2,200-year-old bronze artifacts found at biblical site

An ornate Second Temple era bronze incense shovel and bronze jug are unearthed at the biblical site of Magdala, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the Israel Antiquities Authority announces Tuesday.

The 2,200-year-old artifacts are found in the town known traditionally by Christians as the birthplace of Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’s followers mentioned in the New Testament who witnessed his crucifixion and resurrection.

They are found resting on top of one another on a stone floor in a storeroom near the fishing village’s pier, and likely belonged to a local Jewish family, archaeologists say.

A 2,200-year-old bronze incense shovel found at Magdala after having been cleaned in the Israel Antiquities Authority metallurgical laboratories. (Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)

Ritual shovels were used in Jewish ritual practice for burning incense in the Temple in Jerusalem. They are depicted in contemporary Jewish iconography as one of the articles associated with the Temple.

— Ilan Ben Zion