The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) recently undertook a complex engineering operation to conserve a Second Temple-era mikvah found during archaeological excavations in the Carmei Gat neighborhood of Kiryat Gat.
Financed by the Israel Lands Authority, the excavations were completed ahead of construction and development works slated to happen in Carmei Gat to preemptively protect the 2,000-year-old structure from harm.
Discovering the mikvah, as well as stone measuring vessels, provides direct evidence of the existence of a Jewish settlement in the area at the time. Stone vessels, which according to Jewish law do not become ritually impure, were widely used among Jews during the Second Temple period.
“The Jewish settlement we discovered here is the first and the only known one in this area,” explained IAA excavation directors Elena Kogan-Zahavi, Maayan Margulis and Shira Lifshitz. “In the Judean Lowlands, many Jewish settlements from the Roman period are known, but in the seam between the Judean Lowlands and the northern Negev, no Jewish settlement was known until now.”
Findings from the site indicate that the ancient settlement was likely abandoned by its Jewish inhabitants during the Bar Kokhba Revolt in the second century CE. The site was revived some 500 years later during the Byzantine period by an entirely different population.
Preparing the mikveh to be moved
As development work progressed, the IAA’s Conservation Administration was faced with a new, even more daunting task: how to temporarily transfer the mikveh, weighing 25 tons, from its current location to the Israel’s National Treasures Department.
Four members of the administration worked for two weeks straight to expose the mikveh in its entirety.
First, they dug around it to expose it on all sides. Then, careful drilling was carried out underneath the structure, and steel beams were then slid through to support the mikveh and allow it to be pulled from the ground.
The ancient plaster on the mikveh’s walls also required special treatment.
The IAA’s team gently covered it in gauze and adhesives to prevent vibrations from the ancient pool’s transportation from causing the plaster to peel off. The entire structure was reinforced with foam to allow it to safely withstand the lifting and the jolts along the journey.
But even after the mikveh was detached from the ground, the challenge was far from over.
Due to the distance between the crane's base and the mikveh, a crane with a lifting capacity of 300 tons was required to lift the 25-ton structure. The mikveh's unusual width, about 4 meters, also required the use of a wide-load transport vehicle.
Transporting the mikveh
Transporting the mikveh to the nearby Beit Guvrin storehouse became an operation in itself.
In order to transport the large, highly sensitive cargo, the road was closed to traffic, and escort vehicles drove in front of and behind the truck.
“Once you lift up a structure like this, there is no going back,” said Eyal Kaho, a senior conservator at the IAA who led the operation. “If it falls apart, we've lost the mikveh.”
“Therefore, every detail must be considered in advance. The day before an operation like this, you don't sleep. You're under pressure, because the responsibility is yours and there’s simply no price that can compensate for mistakes. Even after 36 years at the Israel Antiquities Authority, every time, the adrenaline rises anew.”
Once construction in Carmei Gat is completed, the mikveh will be returned to the site where it was found. It will be integrated into an open public space at the heart of the new neighborhood.
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit) noted that the discovery of the mikveh in Kiryat Gat adds an “important dimension to our understanding of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel during the Second Temple period.”
He explained that the IAA’s operation reflects Israel’s national commitment to preserving its heritage amid its rapid development.
“Its future incorporation into the neighborhood’s public space will enable residents and visitors to encounter tangible evidence of Jewish life from 2,000 years ago as part of their daily lives.”