A ritual bath, or a miqwe, dating to the Second Temple period (the first century CE), has been discovered in an underground cave in the Arnona quarter of Jerusalem, Israel.

“The walls of the miqwe were treated with ancient plaster and were adorned with numerous wall paintings and inscriptions, written in mud, soot and incising,” said Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists Dr Royee Greenwald and Dr Alexander Wiegmann.

“Among the symbols that are drawn are a boat, palm trees and various plant species, and possibly a menorah.”

The inscriptions are Aramaic and written in cursive Hebrew script, which was customary at the end of the Second Temple period.

The scientists added: “there is no doubt that this is a very significant discovery such a concentration of inscriptions and symbols from the Second Temple period at one archaeological site, and in such a state of preservation, is rare and unique and most intriguing.”

At the moment, the meaning of the inscriptions remains a mystery. Some of them might indicate names. The symbols depicted on the walls are common elements in the visual arts of the Second Temple period.

“The drawing that might possibly be construed as a menorah is exceptional because in those days they abstained from portraying this sacred object which was located in the Temple,” Dr Greenwald and Dr Wiegmann said.

“On the one hand the symbols can be interpreted as secular, and on the other as symbols of religious significance and deep spirituality.”

The archaeologists have many questions still to be answered: “what is the relationship between the symbols and the inscriptions, and why, of all places, were they drawn in the ritual bath? Who is responsible for painting them? Was it one person or several people?”

“Was it someone who jokingly wanted to scribble graffiti, or perhaps what we have here is a desire to convey a deeply spiritual and religious message, perhaps even a cry for help as a result of a traumatic event (the destruction of the Temple and the catastrophic war of 66-70 CE)?”

The inscriptions and paintings were removed and are being conserved in the laboratories of the Israel Antiquities Authority because they are very sensitive and exposure to the air damages them.