A Roman-Period Jewish Peristyle House with a Miqweh at Caesarea Maritima

An example of a miqweh—the Jewish ritual bath—was uncovered in a Roman bathhouse located in the northwestern corner of a Roman villa of the peristyle type. This villa and its bathhouse, first built in the early first century CE, was dismantled early in the third century with the miqweh being maintained and even embellished. This fact indicates that wealthy Jews continued to flourish in the city even after the calamity caused by the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome (66–70 CE), in which the Jewish population of Caesarea took part.

Caesarea Maritima · Jewish Diaspora · Jewish ritual baths · peristyle houses · Roman period Judaism · Roman villas · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Biblical Studies and Interpretation