Roman Bathing Pool found in Jerusalem

The discovery of the remains of a bathing pool that may have belonged to a Roman bathhouse has been widely reported. I read about it first in the Jerusalem Post. The original announcement was made by the IAA (Israel Antiquities Authority). Here is a link to the pictures.

The dig is located in 10 Haomer Street in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, which is north of the Burnt House and east of the Broad Wall.

Location of the Roman Bathing Pool

The announcement of the discovery came at a time when I was preparing to add a reconstruction drawing of Aelia Capitolina to our new Image Library. It gave me the opportunity to add the newly discovered bath house to this drawing:

Reconstruction drawing of Aelia Capitolina (the name of Jerusalem in the Roman period) showing the location of the newly discovered bathhouse

The drawing illustrates the comments of Yuval Baruch, who noted:

the importance of the discovery, which sheds light on the study of post-destruction Jerusalem.

“Despite the very extensive archaeological excavations that were carried out in the Jewish Quarter, so far not even one building has been discovered there that belonged to the Roman legion,” he said.

“The absence of such a find led to the conclusion that Aelia Capitolina, the Roman city which was established after the destruction of Jerusalem, was small and limited in area.”

“The new find, together with other discoveries of recent years, shows that the city was considerably larger than what we previously estimated. Information about Aelia Capitolina is extremely valuable and can contribute greatly to research on Jerusalem because it was that city that determined the character and general appearance of ancient Jerusalem and as we know it today. The shape of the city has determined the outline of its walls and the location of the gates to this very day.

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