Burnt house

After the six-day war of 1967, the Jewish quarter came under Israeli control and appeared in ruin after 19 years of Jordanian rule.

The restoration of the quarter took place in parallel with major archaeological work in 1969-1982 under the auspices of the Department of Archeology of the Hebrew University and the Department of Antiquities of Israel, led by Dr. .

The house was discovered in December 1969 under a layer of ash and debris. Excavations continued from January 4 to February 20, 1970 . They showed that only a small part of the residential building was found, the rest is located under the existing and currently residential buildings of the Jewish quarter.

In the house, among other finds, coins were found issued in Judea in 67-69 years of our era, which corresponds to the time of the destruction of the house.

The ground floor area is 55 square meters, includes a courtyard, four rooms, a mikvah and a kitchen. The walls are preserved to a height of 1 meter. They are built of stone and mortar, covered with white stucco. Also found a lot of charred stone dishes, which suggests that the laws of ritual purity were observed in the house (stone dishes, according to Jewish tradition, always remain ritually clean). It can be assumed that a priest's family lived in the house.

A stone weight was found in stone piles. An inscription is written on it that speaks of its affiliation: “Property of the Catros”. According to the Jewish Talmud , the Katros family belonged to the clan ( priesthood ).

Among other things, fragments of glassware intended for the storage of incense were found in the excavations. It can be assumed that incense was made for the temple in the house.

This building is evidence of the destruction of Jerusalem . This can be understood by the stones, heavily burned by fire, by the remains of the burned tree and by a layer of ash and soot, which indicate destruction and fire during the capture of the upper city by the Romans.

The house is located in the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem at a depth of 6 meters below the level of Tiverez Yisrael Street and is part of the Will Archaeological Museum . According to the description of Josephus , it was a rich area of ​​Jerusalem. Due to its proximity to the Temple, the highest officials of the city and clergy lived here.

Currently, the house is a museum located on Karaim street in the Jewish quarter of the Old City. A 15-minute film is shown in the museum, which tells about the Cohen family, who allegedly lived in this house, and about their last days.

The museum and the exposition in it were designed and built by the architect , also known for planning reconstruction of Cardo Street in the Old City of Jerusalem .