Archaeologists excavating at Ostia Antica have discovered a Jewish ritual bath known as a mikveh.
Ostia Antica was an ancient harbour town situated at the mouth of the Tiber River. The harbour served as the main port for Rome, transporting goods and people from the coast along the Via Ostiensis.
Excavations funded by the Ministry of Culture through the General Directorate of Museum have uncovered a mikveh, a bath used for ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. The water used for bathing was naturally collected (bidei shamayim), sourced either from a spring, groundwater, or rainwater.
According to a press statement issued by the Ostia Antica Archaeological Park, the mikveh is located in a small semi-hypogeal room within a large residential complex that dates from the late 4th century AD.
The mikveh is accessed by a three-step staircase that leads to a base flooring made of bipedal bricks. At the eastern end of the floor, a circular well with a 1.08-metre diameter was constructed from cement and later reinforced with a brick ring.
At the bottom of the mikveh, archaeologists also found a small earthenware oil lamped engraved with a menorah and lulav (palm branch).
“This is an extraordinary discovery,” says Alessandro D’Alessio, Director of the Archaeological Park of Ancient Ostia, “since no Roman mikveh were previously known outside of ancient Judea, Galilee and Idumea, and it cannot but confirm the extent of the continuous presence, role and importance of the Jewish community in Ostia throughout the Imperial Age.”
Riccardo Di Segni, Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Rome, said: “The history of the Jews of Rome is enriched today by another, precious monument that testifies to their thousand-year-old settlement and the care in the observance of traditions: the discovered environment is also functional and elegant. A structure like the one discovered could not be isolated from the building complex in which it is located and it is probable that in good part, if not all, this was a Jewish aggregation centre.”
Header Image Credit : Ostia Antica Archaeological Park
Sources : Ostia Antica Archaeological Park
