Evidence found of 2,000-year-old siege of Jerusalem

Cistern found near Robinson's Arch contained an unprecedented discovery - three intact cooking pots and a small ceramic oil lamp.

Intact cooking pots, oil lamp that were hidden by starving Jews under siege by the Romans. Photo: Courtesy of Vladimir Niihin

The Antiquities Authority on Thursday unearthed for the first time a small 2,000-yearold cistern near the Western Wall that connects an archeological find with the famine that occurred during the Roman siege of Jerusalem during that era.
The cistern – found near Robinson's Arch in a drainage channel from the Shiloah Pool in the City of David – contained three intact cooking pots and a small ceramic oil lamp.

According to Eli Shukron, the excavations director for the Antiquities Authority, the discovery is unprecedented.
"The complete cooking pots and ceramic oil lamp indicate that the people went down into the cistern where they secretly ate the food that was contained in the pots, without anyone seeing them," he said. "This is consistent with the account provided by Josephus."
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Evidence-found-of-2000-year-old-siege-of-Jerusalem-318002