Jewish Quarter Overview

Hillel Geva
The remains of the Burnt House were revealed in 1970 by the late Professor Nahman Avigad in the course of the archaeological excavations conducted in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The excavations were carried out from 1969 to 1982 under the auspices of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Israel Exploration Society and the Israel Department of Antiquities (today, the Israel Antiquities Authority).

The site of the Burnt House (Area B) is located at the eastern edge of the Jewish Quarter, in a spot overlooking the Temple Mount. These are the remains of a private house from the Herodian period (1st century CE) that stood in the Upper City neighborhood of Jerusalem in the late Second Temple period. The house, which extends over a 200-sq.m.-area, includes several rooms, a kitchen and two miqwa’ot. The building was destroyed by intense fire. Its walls and wood-beamed ceilings collapsed in a conflagration, sealing an abundance of diverse objects in its rooms. Of great value in identifying the owner of the house is a stone weight inscribed “belonging to the son of Kathros”. This was a well known Jewish family of high priests (BT, Pesahim 57, 1) that served in the Jerusalem Temple during the Second Temple period. The finds provide vivid evidence of the total destruction of Jerusalem, including the Upper City, by the Roman legions in 70 CE, as described in detail by Flavius Josephus (Wars VI, 8–10).