Archaeologists excavating in the City of David along the Stepped Street, a 2000-year-old Pilgrim’s Road connecting the Pool of Silaom with the Temple Mount, believe they have unearthed a marketplace. A rare “standard volume” table and numerous stone weights have been discovered, suggesting the area was a place where commodities were traded. The table features two cavities, each with a drain hole in the bottom, that would have been used for measuring liquids, such as olive oil or wine. Scholars have suggested the table would have been used by the agoranomos, who oversaw the weights and measures in the marketplace. This is only the third measuring table to be found in Israel, although others have been found throughout the Roman Empire. If the identification of the site as a marketplace is correct, this would indicate the area once served as a town square in the lower city where people could buy and sell various goods.
OFF-SITE LINKS:
- https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Second-Temple-era-marketplace-uncovered-in-Jerusalem-613272
