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ZEV RADOVAN/BIBLELANDPICTURES.COM

STONE VESSELS, according to early Torah interpreters, were immune to ritual impurity. Dating to the Herodian period (37 B.C.E.–70 C.E.), these chalk containers from Jerusalem indicate that by this time Judeans were increasingly concerned with purity laws—among other aspects of Torah observance. Interestingly, there is no archaeological evidence for such stone vessels in Judea prior to the late second century B.C.E.