A unique structure unearthed in Jerusalem’s ancient City of David was used for ritual practices during the time of the biblical First Temple, according to a report published Tuesday.
The site was uncovered 15 years ago on the eastern slopes of the City of David compound, just outside the walled Old City of Jerusalem and down the street from the Temple Mount. It includes eight rock-hewn rooms containing an altar, a standing stone, an oil press and a winepress, the Israel Antiquities Authority said.
Excavation director Eli Shukron wrote in an article published in the scientific journal ‘Atiqot that his team had recently determined that the structure was used for ritual purposes while the Temple stood just a few hundred meters away.
It is the only known ritual structure from this period discovered in Jerusalem and one of very few found in the land of Israel.
One room’s floor displayed mysterious carved V-shaped marks, the purpose of which remains unclear, the state-run archaeological body said.
Shukron believes that the uncovered 220 square meter structure was in use until the middle of the period when the kings of Judah ruled.
“When we began excavating, we discovered that the site had been sealed with fill from the 8th century BCE, indicating it had fallen out of use during that time,” said Shukron.
He added that this cessation may possibly have been part of King Hezekiah’s religious reforms. According to the Bible, Hezekiah sought to centralize worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, abolishing ritual sites scattered across the kingdom.
“This unique structure uncovered in the City of David is an exciting testimony to Jerusalem’s rich past,” said Israel’s Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu. “Such discoveries make our connection and historic roots—going back thousands of years—tangible, in Jerusalem and other sites where the Jewish culture and belief system emerged.”
