A large stone storage vessel used by Jews in the Galilee during the Roman period nearly 1,800 years ago is on display as part of an exhibition marking the Knesset building’s 60th anniversary.
The vessel, standing about 80-centimeters (31.5-inches) high and 50-centimeters (19.5-inches) in diameter, was recently unearthed at the Pundaka de Lavi (“Lavi Inn”) site, located in the Lavi Forest near the Golani Junction in the Lower Galilee, by the Israel Antiquities Authority and KKL-JNF.
Stone vessels were important in ancient Jewish society because, unlike pottery, they could not become ritually impure under Jewish law, according to excavation director Noam Zilberberg, who called these types of large vessels “quite rare.”
The exhibition, which opened on Monday during the Knesset’s annual Tu B’Shevat celebration, traces Jewish leadership institutions from the Great Assembly and Sanhedrin to the modern Israeli parliament. It includes artifacts from Jerusalem and Galilee sites, including a rare Hebrew inscription referencing the Sanhedrin, coins from the Jewish city of Sepphoris/Tzipori, and a 1,800-year-old basalt door decorated with a menorah from Tiberias.
The displays connect archaeological findings to the continuity of Jewish governance and democratic traditions, organizers said.
“The Knesset building marking 60 years is another link in a long chain of sovereign Jewish leadership, which was severed in exile and renewed with the establishment of the State of Israel,” Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said. “Two thousand years of Jewish life in exile did not extinguish the dream, which was realized with the establishment of the State of Israel.”
Heritage Minister Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu said the exhibit “bridges in a deeply moving manner our ancient past and our present of regained sovereignty. The unique archaeological findings testify to the depth of the Jewish people’s roots in their land and to the continuity of our heritage.”
He added, “I encourage all citizens of Israel to visit this fascinating exhibition and experience firsthand the deep connection between our glorious past and the living heritage that we continue to build in the State of Israel.”
