Second Temple Jerusalem: Artifacts in Ancient Drain Reveal City’s Rise and Fall

Intact oil lamps from the late Second Temple period. Photo Eliyahu Yanai, City of David.

A remarkable trove of ancient artifacts from the late Second Temple period, including an intact glass vial, grape seeds, 2,000-year-old eggshells, and complete ceramic lamps still bearing soot, has been unearthed in a new excavation of the drainage channel beneath Jerusalem’s main street during the Second Temple period. The news comes as Jews around the world observe Tisha B’Av (the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av), a 24-hour fast and day of mourning commemorating the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans 2,000 years ago.

Conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority with funding from the City of David, the dig offers unprecedented insights into the city’s dynamic urban life in the decades preceding the Temple’s destruction in 70 CE. In the framework of this excavation, the channel that was Jerusalem’s main subterranean artery is being exposed.

This channel passed under, amongst other facilities, the colorful markets of Jerusalem at the foot of the Temple Mount, and along the entire length of the City of David during the Second Temple period.

“The channel served as a repository for the discarded remnants of daily life above Jerusalem’s main street, perfectly preserved within its walls until the city’s destruction,” explained Dr. Ayala Zilberstein, Excavation Director for the Israel Antiquities Authority. “These small artifacts collectively paint a vivid picture of Jerusalem’s journey—from a bustling metropolis at its zenith to the city’s final, tragic decline during the Roman rebellion. The accumulation of silt within the channel, normally kept clear, suggests a gradual breakdown in city maintenance, mirroring the city’s own decline and ultimate downfall.”

In the upper layers of the alluvial soil the excavators discovered remains from the days of the city’s destruction, including complete pottery lamps that are dated to the end of the Second Temple period. The soot preserved on their rims remains as a sign of the fire that once burned inside them. Some years ago, several meters south of the place where the oil lamps were uncovered, a complete Roman sword still inside its leather scabbard was discovered, in an excavation led by Eli Shukron. The possibility is now being examined that, like the sword, the oil lamps were also held in the hands of the rebels who found a hiding place in this channel.

As the diggers dug ever deeper, they were further exposed to a multitude of finds that testify to Jerusalem’s splendor and wealth during the Second Temple period; the years during which the city hummed with never-ending activity. Already in the careful manual excavation executed by a skilled team, led by Nissim Mizrahi, complete vessels were found, including vials of perfume and expensive oils, mostly ceramic vials; and next to them, a delicate glass vial that was miraculously preserved almost without any damage.

In light of the archaeological potential inherent in the channel’s accumulated layers, all the bags of excavated dirt were saved, and then sent to the Sifting Project in Emek Zurim National Park. Along with extracting coins and colorful beads, the main contribution of the Sifting Project’s filtration work came from an unexpected direction, with the discoveries of food remains that helped researchers discover some of the secrets of the ancient Jewish kitchen: grape pips (seeds), kernels of grains, fish bones and even eggshells; all of which shed light on the menu of the Jerusalem’s residents when the city’s life was vibrant. The richness of the organic finds prompted a battery of diverse laboratory tests to detect remains not visible to the naked eye. Even in a preliminary examination conducted by Vitali Sterman and Dr. Yotam Asher from the Israel Antiquities Authority, it was possible to clearly discern the gap between those layers from the city’s fully-active life, to the more recently accumulated layers.