Remnants of a Revolt: What Did Israeli Archaeologists Find Hidden Under Second Temple Period Homes?

Ancient Origins

Some Israeli high school students have excavated a hiding place for Jews who rebelled against the Romans about 1,860 years ago in the town of Ramat Bet Shemesh. The complex includes cisterns, ritual baths attached to every home, and hidden rebel hideouts underneath the settlement.

 The Jewish people rose up against the occupying, overbearing Romans three times between 66 AD, two years after Rome conquered Judea, and 132 AD. The hideouts recently excavated were from the last uprising, called the Bar Kokhba Revolt. After the Romans put down this last uprising, they committed a terrible genocide against the Jews and banned their religion, Judaism.

 A press release from the Israel Antiquities Authority states that students from Boyer High School working with the Israel Antiquities Authority unearthed several archaeological features. The settlement dates to the Second Temple period. Sarah Hirshberg, Shua Kisilevitz, and Sarah Levevi-Eilat, excavation directors on behalf of the authority say in the press release:

“The settlement’s extraordinary significance lies in its imposing array of private ritual baths, which were incorporated in the residential buildings. Each household had its own ritual bath and a cistern. Some of the baths uncovered are simple and others are more complex and include an otzar, or collecting basin, into which the rainwater would drain. It is interesting to note that the local inhabitants adhered strictly to the rules regarding purity and impurity.”

Ritual baths that Jews used to cleanse themselves ritually and physically. (Assaf Peretz/Israel Antiquities Authority)

In the ground below the homes and the ritual baths, the students found a labyrinth of refuges dating to the 2nd century. They are connected to elaborate complexes. In some of the hideouts, it is believed the rebels breached cisterns to obtain water. One of the rock-hewn caves had intact ceramic jars and pots that the rebels may have used. The archaeologists believe the town was used after the razing of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

The press release also explains the importance of ritual baths, or mikvas:

“In antiquity, Judaism was already unique in its strict adherence to bodily cleanliness, as commanded in the Bible: “And bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean” (Leviticus 14:9). The act of bathing for purification purposes is also referred to in Hebrew as tvila, or ‘immersion’. The ritual bath is a water installation that is unique to the people of Israel. In order to fulfill their religious and spiritual purpose and cleanse a person of any impurities, the baths were installed according to Jewish religious rules. The bath has to be hewn in the bedrock or connected to the ground; it must be sealed so that its water will not seep out; and only rainwater or spring water must be used, as opposed to ‘drawn’ water.”

In addition to the settlement and hideouts, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced earlier it had found a roadway dating back 2,000 years in Ramat Bet Shemesh. The road was 6 meters (almost 20 feet) wide and went on for about 1.5 kilometers (4,921 feet).

The road, possibly built for Roman Emperor Hadrian, ran for about 1.5 kilometers and was about 6 meters wide. (Israel Antiquities Authority)

The road connected the town of Eleutheropolis (Bet Guvrin) and Jerusalem. Archaeologists think it was built when Roman Emperor Hadrian visited around 130 AD or right after the suppression of the Bar Kokhba uprising in the years 132 to 135. In the past, a milestone inscribed with the name Hadrian was found near the road. Archaeologists unearth huge entryway with frescoes and rebel tunnels in Herod's palace Immense 1,900-Year-Old Slab Found Underwater Names Forgotten Roman Ruler During Bloody Jewish Revolt

Several ancient coins were found between the paving rocks of the road, including a coin from the second year of the Great Revolt in 67 AD (an earlier revolt than the Bar Kokhba revolt); a coin of the Umayyad era; a coin bearing the name of Pontius Pilate from 29 AD; and a coin minted in Jerusalem in 41 AD bearing the name of Agrippa I. This is one of the first developed roads in Israel, the authority’s press release states. Earlier there were simply improvised trails there. The release says:

“However, during the Roman period, as a result of military and other campaigns, the national and international road network started to be developed in an unprecedented manner. The Roman government was well aware of the importance of the roads for the proper running of the empire.”

The Jewish people eventually recovered from the grievous losses of the final revolt, but they would face pogroms through their history and yet another terrible genocide in Europe during World War II.

Top image: An archaeologist collects material in an underground chamber that may have been a hideout for rebels during the Bar Kokhba Revolt of the 2nd century AD. Source: Assaf Peretz/Israel Antiquities Authority

 By Mark Miller

Who Said Ancient People Had it Tough? Luxury Homes and Underfloor Heating Were a Part of Life in the Roman Province of Britannia

Ancient Origins

Archaeologists have uncovered a fantastic Roman mosaic and evidence of good living over 1,500 years ago in Leicester city centre in a home with underfloor heating.

 The team from the University of Leicester is currently excavating a large site on the corner of Highcross Street and Vaughan Way, next to Leicester's John Lewis car park. The project, which has been running since November 2016, is uncovering exciting new evidence for Leicester's Roman past, including evidence for a Roman street, and a Roman house once floored with mosaic pavements.

