According to “The
Jerusalem Post”, Israeli archeologists found a workshop not far from the ancient city
called Cana of Galilee, where large ceremonial vessels were made,
which were mentioned in the biblical story about turning water into wine.
According to
the Gospel of John, Christ performed one of His first miracles at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee. When the wine ran out at the wedding, Christ said
to bring “six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of
the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece”. For a long time, scientists
were not sure whether the Jews used such vessels in the 1st century or
not.
As it was found
out by the archeologists, such vessels were made of limestone, but not of
ceramics like all the other utensils.
“It seems that
the reason of using such a material was religious. According to the ancient
Jewish rule, the vessels made of ceramics could easily become impure. Thus,
they had to be destroyed”, - says Dr. Johnathan Adler, a lecturer from Ariel
University (Israel).
He says also
that limestone was not considered an impure material, and that is why it was
widely used. The scientists were surprised that the workshop was found in
Galilee. All similar objects, which were found earlier, took place mostly
in Jerusalem.
“Our excavation
proved the key role of observing the rituals by the Jews – not only in
Jerusalem, but even in Galilee, which is quite far from it”, - says the
archeologist.
Additionally, scientists found a cave, from which ancient workers extracted raw
materials for such vessels. Numerous instruments and machines were found inside
it.
Source: http://www.bogoslov.ru/text/5485100/index.html
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