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Return to Zion and the Second Temple Period
  • Small stone found on the Pilgrimage Road, in the excavations of Professor Benyamin Mazar. On the stone is written
    Small stone found on the Pilgrimage Road, in the excavations of Professor Benyamin Mazar. On the stone is written "Korban" (sacrifice), above a drawing of two upside down birds. Collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority. © Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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  • Small stone found on the Pilgrimage Road, in the excavations of Professor Benyamin Mazar. On the stone is written
    Small stone found on the Pilgrimage Road, in the excavations of Professor Benyamin Mazar. On the stone is written "Korban" (sacrifice), above a drawing of two upside down birds. Collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority. © Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Return to Zion and the Second Temple Period

Two Birds for Sacrifice

In the picture: In excavations by Prof. Benjamin Mazar in the 1970s, a small engraved stone was discovered on the pilgrimage road near the Temple Mount. The stone bore the word korban (“sacrifice”), below which was an engraving of two upside-down birds. The stone was apparently associated with the purchase of two birds to sacrifice by pilgrims to the Temple Mount.