The ancient road in the City of David, which was preserved under the ashes of the Roman sack of Jerusalem in 70 CE, was used by pilgrims to ascend from the Siloam Pool to the Second Temple, according to historical descriptions.

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According to research published on Tuesday in the Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, the more than 100 coins found beneath the ancient road prove it must have been completed between 31 and 40 CE, a period mostly covered by Pilate's governorship.

According to Dr. Donald Ariel, an archaeologist and coin expert with the Israel Antiquities Authority, "Dating using coins is very exact. As some coins have the year in which they were minted on them, what that means is that if a coin with a date on it is found beneath the street, the street had to be built in the same year or after that coin had been minted."

To further narrow things down, Ariel explained that "statistically, coins minted some 10 years later are the most common coins in Jerusalem," and that because these coins are not found under the road, "the street was built before their appearance, in other words only in the time of Pilate."

He suggested the possibility that Pilate had the street built to reduce tensions between the Romans and the Jewish population. Although "we can't know for sure," he said, "these reasons do find support in the historical documents."

Although the excavation of the road began over a century ago following its discovery in 1894 by British archaeologists, over the past six years Israeli archaeologists from the IAA and Tel Aviv University uncovered 350 meters (1,148 feet) of the road as well as artifacts such as coins, cooking pots, complete stone and clay tools, rare glass items, a dais (a raised platform used for public announcements), and parts of arrows and catapults.

At a dedication ceremony for the unveiling of a section of the road in June, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said the discoveries made at the site as a confirmation of Israeli sovereignty over the City of David.

Before hammering through the final bit of the wall covering the road at the ceremony, Friedman said: "Whether there was any doubt about the accuracy, the wisdom, the propriety of [US] President [Donald] Trump recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, I certainly think this lays all doubts to rest."

The City of David Foundation, which plans to open the road to the public, funded the excavation and restoration.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The presence of Jews in Morocco stretches back more than 2,000 years. Before the founding of Israel in 1948, estimates put their number as high as about 275,000, which was considered the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world, said Roy Mittelman, director of the Jewish studies program at The City College of New York.

Today, after vast waves of departures over the years, only about 2,000 Jews remain in Casablanca and about 500 elsewhere in Morocco, but the Jewish presence is still alive in a variety of sights. The Museum of Moroccan Judaism in suburban Casablanca, for instance, is the only museum on Judaism in the Arab world.

Jews of Moroccan descent, in Israel and around the globe, return to the North African kingdom often and some maintain second homes in familial regions. Jewish heritage tours to Morocco are abundant and easy to track down. Most cities have a mellah, which is an old Jewish quarter, along with Jewish cemeteries and synagogues.

Mittelman, who has spent 40 years absorbing the history, culture and religious practices of Jews in Morocco, leads groups of students on tours of Jewish sights as part of an advanced seminar. He said there's plenty to read ahead of a visit.

He recommends Shlomo Dessen's "The Mellah Society: Jewish Community Life in Sherifian Morocco" for more on pre-colonial Morocco, based on the writings of 18th- and 19th-century Judeo-Moroccan sages.

To learn more about the spiritual history of the Jewish quarter in Marrakech, he recommends the travelogue of Bulgarian Jewish writer Elias Canetti, "The Voices of Marrakesh: A Record of a Visit."

Mittelman has honed his travel itineraries over the years. Here are some of his favorites and other sights:

Casablanca

The last Moroccan Jewish day school, Neve Shalom, is in Casablanca, which is the economic and business center of the kingdom. Ask for Principal Jacky Sebbag. Watch the children playing outside in the yard, enjoy them singing Jewish songs and learn more about the school's Hebrew classes and Bible studies, Mittelman said.

Visit the Tahiti Beach Club, once a local Jewish hangout.

Among Mittelman's walking tours of Jewish residential areas in Casablanca are stops at the Beth El and Eim Habanim synagogues. There's also a newer synagogue, David Ha-Melech, in the tony, beachside Corniche quarter not far from the beach club.

Casablanca has a traditional kosher bakery and kosher restaurants, as do other cities.

Mittelman sings the praises of guide Dorith Benmoha of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. She's based in Casablanca and is considered an expert on all things Jewish in Morocco, especially the Casablanca community. Her email address is dorithbenmoha@hotmail.com.

Marrakech

Just over 100 Jews remain in Marrakech, including a handful who live in the old Jewish quarter, Mittelman said, but the mellah is bustling.

Among the synagogues that remain is the tiny blue-and-white Lazama, along a narrow street. Ask a local how to find it. Visitors may enter for a small fee. There's an inviting riad-style courtyard with a fruit tree and a few chairs for weary travelers.

The original synagogue dated to 1492 but it was later rebuilt. The synagogue's Torah scrolls were written on gazelle parchment, according to the synagogue's Muslim guide. Visitors can have a look at Lazama's mikveh, the traditional Jewish ritual bath down some winding stone steps.

The mellah isn't the only place for synagogues. Head to the city's newer section of Gueliz, with a heavy European influence, for Shabbat services at Temple Beth El Synagogue. Any taxi driver should know how to get there.

Two hours south of Marrakech is a little town called Anouim, where the mysterious rabbi and healer Wazana once lived.

For another day trip out of Marrakech visit the Jewish heritage sites at Essaouira, once a thriving Jewish center and a former Portuguese fishing town. It was also a stop for 1960s and '70s rock stars who made pilgrimages to Marrakech. The town, dating to the 1700s, has a synagogue, cemetery and mellah, with plaques indicating buildings where ancient, long-gone synagogues once stood.

A particular highlight for Mittelman is the Tomb of the Sainted Rabbi, Haim ben Diwan, just over an hour south of Marrakech. Jews still gather at the spot in the high Atlas Mountains in the village of Tagadirt n'Bour near Anrhaz for a traditional "hiloula" celebration of his life.

Mittelman leads groups up a hill for a picnic near the tomb.

"It's our little pilgrimage spot. You see mountains all around you and you hear wind going through the mountains. Sensually it's an incredible experience," he said.

Fez

The city had a large Jewish community in the 17th century and has a well-known Orthodox synagogue, Ibn Danan. Once crumbling, it was refurbished in the 1990s with help from the World Monuments Fund and American Express. King Mohammad VI has committed to reviving Jewish sites around Morocco.

The mellah here is a maze within walls. You WILL get lost and that's half the fun. It was the first mellah in Morocco, dating to around 1438.

In addition to a Jewish cemetery, where a couple of eminent medieval rabbis are buried, there's a site in Fez that is considered sacred among women, the Tomb of Solika. With a last name that varies, Solika – as one retelling goes – was a Jewish woman of great beauty who was beheaded in 1834 for refusing to convert to Islam.

Maimonides, one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars in the Middle Ages, lived in Fez from 1159 to 1165. His stone home, with weathered engraving marking the location, is worth a stop.

Walk a few steps and you're bound to find somebody willing to guide you in Fez and elsewhere, but one who knows "Jewish Morocco" is harder to come by, Mittelman said. His man with a van is Jalil Benlabili. His email address is ajalil197@yahoo.com..

Off the beaten path

If you favor this style of traveling, Mittelman said you should have no trouble in small towns and villages tracking Jewish influences and history.

"Find yourself the first 80-year-old and say, 'Do you remember Jews here?' Chances are they'll say, 'Yeah and here are their names and that crumbling house over there is where they used to live.'"

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