Image Details

David Harris

A PRIVATE POOL. Another somewhat-oversized mikveh was discovered by archaeologist Benjamin Mazar during his excavations south of the Temple Mount. Although very well preserved, this pool is not as massive as the ones at Bethesda and Siloam. This mikveh may have been reserved for priestly use only, whereas the other two were large public mikva’ot built to accommodate Jerusalem’s throngs of pilgrims. The southeast corner of the Temple Mount rises at upper left in the photo, and the Mount of Olives can be seen in the distance.