An extensive and well-preserved complex of three Jewish ritual baths (mikvehs) was discovered at the foot of the Temple Mount. The Times of Israel reports that experts believe these baths were built around 10 C.E. for Jewish pilgrims visiting the Second Temple 2,000 years ago. Pilgrimage festivals during the Temple periods were a regular part of Jewish life, with thousands gathering for Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. Walkways, shops, water reservoirs, and additional baths discovered at the site support the theory that the complex was part of public infrastructure serving these pilgrims.
During peak seasons at the three pilgrimage festivals, it is likely that multiple people — perhaps even dozens — immersed in the water at the same time, Uzi Leibner (Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) said. A low dividing line down the middle of one of the staircases, identified by researchers, indicates that some form of traffic control was needed.
“People would go in on one side and come out on the other,” Leibner said. “People entered to achieve a state of ritual purity, and you wouldn’t want to touch someone who hadn’t immersed yet.”
Researchers are still working to piece together how the pilgrimage festivals — Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot — actually functioned during the First and Second Temple periods.
The complex measures about 3,000 square feet and contains four rooms, three of which house ritual baths. One remarkable feature of the mikvehs is the complex drainage system that carries water all the way down to the Kidron Valley. These drainage tunnels are about 6.5 feet high and can be toured on foot. One of the pools also retains its vaulted stone roof, which rises 13.7 feet above it. A fourth pool, with stairs descending from all four sides, was also discovered. Given its size, researchers believe it was used to purify vessels rather than people.
During peak pilgrimage seasons, these baths may have been used by multiple people at the same time. One of the staircases has a dividing line running down the middle, indicating that pilgrims may have entered on one side and exited on the other.
Bronze coins dating to the First Jewish-Roman War were also discovered in the complex. The dates on the coins indicate that they were minted during the same year the Second Temple was destroyed. Today, thousands of Jews continue to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem for Sukkot and Simchat Torah, carrying on a tradition with roots stretching back thousands of years.