JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—The Times of Israel reports that excavations at Ein Hanya, which is located at the site of a spring in the Judean Hills, have uncovered a system of Byzantine-era pools, a column capital dating to the First Temple era, and a Greek coin dating to the fourth century B.C. Irina Zilberbod of the Israel Antiquities Authority said a pool surrounded by roofed colonnades had been placed at the foot of a church in the center of a complex of buildings. It may have been used for irrigation, washing, landscaping, or even Christian baptismal ceremonies, she explained. Coins, pottery, glass, roof tiles, and multicolored mosaic pieces dating to the Byzantine era were also recovered. Water from the pool drained through a network of channels into a fountain, or nymphaeum. The 2,400-year-old column discovered at the site suggests it may have once been home to a royal estate. The rare coin, a silver drachma, is one of the oldest found in the region. To read about another recent discovery in Israel, go to “Reading Invisible Messages.”