Common and Uncommon Jewish Purity Concerns in City and Village in Early Roman Palestine and the Flourishing of the Stone Vessel Industry: A Summary and Discussion

What is it about?

A stone vessel industry existed in early Roman Palestine (first century CE), and many of these utensils were either hand-carved or made on a lathe. The stone vessels were part of the tableware within Jewish households from different socio-economic levels of society in cities and villages. The vessels maintained purity, which fitted in with the general religious notion of that time that stone could not transmit impurity. This research indicates that stone vessels were not as "common" in Jewish settlements of that time, as has previously been thought. Some Jewish villagers immersed themselves in miqwa’ot for purification purposes, ignoring stone vessels. In the city of Jerusalem of the first century CE some stone vessels were regarded as status symbols. The purpose of the paper is to sum up the new archaeological data on the subject. It deals with manufacturing processes, chronological aspects, and with the possible symbolic and ideological value of these stone vessels regarding Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple. This paper also offers a refined chronological scheme for stone vessels (late first century BCE – mid-second century CE) in Judaea, and it incorporates hitherto unpublished data from the excavation of a quarry-cave manufacturing site at Tell el-Ful, as well as providing detailed information on the typological frequency of stone vessels from sites at Jerusalem, notably at Mount Zion.

Featured Image