Friday, May 05, 2017

Four mikvaot excavated at Magdala

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Discoveries in Mary Magdalene’s Hometown. Four ritual baths unearthed in the Magdala excavations (Marek Dospěl). The bulk of this essay is on Mary Magdalene and her home town Magdala, which may or may not be the site called Magdala that is now being excavated. Be that as it may, the site has produced some wonderful things. Not least among these is the "Magdala Stone" on which more here and links. And follow the links there for stories on the site of Magdala in general.

The end of the BHD essay finally gets to its real news: the recent discovery of the four mikvaot (mikva'ot). To read more about them you need a subscription to Biblical Archaeology Review.

Some past PaleoJudaica posts involving ancient mikvaot in Israel are here, here, here, here, and links.