Ancient Second Temple Workshop Uncovered on Mount Scopus After Antiquities Raid

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – A large Second Temple–era stone workshop that supplied Jerusalem’s Jewish population some 2,000 years ago has been uncovered on the eastern slopes of Mount Scopus, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Monday.

The discovery was made accidentally as the IAA’s Theft Prevention Unit pursued a gang of suspected antiquities thieves at the Ras Tamim site. Inspectors had noticed fresh digging and signs of a break-in attempt at an underground cave and launched a covert surveillance operation, deploying ambush teams to apprehend the suspects.

Late one night, five alleged robbers were arrested—some inside the cave and others stationed above ground as lookouts. Authorities said the suspects were found with a generator, quarrying tools, and a metal detector. According to the IAA, the men later confessed and are expected to be indicted on charges of damaging an antiquities site and conducting illegal excavations, crimes punishable by up to five years in prison under Israeli law.

Following the arrests, archaeologists searched the cave and uncovered hundreds of chalk limestone vessel fragments, unfinished items, and production waste—clear evidence of a large-scale manufacturing workshop dating to the Second Temple period.

Dr. Eitan Klein, deputy director of the IAA’s Theft Prevention Unit, noted that similar workshops have previously been found in the Judean hills, including near the Naomi Shemer Tunnel and north of Jerusalem in Hizma. However, he said the Mount Scopus discovery is especially significant because it helps form a broader archaeological picture of the region.

In addition to production facilities, archaeologists have uncovered tombs, large water reservoirs, ritual purification baths (mikvahs), and limestone quarries in the surrounding area—indicating a thriving industrial and religious infrastructure tied to Jerusalem during the late Second Temple era.

According to the IAA, the Ras Tamim site likely stood along a primary ancient road used by Jewish pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem from the east, including from the Jordan Valley, Jericho, and communities near the Dead Sea. The stone vessels produced there were likely sold in Jerusalem’s markets to residents and pilgrims alike.

Archaeological evidence shows that the production and use of stone vessels was distinctive to the Jewish population during the later Second Temple period. Ancient sources describe what rabbinic literature calls “an outbreak of purity in Israel,” reflecting a widespread intensification of ritual purity practices beyond the priestly class.

Excavations across Jerusalem and Judea have revealed numerous mikvahs installed not only near the Temple but also in private homes, villages, and along pilgrimage routes—underscoring the central role of ritual purity in daily Jewish life at the time.

The IAA said the latest find both preserves an important chapter of Jerusalem’s ancient past and highlights the ongoing battle against antiquities looting, which threatens to erase irreplaceable historical evidence.

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