The trinket - loge - like item is thought to be around 2,000 years sure-enough , dating back to a time whenPilgrimage Roadwas the main street of Jerusalem . Its function is n’t bonk for certain , but it could well have been a case for displaying goodness that were on cut-rate sale , as it was find among other common market items like clayware , coin , and cookery tools .
At 30 by 30 cm ( 12 by 12 inch ) , it hold in nine adequate - sized compartments and shows possible sign of burning as its sides are blackened , which may have happened during the Great Jewish insurrection . The use of stone vessel is tied to Judaic law ( halacha ) as unlike Henry Clay and metal , it was trust that stone could n’t become impure from use , so these token were reuse over and over again across large expanses of time .
" It seems that the multi - compartment Harlan Fiske Stone box from the City of David was related to the unique Jerusalem economy conducted in the trace of the temple maintaining strict observance and in accordance with purity natural law . Therefore , we can consider this box a distinctlyJerusalem discovery , ” impart Baruch and Levy .
The box on display at the Israel Museum archaeology gallery.Image credit: Zohar Shemesh, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
What makes this limestone box really stand out is its commonwealth of conservation , being the only complete one bang to science after it was painstakingly pieced back together .
“ The box was found broken into pieces with parts missing , ” said Dudi Mevorah , senior conservator of the Archaeology Department at the Israel Museum , Jerusalem . “ The sherd were bring to Victor Uziel , conservationist from the Israel Museum Artifact Conservation Laboratory which specializes in treatment and renovation of artifacts instantly from the study . ”
A similar box observe 50 years ago brought about the nickname “ junky and seminal fluid bowl ” , coined passably in jest by archaeologist Nachman Avigad during excavation in the Jewish tail . The name has stuck , but question remain as to what exactly they were used for , entail we ca n’t rule out the possibility it was some kind of ancient waffle maker …
