It's Not Just Another Brick in the Wall: The Ceramic Building Materials of Colonia Aelia Capitolina

Following the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Roman presence brought with it new ceramic building materials, including bricks, roof tiles, pipes, and tubuli, usually in relation to public buildings, particularly bathhouses. Among the most well-known are the tiles bearing stamps of the Tenth Roman Legion. In the Byzantine Period, such materials were stamped with private Greek names. A group of tiles uncovered in the Wilson's Arch excavations fill the chronological gap between the legionary production and the Byzantine period and display the name of Colonia Aelia Capitolina. These were made from a different ceramic 'recipe' than the legionary tiles, indicating they were produced in a separate workshop and implying a shift in the third century CE from military production (and ownership) of public buildings to municipal- initiated construction projects. These tiles support the theory that the original civic centre of Aelia Capitolina was located directly west of the Temple Mount.