{"id":2102,"date":"2020-12-30T14:38:11","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T19:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=2102"},"modified":"2020-12-30T14:41:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T19:41:16","slug":"ancient-ritual-bath-could-mark-new-testament-era-find-at-garden-of-gethsemane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2020\/12\/ancient-ritual-bath-could-mark-new-testament-era-find-at-garden-of-gethsemane.html","title":{"rendered":"Ancient Ritual Bath Could Mark New Testament-Era Find at Garden of Gethsemane"},"content":{"rendered":"

Archaeologists uncovered a rare find during a building project in the Garden of Gethsemane! Now, there is evidence from Second Temple times which links the area back to Jesus\u2019 day.<\/span><\/p>\n

We know from Scripture that the garden is at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. According to the four gospels of the New Testament, it is here where he prayed on the night he was betrayed. It was also here that He underwent great agony and was arrested the night before His crucifixion.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Custody of the Holy Land, which owns the site, started building a visitors\u2019 center and tunnel linked the church grounds with the Kidron Valley across the street,\u00a0<\/span>CBN News<\/span><\/em>\u00a0reports.<\/span><\/p>\n

As they uncovered the ancient ruins, the IAA stepped in to carry out a salvage excavation. This took place with the assistance of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum before the building started. When they did this, they discovered a much older site.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly in the middle of this underground passage the mountain collapsed and revealed [an] ancient and amazing find – the Jewish ritual bath known by the name, mikveh,\u201d said Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) archaeologist, Amit Re\u2019em.<\/span><\/p>\n

Re\u2019em also expressed the significance of the mikveh and its connection to the olives,\u00a0<\/span>CBN News<\/span><\/em>\u00a0reports.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to the Jewish law, when you are [making] wine or olive oil, you need to be purified. For the first time, we have archaeological evidence that something was here in the Second Temple period, the days of Jesus,\u201d Re\u2019em said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, these findings will be incorporated into the new visitors\u2019 center, according to\u00a0<\/span>CBN News<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to preserve the element, and we are excited to be able here in Gethsemane to find something that belonged to the time of Jesus,\u201d Father Eugenio Alliata, a professor at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum said.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the dig, archaeologists also uncovered the remains of a 1500-year-old church!<\/span>
\n