The Theft Prevention Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) recently discovered a stone vessel workshop in a cave on the eastern slope of Mount Scopus in Jerusalem while conducting surveillance on a gang of antiquities looters. Five suspects were arrested in and around the cave while in possession of excavation equipment and quarrying tools. Within the cave, archaeologists from the IAA recovered hundreds of stone vessel fragments and unfinished items. Rabbinic sources describe “an outbreak of purity in Israel” (Tosefta Shabbat 1:7) during the late Second Temple period. Stone vessels did not become ritually impure as pottery did; their use became prolific during this period.
Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/tailing-looters-archaeologists-find-2000-year-old-stone-vessel-factory-in-jerusalem/
See Dr. Scott Stripling’s Video about Ritual Purity Stoneware in the Days of Jesus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agO7_k2tgkc
Read more BREAKING NEWS articles here: https://biblearchaeology.org/current-events-list
