Israel discovers 2,000-year-old Jewish village with burial estate

JERUSALEM - Remains of a rural Jewish settlement from 2,000 years ago with luxurious burial ground were discovered in excavations in southern Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) reported on Wednesday.

A large winepress was discovered at the site with fragments of jars, a large columbarium cave for pigeons nesting, an olive press and a large ritual bath.

The burial estate has a corridor leading to a large rock-hewn courtyard surrounded by a bench.

The burial cave consisted of several rooms with long niches in which the bodies of the deceased were placed.

The IAA estimates that wealthy or important family members were buried there during the Hasmonean dynasty in the land of Israel.

The ground was used to bury several generations of families.

On the soil that covered the cave courtyard, large building stones were found, some of which were decorated in the architectural style of the Jewish Second Temple period.

Such rare stones were usually combined with luxurious buildings and burial grounds of ancient Jerusalem.