Archaeologists Find Oldest Jewish Ritual Bath in America

Teresa Neumann : May 24, 2011
Frank D. Roylance - The Baltimore Sun

"It was a very busy place for this small community of German immigrants." -Esther Doyle Read

(Baltimore, MD)—Archaeologists have found what they believe to be the oldest Jewish ritual bath [mikvah] complex in the United States underneath the Lloyd Street Synagogue in Baltimore.

As reported in The Baltimore Sun, part of a 5-foot-deep wooden tub and the remains of a brick hearth once used to warm the bath's water, were unearthed.

No other mikvahs have reportedly been found at any older synagogue in the United States. (Photo: AP)

"The idea of a ritual bath complex helps fill out the history of Jewish religious practice in this country," said Avi Decter, executive director of the Jewish Museum of Maryland, of which the old Lloyd Street Synagogue is now a part. "This is a very ancient practice, going back thousands of years."

Esther Doyle Read, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, was quoted as saying mikvahs were a central part of Jewish life at the time, where men came for ritual purification before Friday prayers, women came for ritual cleansing after their monthly periods and converts were purified before entering the faith.