The kitchen from the Burnt House
Photo: BiblePlaces.com
The Burnt House in Jerusalem
In January 1970, Israeli archaeologists excavated the remains of a house in Jerusalem where a well-off Jewish family had lived before Jerusalem was destroyed by Roman soldiers in AD70. The house had an area of about ten metres (32 ft) square. Within this area, the archaeologists found a kitchen, work rooms, and a small ritual bath.
Lamps from the Burnt House
Photo: BiblePlaces.com
The archaeologists found large stone water jars, inkwells and other implements. The remains were buried under a layer of ash, and everything was covered with soot, indicating that the house had been burned down.
They found coins issued by the Roman governors of Judea, as well as those issued by the Jewish rebels in AD 67-69 - and none that were later than that, indicating that the house was burned down at the end of this time. They also found stone weights. In 'Discoveries from Bible Times', professor Alan Millard says:
On one of the stone weights is scratched the owner's name: Bar Kathros. In the Talmud that name is listed among the families of the High Priests who used their power to line their own pockets. The Bar Kathros family were attacked for misusing their pens, which may mean they spread false rumours or misinformation. Although someone may have carried this weight from another house to the place where it rested for 1900 years (it is only about 8 cm / 3 ins in diameter), the Bar Kathros family certainly had a house in Jerusalem, and this one is a good candidate.
For more about the Burnt House, see page 172-3 of 'Discoveries from Bible Times', by Professor Alan Millard