A rare 2,000 year old bath used for Jewish ritual bathing that may bare the scars of the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans has been discovered under the floorboards of a family home in the city.

The well-preserved miqwe – a ritual immersion bath used for cleansing before the Sabbath and holy days – helps to shed new light on the ancient community living in the area.

Archaeologists say the pool, which measured 11 feet (3.5m) long, 8 feet (2.4 metres) wide and almost 6 feet deep (1.8 metres), provides proof of the Jewish settlement in the 'Ein Kerem neighbourhood of Jerusalem during the first century AD.

A 2,000 year old miqwe bath has been discovered under a family living room in the 'Ein Kerem neighbourhood of Jerusalem. It has been hewn from the bare rock but had been carefully plastered, according to archaeologists. Tal Shimshoni, who discovered the bath beneath his living room, is shown above in the miqwe

They also discovered pottery dating to the same period in the bath and traces of a fire that they believe may be evidence of the destruction that occurred during the siege of Jerusalem in first Jewish Roman War.

The miqwe itself is hewn into the rock and had been meticulously plastered.

THE RUINS WHERE JESUS GREW UP Hewn into a hillside, a humble stone and mortar house in Nazareth has been identified by a scholar as the place where Jesus was raised. It has been dated to the early 1st century by a British archaeologist who says an ancient text points to the building as being the home in Nazareth where Mary and Joseph brought up the son of God. Professor Ken Dark says De Locis Sanctis, written in 670 by Irish monk Adomnan, described the house as located between two tombs and below a church. The text was based on a pilgrimage to Nazareth made by the Frankish bishop Arculf and tells of a church ‘where once there was the house in which the Lord was nourished in his infancy’. The house was cut into a limestone hillside and has a series of rooms and a stairway. One of the original doorways has survived, as has part of the original chalk floor. Advertisement

It was discovered when a family living in a house above it discovered it when renovating their home three years ago.

Unsure what to do with it, they built a pair of wooden trap doors and hid the entrance under a rug but later called archaeolgoists to investigate.

Amit Re'em, archaeologist for the Jerusalem District at the Israel Antiquities Authority, said: 'Such instances of finding antiquities beneath a private home can happen only in Israel and Jerusalem in particular.

'Beyond the excitement and the unusual story of the discovery of the miqwe, its exposure is of archaeological importance.

'Ein Kerem is considered a place sacred to Christianity in light of its identification with 'a city of Judah' – the place where according to the New Testament, John the Baptist was born and where his pregnant mother Elisabeth met with Mary, mother of Jesus.

Despite these identifications, the archaeological remains in 'Ein Kerem and the surrounding area, which are related to the time when these events transpired (the Second Temple period), are few and fragmented.

'The discovery of the ritual bath reinforces the hypothesis there was a Jewish settlement from the time of the Second Temple located in the region of what is today 'Ein Kerem.'

A ladder leads down from the living room above into the ancient Jewish bath. It has remained hidden until the family in the home above did some renovation work and discovered the rock miqwe

Tal Shimshoni and his family discovered the bath while renovating their home. Unsure what to do with it, they fitted a trapdoor and hid it beneath a rug for nearly three years before calling in archaeologists

The bath, shown above, was almost six feet deep, 11 feet long and eight feet wide. It would have been used as a ritual immersion bath to cleanse the body under Jewish law before the Sabbath and holy days

Fragments of pottery (shwon above) dating back 2,000 years were found in the miqwe bath.

Miqwes were used under Jewish law requiring the ritual purification and cleansing before holy days and the Sabbath.

They were also used for purification by women after childbirth and their period.

The water for a miqwe is also not supposed to be drawn by hand and they were often filled with water from a natural spring or river.

The miqwe shows some signs of damage in a fire, possibly during the seige of Jerusalem by the Romans. They say the discovery reinforces evidence there was a Jewish settlement located in the Ein Kerem area of Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period. The owner of the house is shown in the bath beneath his home

After discovering the miqwe during house rennovations, the owners did not know what to do with it and so covered it with a rug and some chairs for three years before calling in archaeologists

Tal Shimshoni, who owns the house and discovered the miqwe, said: 'Initially, we were uncertain regarding the importance of the find revealed below our house and we hesitated contacting the Israel Antiquities Authority because of the consequences we believed would be involved in doing so.

'At the same time, we had a strong feeling that what was situated beneath the floor of our house is a find of historical value and our sense of civic and public duty clinched it for us.

'We felt that this find deserves to be seen and properly documented.'