IAA Details Intact Move of 25-Ton Second Temple Mikveh

The Israel Antiquities Authority said its Conservation Administration moved a roughly 2,000-year-old, 25-ton ritual bath intact from Carmei Gat in Kiryat Gat to storage at Beit Guvrin. Four conservators spent two weeks stabilizing the plastered structure with steel beams and foam before a 300-ton crane lifted it onto a wide-load vehicle. The Second Temple-period site also yielded stone measuring vessels and evidence of a Jewish settlement between the Judean Lowlands and northern Negev. The IAA plans to return the mikveh for display in a public space after neighborhood development is complete.