28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A Unique Structure Discovered in the City of David Ancient Jerusalem – The Only One of Its Kind

A unique structure was discovered on the eastern slope of the City of David, within the Walls of the Jerusalem National Park. This structure, unearthed by the Israel Antiquities Authority, has eight rock-carved chambers containing an altar, an obelisk (masseba), an oil press, and a wine press. The structure is the first of its kind in Jerusalem.

According to a recent article in the scientific journal “Atiqot,” this unusual structure, roughly 220 square meters, was used for ritual practices during the First Temple period.

The structure, excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority, dates to the 8th century BCE, dating to the First Temple period when the kings of Judah reigned.

The published article in ‘Atiqot proposes that the unique structure, comprising a series of eight rock-hewn rooms, was used for ritual purposes while the Temple still stood on the Temple Mount, just a few hundred meters away. It is the only known ritual structure from this period discovered in Jerusalem and one of the very few found in the land of Israel.

The structure, unearthed under the direction of archaeologist Eli Shukron, covers an area of approximately 220 square meters and contains eight rock-carved chambers, each with different installations: An oil press for producing oil, A winepress for making wine, a carved installation with a drainage channel, identified by researchers as an altar, and a large standing stone (masseba), next to which ritual activity was likely practiced. One room’s floor displayed mysterious V-shaped carving marks, the purpose of which remains unclear.

Mysterious carvings were discovered on the structure's floor. Credit: Kobi Harati / City of David
Mysterious carvings were discovered on the structure’s floor. Credit: Kobi Harati / City of David

 According to Eli Shukron, these carvings may have served as a base for a tripod—an installation with three legs used for ritual activities.

A cache of items from the eighth century BCE was discovered in a small cave carved on the structure’s edge. These items included cooking pots, jars with pieces of ancient Hebrew inscriptions, loom weights, scarabs, stamped seals with decorative motifs, and grinding stones for crushing grains.

According to the authors of the article from the Center for Research on Ancient Jerusalem, who were led by archaeologist Eli Shukron, who oversaw the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, the building was occupied until the middle of the time period when the Kings of Judah were in power, in the eighth century BCE.

The standing stone uncovered during the excavation: "The most significant and dramatic find revealed." Credit: Vladimir Naikhin, Israel Antiquities Authority.
The standing stone uncovered during the excavation: “The most significant and dramatic find revealed.” Credit: Vladimir Naikhin, Israel Antiquities Authority.

According to Shukron, the site fell out of use in the 8th century BCE, coinciding with the religious reforms of King Hezekiah. The Bible describes how Hezekiah centralized worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, eliminating scattered ritual sites across the kingdom.

The Bible describes how, during the First Temple period, additional ritual sites operated outside the Temple, and two kings of Judah—Hezekiah and Josiah—implemented reforms to eliminate these sites and concentrate worship at the Temple.”

“When we began excavating the City of David in 2010, we discovered that the site had been sealed with fill from the 8th century BCE, indicating it had fallen out of use during that time,” says Shukron. “The standing stone we uncovered remained upright in its original place, and the other rooms in the structure were also well-preserved.”

A scarab seal from the 8th century BCE uncovered during the excavation. Credit: Vladimir Naikhin, Israel Antiquities Authority.
A scarab seal from the 8th century BCE uncovered during the excavation. Credit: Vladimir Naikhin, Israel Antiquities Authority.

The northern portion of the structure was first discovered in 1909 by British explorer Montague Parker, who traveled to Jerusalem in pursuit of the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple treasures, even though the current excavation started in 2010. Over several excavation seasons, Shukron’s excavation proceeded.

According to Amichai Eliyahu, Israel’s Minister of Heritage: “This unique structure uncovered in the City of David is an exciting testimony to Jerusalem’s rich past. Such discoveries make our connection and historic roots – going back thousands of years – tangible, in Jerusalem and other sites where the Jewish culture and belief system emerged.”

