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,

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.

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.