CATALOGUE OF STEPPED POOLS Rick Bonnie The catalogue lists, describes, and provides rel- identification number that is used in the book. evant bibliography to all known stepped pools Where available, the number or locus given by in Galilee from the Hellenistic to Byzantine the excavators is placed in brackets. Each en- periods. It forms part of the dataset used in try starts with a brief description of the archi- the book Being Jewish in Galilee, 100–200 CE: An tectural structure, as well as the various dat- Archaeological Study (Brepols). The catalogue ing hypotheses and arguments available. This focuses mainly on the date during which the is followed by the method of investigation stepped pools were used as miqva’ot, or Jewish (M), the general dimensions (D), and the gen- ritual purification baths, though some basic eral type of archaeological context with which information on their design and archaeolog- the stepped pool is associated (C). Finally, ical context is provided as well. The stepped the proposed date of construction (Con.) and pools are listed according to archaeological when it fell out of use (Out.) as a miqveh is site from north to south and received a unique given. 1. Meroth (L90) conclusions can be drawn about the exact date The remains of stepped pool L90 are located of the stepped pool. in an arched room beneath the fifth century M excavation — C not available — D not avail- ce synagogue. No information is available on able the structure itself. It is part of a network of No date available eight known subterranean rooms, including Ilan and Damati 1984: 75; 1985: 67; 1987: 51– a nearby cistern, that are linked by a narrow 52; 1989; Aviam 2004b: 126; Amit and Adler opening. The rooms contained unstratified ce- 2010b: 131 n. 29; Adler 2011: 321 no. 2 ramic material generally dating from the first to fifteenth century ce. The network of sub- 2. Meroth terranean rooms has been interpreted as a se- Remains of a stepped pool are located north cret hideout complex, though it may also have of the synagogue complex. This pool is report- been used for storage purposes. edly larger than pool L90 [no. 1]. No further Ilan and Damati (1987) first dated the information is available on the structure or its stepped pool and cistern to the Early Roman context and date. Adler (2009; 2011) suggests period, when it was supposedly part of an in- that it may have stood in connection with dustrial area. By the Middle Roman period, nearby burials, but this association remains tunnels would have cut through these rock- unverified. cut installations to form an underground M excavation — C burial? — D not available complex, also indicating the time when the No date available stepped pool and cistern fell out of use. Later, Ilan and Damati 1987: 22–24; 1989; Adler Ilan and Damati (1989; also Adler 2011) sug- 2009: 59; 2011: 321 no. 3 gested cautiously that this stepped pool may have been part of the fifth century synagogue. 3. Sasa However, from the evidence presented, no The remains of a small, plastered stepped pool 1 Being Jewish in Galilee, 100–200 ce are located in the corner of a room that sup- have been discovered. Quarter turn steps with posedly is connected to the settlement’s late a landing provided access into the pool. The Roman to Byzantine synagogue. The stepped accumulated fill inside the pool was disturbed pool was hewn out of bedrock and consisted in modern times and, thus, is not suitable to of an elongated rectangular pool area with date this structure. Finds from a debris layer rounded corners that was accessed by three that had accumulated over the stepped pool, steps. Presumably based on its purported suggest that it was in use during Stratum II connection with the synagogue, Reich (2013) (50 bce–135 ce) or, at the latest, in Stratum dates this pool to the post-70 ce period. No III (135–250 ce). Moreover, only a very thin evidence for such a date is provided. Further- bedrock wall separated the stepped pool from more, Reich (2013: 276) mentions the exis- a cistern (C-3). Evidence of a small entrance tence of a second stepped pool at this site, but into the cistern from the east suggests that, no actual information on this pool is provided. at least in its latest phase, it served a non-wa- M excavation — C not available — D 1.8m × ter holding purpose. The excavators suggest- 1.1m × n.a. ed therefore that before the stepped pool and No date available cistern were filled up by debris, both instal- Amit and Adler 2010b: 131 n. 29; Adler 2011: lations were used