Pilgrim Baths Found Below the Temple Mount: What John 11:55 Describes

In September 2026, Hebrew University archaeologists revealed a first-century purification complex at the foot of the Temple Mount: three public ritual baths, a large stepped pool, a vault still standing 4.2 metres high and a staircase divided down the middle. We read John 11:55, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and the Songs of Ascents alongside the find, and look honestly at what it can and cannot prove. In this video: • c. 10 CE: purification complex built at the foot of the stairs to the Triple Gate, dated by coins • 70 CE: complex destroyed when Rome took Jerusalem; dozens of revolt-era coins on the floors • Byzantine period: vaulted bath turned into a cistern, which helped preserve it • 24 Sep 2026: Hebrew University announces the find (Prof. Uzi Leibner and Prof. Orit Peleg-Barkat, with the Armstrong Institute) • Three public baths, a 12 x 9.5 m stepped pool, a 4.2 m vault and a divided staircase • John 11:55: many went up to Jerusalem before the Passover 'to purify themselves' • Deuteronomy 16:16: three pilgrim feasts, Passover, Weeks and Tabernacles • Psalms 120-134: the Songs of degrees (Ascents) If you could stand on one set of steps from the world of the Bible, which would you choose, and why? Sources: Times of Israel (24 Sep 2026); Jerusalem Post (24 Sep 2026); Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology (24 Sep 2026); JNS (25 Sep 2026); Ynet (28 Sep 2026); Jewish Virtual Library, 'Mikveh'; Bible quotations from the King James Version. Bible quotations are from the King James Version. The link between this complex and festival pilgrims is the excavators' interpretation; no evidence ties it to any named person. Reconstructions and illustrations are artistic, not photographs of the site. #BibleArchaeology #Jerusalem #GospelOfJohn