The Discovery
An intact 2,000-year-old Jewish ritual bath, known as a mikveh, has been excavated in the Carmei Gat neighborhood of Kiryat Gat in southern Israel. The four-meter-wide structure weighs 25 metric tons and was uncovered intact beneath the ground during archaeological investigations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority. The salvage excavation project was funded by the Israel Land Authority at a cost of approximately 28 million shekels (around 8 million euros) ahead of planned neighborhood development.
What Scientists Found
The purified bath served as a central feature of a newly identified Jewish settlement dating back to the Second Temple period (515 B.C. – 70 CE). According to excavation directors Elena Kogan-Zahavi, Maayan Margulis, and Shira Lifshitz, this finding represents the first and only documented Jewish site in the border area between the Judean lowlands and the northern Negev.
In addition to the ritual bath, archaeologists uncovered other key artifacts and historical evidence from the settlement:
- Stone measuring vessels, which were widely used in Jewish tradition during the Second Temple period because they were regarded as immune to ritual impurity.
- Excavation data indicating that the settlement was abandoned during the Bar Kokhba revolt in the 2nd century CE.
- Signs of reoccupation roughly five centuries later during the Byzantine era, which featured a different demographic composition.
Why It Matters
The discovery alters historical understanding of ancient Jewish settlements in the region while demonstrating an extraordinary effort in modern artifact conservation. To save the structure without dismantling it, four conservators from the Israel Antiquities Authority prepared the site for about two weeks. Workers excavated the perimeter, drilled holes beneath the basin to insert supporting steel beams, and secured fragile wall plaster with gauze, adhesive tape, and protective foam.
A massive 300-metric-ton crane was required to lift the 25-ton mikveh from the site. Led by senior conservator Eyal Kaho, teams transported the bath along temporarily closed roads under escort to the Beit Guvrin storage facility. Once local construction work is complete, the ancient ritual bath is planned to return to Carmei Gat for installation in an open-air public park.
Source: ancient civilization archaeology discovery - BingNews · Published October 02, 2026 · Image via ancient civilization archaeology discovery - BingNews