either for storage or not at 321 no. 4; Reich 2013: 214, 276, fig. 257 all. This could have happened in Stratum III or very early in IV (250–363 ce), which means 4. Gush Halav (L105) that prior to the third century ce the stepped The remains of a stepped pool are found in the pool no longer functioned as miqveh. Foerst- corner of a room of a presumed house during er (1987) has questioned the stepped pool’s a small rescue excavation. The pool was dug function as miqveh altogether because of the into fill layers. The walls of the pool consist- low door height of its entrance (0.70 m). How- ed of roughly hewn stones and a layer of poor ever, the scale of the two section drawings on quality plaster. The pool had an L-shaped ac- which they base their calculation appears to cess from the east, after which five wide steps be a bit off when compared to photographs of led into the pool itself. Adler (2011) dates this the stepped pool’s entrance. In my opinion, stepped pool to the Early Roman period. Cook- the low door height does not immediately dis- ing vessels and jars dating to 90–320 ce, two prove its identification as miqveh. pared lamps and glass vessels from the late M excavation — C domestic — D not available first or early second centuries ce were found Con. 50–1 bce (?) — Out. 101–250 ce in the fill layers of the stepped pool. This sug- Meyers, Strange, and Meyers 1981: 41–44, gest that by the late first to early second cen- photos 26–27, figs. 3.9–11; Foerster 1987: turies ce the pool no longer functioned as a 267; Amit and Adler 2010b: 131 n. 29; Adler miqveh, and instead may have been reused as 2011: 321 no. 6 storage area. M excavation — C domestic? — D 1.8m × n.a. 6. Khirbet Shema‘ (L2029/L2030) × n.a. The remains of rock-cut stepped pool L2029/ Con. 63 bce (?) — Out. 76–125 ce L2030 are located in the northeast area be- Adler 2011: 321 no. 5; Hartal 2013 neath the later synagogue. The stepped pool consisted of at least four steps, accessed from 5. Meiron (C-5) the east. As it preceded the construction of The remains of stepped pool C-5 are found in the synagogue in that area, no information is the northwest corner of Room L in House MI, available on the context of the stepped pool. but predates the construction of this house. The fill (L2030) that accumulated inside this Probably it is associated with earlier housing stepped pool contained ceramics, mainly stor- in this area, of which only fragmentary remains age jars, dating to the Middle and Late Roman 2 Appendix B: Catalogue of Stepped Pools periods, as well as two Hasmonean coins from suggests that this stepped pool is associated the first half of the first century bce. Above with nearby burials, but it is unclear on which the stepped pool but still beneath the floor this association is based. The stepped pool level of the synagogue, the retrieved ceramics could be accessed through a larger, unroofed date almost completely to the Late Roman pe- feature that consisted, aside from the stepped riod. pool, out of two rooms. A rectangular north- The excavators date the stepped pool to ern room served as a forecourt of the stepped Stratum II (180–284 ce) based on the obser- pool. An opening in its west wall provides vation that it preceded the synagogue, but not entrance to a smaller room with low ceiling on the basis of the material recovered from (ca. 1m high). While essentially unproven, the it. Their dating remains problematic. First, excavators assume that this small room was the evidence of two Hasmonean coins found used for cleansing the hair before entering the in the fill of the pool, though small in quanti- miqveh. Further to the south of the forecourt ty, may suppose that this installation was al- lays apparently another room in which the ready earlier in use, either by the second half stepped pool is located. The plastered stepped of the first century bce or the first century pool itself consisted of five steps that were ac- ce. Second, the proposed of around 284 ce cessed by turning 180 degrees. for when the stepped pool would have fall- According to the excavators fourth-century en out of use is solely based on the assumed ce ceramics from the fill in the stepped pool chronology of the later synagogue. Loffreda date this structure to Stratum IV (306–419 (1981) points out that this 284 ce date used ce). One Hasmonean coin from this fill may for the synagogue chronology has nothing to hint, however, to an earlier construction date do with the archaeological evidence found at than the excavators suppose.