Less than 15 miles from Rome, Ostia Antica was once a bustling cosmopolitan seaport at the mouth of the Tiber River, where many Mediterranean cultures mingled. For all its importance in Roman history,

The ruins of an ancient Jewish ritual bath have been found near Rome – the oldest such discovery outside of the biblical region of Israel and the surrounding area.

Archaeologists excavating Ostia Antica, the ancient port city of Rome, have unearthed what is now considered the oldest Jewish ritual bath (mikvah) outside the Middle East. Dating back over 1,500 years,

As they worked, the team uncovered a smaller rectangular room with a wide set of steps leading down to a well. Archaeologists identified it as an ancient Jewish ritual bath, known as a mikveh, dating back at least 1,400 years.