and has five steps. It was uncovered beneath the remains of a house, with debris and a collapsed floor that fell into it during its destruction. In addition, stone vessels, a clear Jewish population marker, were discovered within the mikveh.

Public mikvehs were very common in the Second Temple period, especially in Jerusalem. Scholars concur that the high concentration of public mikvehs close to the Temple is evidence of the custom of cleansing in water before entering the Temple.

Public mikvehs were also found on the main roads heading to Jerusalem within a day’s walk distance from the city. This indicates that in some cases, pilgrims could be cleansed in water a day before entering the Temple.

Private mikvehs, on the other hand, were found only in sizable houses. Some private mikvehs were already found in Jerusalem, mainly on the Western Hill, where the nobility of Jerusalem lived, mostly from affluent priestly families.

The site called “the Herodian Quarter,” located in the Jewish Quarter in the Old City, is a complex of large houses of wealthy people. Numerous private mikvehs were found in those houses. Only rich people could afford to have private mikvehs and avoid bathing with the multitude in public mikvehs.

Maintaining a mikveh was a costly business, and it explains why only the wealthy could have them in their houses.

First, it needed a space in the house that ordinary people did not have. Then there are the laws of purity. For a mikveh to be kosher, the water must not be pumped from another source but rather be filled through a natural water flow.

In the city, the only way to fill a mikveh was by the same way that cisterns were filled: by collecting rainwater. In Israel, the summer is dry with no rain. Therefore, it was quite hard to keep the mikveh’s water clean. In the private mikvehs found in the Herodian Quarter, an additional reservoir of water called “otzar” was located above the mikveh, where they could save water in case the water in the mikveh became filthy. When that happened, they could empty the mikveh and refill it using the water of the otzar. This was the only way to change the water during summer and keep the mikveh kosher.

Mikvehs were used not only during pilgrimage but also in any situation requiring water-based purification. The most common use for women was after the end of their menstrual period or after childbirth. Public mikvehs have been available in cities since the Second Temple period. In contrast, during the First Temple period, mikvehs did not exist, and people did not practice water-based purification for ritual cleansing.

The custom of immersing yourself in purifying water still holds today, and mikvehs are available in every city where Jewish people live. In the modern state of Israel, the Ministry of Religion is responsible for maintaining all public mikvehs so that people can freely use them.

Second Temple period mikvehs are often characterized by two staircases, one going down and one going up. A railing was built between the staircases to separate the people stepping up after being purified in the water from those who went down to the water and were still unclean.

Public mikvehs are known at many Second Temple sites in Judea. The largest found are 4 times bigger than those in Jerusalem and were found in Tel Hebron and Qumran.

It is suggested that in Tel Hebron, the mikvehs were used, like in the Temple, for purifying before entering the Cave of the Patriarchs. Qumran is a unique story that does not resemble any other place in Judea.

Scholars suggest that the people of Qumran manifested a strict religious way of life that required them to immerse themselves in water several times a day to be pure when writing scrolls. Those are the Dead Sea Scrolls which were found in the caves nearby.

Understanding the importance of ritual baths during pilgrimage in the Second Temple period, we can examine the story of John the Baptist from a new perspective.

The gospel of Mark reads, “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:4-5).

The word “baptism” means “immersing in water” in Greek. Many Jews, who came to Jerusalem during the pilgrimage feasts, came from Galilee or the eastern side of the Jordan Valley. Those people had only a few bridges available to cross the Jordan River. One of the most important crossing points is the site known today as “Qasr el-Yahud.” This is believed to be the site where John the Baptist worked.

The Jordan River can function as a kosher mikveh since it is a stream of natural water that is not pumped.

John the Baptist called people to do what they already planned to do. Many of them used the water of the Jordan River to immerse themselves before arriving in Jerusalem. John exhorted them to repent while dipping in the water. This was not strange to their ears, as they were on their way to the Temple, and repentance was part of the sacrificial ceremony.

In this light, it can be understood why so many people responded to John’s call, as the gospel tells us. At that singular time in history, many Jews anticipated the appearance of the Messiah. And indeed, many of them truly repented, and their hearts were changed. They were ready to see the Son of God himself immersed in the water with them.