The Garden of Gethsemane at the gates of Jerusalem is considered to be the place where Jesus Christ was betrayed by Judas. Now archaeologists have discovered relics from the time of Christ there for the first time. During excavations they came across a Jewish ritual bath, among other things. Its existence provides a first indication that an olive grove was actually located at this point for the production of ritual oil.
According to the accounts of the New Testament, Gethsemane, at the gates of Jerusalem, is the place where Jesus said goodbye to his disciples and was betrayed by Judas. This slope across the Kidron Valley is said to have been a garden or an olive grove at the time. “Gethsemane is one of the most important holy places in Israel because this place is traditionally considered to be the place where Jesus prayed for the last time before he was delivered,” explains Francesco Patton, Franciscan Custodian for the Holy Land. “Millions of pilgrims visit this place every year.”
2000 year old Jewish ritual bath
The pilgrims’ destination is usually the Gethsemane Church, built between 1919 and 1924, which today stands at the foot of the Mount of Olives at the point where the biblical events are said to have taken place a good 2000 years ago. In order to make this site more attractive for tourists and pilgrims, a visitor center and a tunnel from the church into the Kidron Valley are to be built there in the future. During the construction, however, the workers came across ancient relics. Therefore a salvage excavation was immediately started under the direction of Amit Re’em and David Yeger from the Israel Antiquities Authority and with the assistance of scientists from the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum.
As part of these excavations, the archaeologists came across an underground cavern in December 2020, which, on closer examination, turned out to be the remains of an old Jewish ritual bath. According to the researchers, this bath used for religious cleansing dates from the time of the Second Temple and thus from the time in which Jesus is said to have lived. While relics from the time of the Crusades and the Byzantine era have been found in this area, this is the first find from 2000 years ago, according to archaeologists. “These excavations confirm the Christian traditions and traditions associated with this place,” says Patton.
Indicative of oil production in Gethsemane
As excavator Amit Re’em explains, the discovery of the ritual bath supports the assumption that olive oil was extracted for religious purposes in Gethsemane in the time of Jesus. “Most of the ritual baths from this period were found in private homes and public buildings, but some were found near agricultural facilities,” said Re’em. “Because according to Jewish regulations, the workers who were involved in the oil and wine production had to undergo a cleaning.” The ritual baths intended for this purpose were mostly not in a building, but were mostly in the open air – as was the case the Jewish ritual bath now discovered in Gethsemane.
“The discovery of this once outdoors ritual bath suggests that there was an agricultural production facility for oil or wine at this location 2000 years ago,” says Re’em. This could also explain the name Gethsemane, which is derived from Gat Shemanim – oil press or oil press. According to archaeologists, the discovery of this Jewish ritual bath supports the traditional assumption that oil was once produced for religious purposes on this hillside outside the city gates.
Ruins of a Byzantine church
In addition to the 2000-year-old ritual bath, the archaeologists also discovered the remains of a Byzantine church during their excavations in the Kidron Valley. The building, decorated with finely chiseled reliefs, was built according to the dates in the sixth century and used as a place of worship until the eighth century. This church was still in use even when Jerusalem was already under Islamic rule. The building was not destroyed until the 12th century, probably during the conquest of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. He is said to have ordered the destruction of the churches and other buildings on the Mount of Olives and to have used the stones to repair the city walls.
“The excavations at Gethsemane are an excellent example of the complex archeology of Jerusalem, in which different traditions and beliefs come together,” says Re’em. As he explains, the new finds are to be integrated into the visitor center currently under construction and thus also accessible to pilgrims and tourists.
Source: Friends of the Israel Antiquities Authority