Archaeologists have discovered artifacts on Mount Zion—located near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem—stretching from the 8th century BCE to the period of Ottoman rule. Among other things, they have uncovered a housing complex they believe belonged to the family of the High Priest in the 1st century CE. It contains some familiar objects of Jewish life, including a ritual cup:
The cup . . . was found in four pieces within a fill layer containing 1st-century pottery fragments above a barrel-vaulted ceiling of a mikveh (ritual bath). . . . The inscription on the cup has not yet been completely and definitively translated, but study of the cup and the historical context of its finding suggest that it might have been a ritual-cleansing cup, used for the washing of hands before engaging in liturgical functions. [Excavation director Shimon] Gibson suggests [that] “the discovery of the cup in the area of the upper city of Jerusalem, in which priestly families are known to have resided . . . may hint at the original priestly function that this specific vessel had some 2,000 years ago.”
Read more on Popular Archaeology: http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/spring-2015/article/archaeologists-return-to-dig-key-area-near-temple-mount