The original "Mahane Yehuda": Has the market of Jerusalem been discovered since the Second Temple period?

A rare object that was used to measure volume, about 2000 years ago, that was recently discovered in the City of David in Jerusalem, reinforces the belief that the city's Lower Second Square dating from the Second Temple period was used as a focus of the city's commercial activity

The original "Mahane Yehuda": Has the market of Jerusalem been discovered since the Second Temple period?

A rare object used to measure the volume of a 2000-year-old volume, which was recently discovered in excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the City of David National Park around the Jerusalem Walls, reinforces the belief that the city's Lower Town Square was discovered from the Second Temple period.

This is a part of a stone table that was used to determine uniform volume dimensions, which was discovered near a large cobblestone street on the stepped street that led pilgrims from the transport pool to the Temple Mount.

According to Prof. Ronnie Reich, who is researching the object, "In the fragment of the survey table that was discovered in the City of David, two of the deep etched sockets were left with each small socket at its bottom. The material into another tool, and thus determine the volume of the tool, according to the standard of the measuring table. In this way, traders could come and calibrate their measuring instruments according to a uniform standard. "

Reich adds that, "It is a rare tool. Other stone vessels were very popular in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period, but so far only two volumes have been discovered in the excavations - one was discovered in the Jewish Quarter excavations in the 1970s, and another was found. In excavations at Shuafat, north of Jerusalem. "

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The stone table was used to determine uniform volume dimensions. Part of the survey table (Photo: Kobi Harati, City of David Archives)

Table of excavations at City of David excavations (Photo: Kobi Harati, City of David Archives, Israel Antiquities Authority)

A cobblestone plaza was unveiled on the street that went up to the Temple on Monday. The High Street (Photo: Kobi Harati, City of David)

The graded street in the City of David, dating to the Second Temple period (Photo: Kobi Harati, City of David, Israel Antiquities Authority)

Was the Lower Town Square exposed?

According to archaeologist Ari Levy, of the excavation managers on the graded street, "Many stone weights were found in David's excavated streets and of different values. The weights found belonged to a type that was mostly typical of Jerusalem. The fact that weights were typical of the city indicates the uniqueness of Jerusalem's economy and commerce. Second Temple, possibly under the influence of the Temple. " The stone weights are made of a kind of square, and of different sizes, representing different values ​​of weight.

Reich says that more than 90 percent of the total stone weights of this type, numbering a few hundred in total, are in archeological excavations conducted in ancient Jerusalem during the Second Temple period: thus, they are unique and represent a distinctly Jerusalem phenomenon.

Antiquities Authority investigators Nachshon Zanton, Moran Hajbi, and Midad Shore, one of the excavators on the graded street, have in recent years uncovered a large cobblestone street that ascended to the Temple on Monday, suggesting that this plaza served as the lower town square where Jerusalem's trading activity took place.

The stone weights are of different sizes, representing different values ​​of weight. The bottom of the measuring table (Photo: Ari Levy, Israel Antiquities Authority)

The bottom of the survey table in the City of David excavations (Photo: Ari Levy, Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel Antiquities Authority)

"Many stone weights were discovered in the graded street excavations." Upper part of the measuring tool (Photo: Ari Levy, Israel Antiquities Authority)

Upper part of the surveying tool in the City of David excavations (Photo: Ari Levy, Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel Antiquities Authority)

The office of "Agarnos"

According to Ari Levy, "The volume standards table we found and the stone weights that were discovered nearby reinforce the assessment that there was a lot of commercial activity in place, and perhaps there is an indication of the existence of a market."

Prof. Reich adds that "this area of ​​the Second Temple Heaven may have been the office of the Commissioner of Measures and Weights of the City of Jerusalem - a position widely accepted in other cities throughout the Roman Empire and recognized by the Greek agarnos."

The top street in the city of David dating to the Second Temple period (Photo: Kobi Harati, City of David)

The graded street in the City of David, dating to the Second Temple period (Photo: Kobi Harati, City of David, Israel Antiquities Authority)

IAA archaeologist Helen Mechlin, with measuring tools against the background of the graded street (Photo: Kobi Harati, City of David)

IAA Archaeologist Helen Mechlin with the measuring tools against the background of the graded street in the City of David (Photo: Kobi Harati, City of David, Israel Antiquities Authority)