[Avodah] Archeological Evidence of the obervance of Hilchos Tum'ah veTaharah

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

The Ancient Near East Today, published by ASOR (The American Schools of
Oriental Research) carried a story in the current issue (Feb 2017,
v4n2 by a Yonatan Adler. See
<http://asorblog.org/jewish-purity-practices-roman-judea-evidence-archaeology>

His topic s about finding hundred of miqva'os from the days of the
Chashmonaim through the Bar Kokhvah. Also, "The Early Roman period (63
BCE135 CE) witnessed a surge in the number of ritual baths throughout the
country, with the vast majority discovered to date (over seven hundred)
deriving from the period spanning from the first century BCE until the Bar
Kokhba revolt of 132-135 CE."

Pictures of various ancient miqva'os at that URL. I notice most are in
the south, in the area of Y-m ih"q and Lud. (The center of tannaim and
consequently amora'ei EY moved north right at the end of the period
in discussion.)

    Another important archaeological phenomenon that points to the
    observance of ritual purity regulations is the widespread use of
    chalkstone vessels. The practice is based on the conception that
    stone is a material impervious to ritual impurity. According to the
    Priestly Code, vessels may be rendered impure upon contact with
    certain sources of ritual impurity, however in some instances a
    distinction is drawn between vessels made of different materials:
    wood, cloth, leather and sackcloth are to be purified through
    immersion in water (Lev 11:32), while earthen vessels are to
    be broken (Lev 11:33, 15:12). Other materials singled out for
    purification through ablutions are gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin
    and lead (Num 31:2223). The status of vessels made of stone (such
    as grinding implements usually made of basalt or other hard rock)
    is nowhere apparent from these sources.

    Throughout the rabbinic literature, on the other hand, we find that
    the rabbis assumed that stone vessels cannot contract ritual impurity
    and, as such, never have any need for purification...

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where
micha at aishdas.org        you are,  or what you are doing,  that makes you
http://www.aishdas.org   happy or unhappy. It's what you think about.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                        - Dale Carnegie