The excavation is funded by Ingleby, who will be developing the site into apartments, and the team from University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) is working closely with the architects to minimise the impact of the new building on the underlying archaeology. Modern rubble and Victorian garden soil are being removed from the footprint of the proposed building to expose the medieval and Roman archaeology. This allows archaeologists to identify where the footings for the new building will have an adverse effect on important archaeological remains, which can then either be designed around, or excavated before they are destroyed, leaving most of the archaeology preserved intact beneath the new building.

The mosaic floor. ( Carl Vivian / University of Leicester )

The excavation covers nearly two-thirds of a Roman insula (city block), giving archaeologists an amazing opportunity to investigate life in the north-east quarter of the Roman town. So far, a Roman street and three Roman buildings have been identified.

Today, Highcross Street still follows the line of the main road leading from the Roman forum (beneath Jubilee Square) to the north gate, at the junction with Sanvey Gate. On this western side of the site a large Roman building has been uncovered. Two ranges of rooms flanked by a corridor or portico appear to surround a courtyard. At least one room had a hypocaust (underfloor heating), and it is likely that this is a large townhouse, reminiscent of the Vine Street courtyard house excavated nearby, beneath the John Lewis car park, in 2006

A hypocaust (Latin hypocaustum) in the Roman Baths, Bath, UK.

A hypocaust is an ancient Roman system of central heating. The word literally means "heat from below", from the Greek hypo meaning below or underneath, and kaiein, to burn or light a fire. (Ad Meskens/ CC BY SA 3.0 )

North of this building, running east to west across the northern edge of the site, close to All Saints' Church, a cambered gravel street has been recorded. Activity along this street appears to have been quiet during the Roman period. Roadside ditches and boundary walls have been identified, but no substantial buildings are present. Instead, activity seems to be more ephemeral in natured, gardens and yards, probably with some timber buildings. Evidence for copper working has been found in the area, perhaps suggesting commercial or industrial activity taking place along the street.

On the eastern side the site, close to the John Lewis car park, a second Roman house has been found. There is evidence for mosaic floors in at least three of its rooms, and one of the mosaic fragments, measuring some 2m by 3m (about a quarter of the original floor) is one of the largest pieces of mosaic pavement found in Leicester in the last 30 years.

Mathew Morris, site director for ULAS, said: "The mosaic is fantastic, it's been a long time since we've found a large, well-preserved mosaic in Leicester. Stylistically, we believe it dates to the early fourth century AD. It would have originally been in a square room in the house. It has a thick border of red tiles surrounding a central square of grey tiles. Picked out in red in the grey square are several decorations, including a geometric border, foliage and a central hexafoil cross. The intricate geometric border follows a pattern known as 'swastika-meander'. The swastika is an ancient symbol found in most world cultures, and it is a common geometrical motif in Roman mosaics, created by laying out the pattern on a repeating grid of 4 by 4 squares. As part of the project, our plan is to lift and conserve it for future display."

Detail of the swastika in the mosaic pavement. Credit: Carl Vivian/ University of Leicester

More curious, however, is a third small Roman building found in the centre of the site. It has a large sunken room or cellar, and it possibly has a small apse (semi-circular niche) attached to one side. Currently, the building has no obvious purpose, but sunken rooms are relatively unusual in the Roman period.

Archaeologists excavate a Roman sunken room, possibly part of a shrine or ornamental garden feature. Some of its walls still survive partially intact. Photo credit: Mathew Morris / University of Leicester

Mathew Morris added: "At the moment there is a lot of speculation about what this building might be. It could be a large hypocaust but we are still investigating. It seems to be tucked away in yards and gardens in the middle of the insula, giving it privacy away from the surrounding streets; and the possible apse is only really big enough to house something like a statue, which makes us wonder if it is something special like a shrine."

 Archaeologists will be onsite through February as they investigate the Highcross Street frontage. In the medieval period, the site was occupied by St Johns' Hospital, Leicester earliest hospital founded in the twelfth century, and the town goal, and it is hoped that evidence for both important medieval buildings will found.

A lion-head spout from a Roman Samian ware mortarium (mixing bowl), late 2nd century AD, found during the excavation. Photo credit: Mathew Morris / University of Leicester

Top Image: A reconstruction of what the Vine Street courtyard house might have looked like in the late 3rd century AD. It was discovered during excavations for the John Lewis car park in 2006. Source: Mike Codd

The article, originally titled 'Fantastic mosaic' and home with underfloor heating among new evidence discovered from Leicester's Roman past’ was originally published on Science Daily.

Source: University of Leicester. “Fantastic mosaic' and home with underfloor heating among new evidence discovered from Leicester's Roman past." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 February 2017.