Pilgrimage City

ZEV RADOVAN / BIBLELANDPICTURES.COM

A number of recent studies have examined Jerusalem as a pilgrimage city. One suggested identifying stepped ascents carved into the bedrock along routes leading to Jerusalem as roads built specifically for pilgrims, while another studied how ancient funerary monuments were intentionally built in places where they could be easily viewed by pilgrims approaching the city. Studies of discarded animal bones found in the city’s early Roman dump showed that a large quantity of sheep and goat were brought from desert areas to meet the sacrificial and feasting needs of Jerusalem’s pilgrims.

Similarly, scholars have argued that the abundance of deliberately perforated cooking pots found in the city may evidence the practice of ritually discarding vessels that were used by pilgrims during sacrificial meals. In addition, researchers found that most Herodian oil lamps excavated at Jewish sites in the Galilee and Golan were likely brought from Jerusalem, perhaps as pilgrimage souvenirs. Finally, the many large, open pools documented in and around Jerusalem suggest that special measures were taken both to supply drinking water and to meet the ritual bathing needs of thousands of pilgrims pouring into the holy city.