April 2013: In Jerusalem, Israel, archaeologists have uncovered a ritual pool [mikveh] from the Second Temple era near a highway construction site. The discovery came during excavations carried out in advance of paving the Ora-Masua’ah highway in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Kiryat Menachem. According to Israel Antiquities Authority excavation director Benyamin Storchan, “Numerous ritual baths have been excavated in Jerusalem in recent years, but the water supply system that we exposed in this excavation is unique and unusual.

The pool consists of an underground chamber entered by way of steps. The mikveh received the rainwater from three collecting basins (otzar) that were hewn on the roof of the bath, and the pure water was conveyed onside the chamber through channels. The pool, located in a picturesque valley with ancient agriculture, was uncovered a short distance from houses in the neighbourhood. It conforms to all the Jewish laws and the walls were treated with a special kind of plaster, Storchan stated.

The ritual baths usually consist of a closed cavity that was supplied with rainwater conveyed from a small rock-cut pool located nearby. The complex that was exposed at this site is a more sophisticated and intricate system, apparently associated with a settlement that was situated there in the Second Temple period. Due to the rainfall regime and arid conditions of the region, the inhabitants sought special techniques that would make it possible to store every drop of water. The Israel Antiquities Authority and the Moriah Company involved in the area’s development are “working to make this ancient treasure a site for the benefit of the residents and visitors,” according to the IAA.

The Roman-appointed king, who ruled Judaea from 37 to 4 BC, is known as much for his brutal tyranny as for his magnificent building projects.  Herod, who was born into a family from local regional tribes had converted to Judaism.

According to the Christian belief, Herod slaughtered infants in Bethlehem on hearing of the birth of Jesus. He was also believed to have killed three of his own sons and one of his wives, as well as many political foes. He was, in the words of first century historian Flavius Josephus, “equally cruel to everyone, a slave to his temper who distorted justice.” This ego, however, combined with rare organizational and political talents, was what pushed him to demonstrate his grandeur to both his Jewish subjects in Jerusalem and fellow rulers across the Roman empire, by building monumental palaces and renovating the Jewish Second Temple.

An new exhibition at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum sheds new light on the life and death of “Herod the Great”, the ancient king by focusing on his stunning archaeological legacy and whose empire sought to straddle imperial Rome and a flourishing Jewish culture. The exhibition is described by Israel Museum’s director James Snyder as the museum’s “most ambitious” archaeological undertaking and the first ever to focus on Herod.

It takes visitors on a journey that starts at the winter palace in Jericho and ends at Herodium, a hollowed-out hill near Bethlehem where he built a palace and fortress. The meticulous reconstruction showcases the height of Roman fashion and craft work from a stone bath and patterned floors to a set of jugs for holding the finest delicacies imported from Europe.

Among the 250 artifacts on display is a decorated cornice from Herod’s most grandiose undertaking: the expansion of the Second Temple. Three-dimensional video exhibits use aerial photography to show how Herod’s massive structures would have appeared today. In the Herodium, away from the religious centre of Jerusalem, one could feel free to enjoy exquisite wall paintings and frescos at his palace. These were replete with images of animals and people, which Judaism views as idolatrous. Behind a row of giant columns stands the centerpiece of the exhibition: a reconstruction of the king’s burial chamber at Herodium.

Herod’s greatness came from him retaining the delicate balance between the western and eastern cultures he represented, Snyder stated. “At the same time that Herod managed to have strong diplomatic ties to the home base (Rome), he enabled the flourishing here of a local culture which was Second Temple period Judaism.” “That delicate balance is really a remarkable thing to see in history, and Herod accomplished that.”

Roi Porat, a Hebrew University archaeologist who worked on the excavation of Herodium, stated Herod had tried to resolve the internal conflict of belonging to two opposing camps. “On the one hand, he wanted to be a Jewish king, and on the other, he wanted to be the King of Judaea for the Romans.” “He tried to win the sympathy of both sides by building a holy site of worship for the Jews and by building the largest temple for the Romans.” Everything about Herod was extreme, he stated: his diplomatic skills, his financial abilities and his ambitious construction projects, which included six desert palaces, the Temple and the port of Caesarea.

Hebrew University archaeologist Ehud Netzer spent four decades searching for Herod’s burial site on the mount, announcing he found the first evidence of its location in 2007. However, three years later, he fell to his death during an initial tour of the site. The museum has dedicated the exhibition entitled “Herod the Great – The King’s Final Journey” to Netzer’s memory.

January 2013: The Temple Institute moved a giant copper laver, or wash basin, to the new headquarters of its exhibit of Temple articles. The Temple Organizations HQ congratulated the Temple Institute for its new headquarters and wished its employees “to see their vessels being moved again soon, this time to their appointed place, the Temple…” A statement by the Temple Institute stated the basin, which is 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) tall and 2.8 meters (9.1 foot) in diameter is kosher for use in the Third Temple and can be used to purify 12 priests at once.

The new basin has advanced systems that make it possible to overcome certain problems in Jewish law, as was done at the time of the Second Temple. The laver, a large vessel which appears like a kettle, was the first vessel which the priests had contact with every day, for they had to sanctify their hands and feet with its waters before commencing any sacred task in the Holy Temple.

The original laver which was constructed for the desert tabernacle in Moses’ time included two spigots for releasing the water. In the era of the Second Temple, the High Priest Ben Katin fashioned 12 faucets for the laver, so that the entire shift who participate in the offering of the daily sacrifice may sanctify themselves at once.

The Midrash relates that the original laver was made from the contributions of the righteous women of Israel, who donated their shiny mirrors towards this cause. These mirrors, made of highly polished copper, were melted down and it was from these that the laver was created. This act of sacrifice and the fact that the women cared more about fulfilling G-d’s word than about their own appearance was precious in the eyes of G-d. He declared that the laver must be of copper throughout the ages, to invoke the merit of these righteous women.