Israel Antiquities Authority

Shukron, Eli; Freud, Liora; Roth, Helena; Avisar, Reli; and Bocher, Efrat (2024) “Evidence of Worship in the Rock-Cut Rooms on the Eastern Slope of the City of David, Jerusalem,” ‘Atiqot: Vol. 116, Article 5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70967/2948-040X.1126

Cover Image Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority- Kobi Harati, City of David.

Related Articles

Megalithic structure found in Kazakhstan was probably a place of worship for miners in the Bronze Age

2 September 2024

2 September 2024

Archaeologists investigating a megalithic monument in the Burabay district of the Akmola region of Kazakhstan have revealed that the monument...

Are the skeletons found in the restoration of the Bukoleon Palace the victims of the Crusader army massacre in Constantinople?

29 November 2021

29 November 2021

It is thought that the 7 skeletons messy found in the Bukoleon Palace excavations may be the victims of the...

Unprecedented 1800-year-old marble bathtub recovered in Turkey

23 April 2022

23 April 2022

The 1800-year-old marble bathtub, which was seized when it was about to be sold by historical artifact smugglers in Aydın’s...

Game Bone Stones from a Roman Military Strategy Game Found in Hadrianopolis Ancient City, Türkiye

10 January 2025

10 January 2025

During the excavations in Hadrianopolis Ancient City in Eskipazar district of Karabük, 2 bone game stones belonging to the military...

The Lion of Venice was Made in China: : Isotopic Analyses and Stylistic Comparisons Prove it

16 September 2024

16 September 2024

Recent scientific studies have revealed that the famous bronze-winged lion above one of the two columns in Piazzetta San Marco,...

Scottish Archaeologists unearth ‘missing’ Aberdeenshire monastery linked to first written Gaelic

19 November 2023

19 November 2023

One of the biggest mysteries in Scottish archaeological history has been solved with the discovery of the monastery site where...

One of the oldest known mosques in the world uncovered in Israel

23 June 2022

23 June 2022

A team of Israeli archaeologists has discovered what is one of the oldest known mosques in the world. Israeli archaeologists...

Assyrian Art at Getty Villa

22 June 2021

22 June 2021

The Getty Villa in Malibu, California’s arts complex is showcasing superbly-restored gypsum reliefs from the Assyrian Empire’s palaces for its...

The World’s Earliest Ground Stone Needles Found in Western Tibetan Plateau

26 June 2024

26 June 2024

In western Tibet, six peculiar stone artifacts were discovered in 2020 by archaeologists excavating close to the shore of Lake...

Archaeologists unearthed the earliest known evidence of body perforation in skeletons dating back 11,000 years at the Boncuklu Tarla in Türkiye

11 March 2024

11 March 2024

Archaeologists have unearthed the earliest known evidence of body perforation in skeletons dating back 11,000 years at the Boncuklu Tarla...

Ancient helmets, temple ruins found at a dig in Velia southern Italy

1 February 2022

1 February 2022

A discovery that “sheds new light on the history of the mighty Greek colony” by Velia. Archaeologists in southern Italy...

The place of Puduhepa’s hometown Lawazantiya will be illuminated with Tatarlı Höyük

9 November 2021

9 November 2021

Excavations at Tatarlı Höyük (mound) are trying to reach findings that will enable the determination of the location of Lawazantiya,...

Bronze Age women’s jewelry set discovered in Güttingen carrot field, Swiss

17 October 2023

17 October 2023

A set of Bronze Age women’s jewelry was discovered by archaeologists in Güttingen, Thurgau canton, northeastern Switzerland, in a freshly...

2,000-year-old unique luxury Roman villa with “underfloor heating” found in Germany

3 November 2022

3 November 2022

A luxury Roman villa with a thermal bath and underfloor heating has been unearthed in Kempten, Bavaria, one of the...

Oldest known alphabet unearthed in ancient Syrian city -500 years older than thought

22 November 2024

22 November 2024

Johns Hopkins University researchers uncovered evidence of the oldest alphabetic writing in human history. The writing was etched onto finger-length...