They are presumably from a cave found as a workshop for these in the hills of Jerusalem. This type of cup was found in the burnt house of the Second temple period old city of Jerusalem. The priests were required at all times to be ritually pure and since stone vessels (unlike metal and pottery) cannot be defiled they preferred their use. Cups of this type were therefore manufactured in Jerusalem from local limestone.
This cup (like most of the others found) was still unfinished, indicating that work may have ceased because of the war against Rome.

A fascinating piece of handwork with chisel marks and a poignant reminder of the 2nd Temple.

Measurements: Height: 12 cm - Width: 14 cm

Condition: chipped handle and a hole in the base, untouch as found

Found in Jerusalem, Israel

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The material culture of the Second Temple period was marked by the appearance of a different type of stone vessel, made of chalk (A soft Limestone). The presence of these vessels mainly in characteristically Jewish areas, such as Jerusalem, Judea and Galilee, their absence generally from non-Jewish areas, and their sudden disappearance after the destruction of the Second Temple and the Bar-Kokhba Revolt suggest that the stone vessel industry during the Second Temple period was a distinct Jewish phenomenon connected with Jerusalem and the Temple, Jewish religious law, and the Jewish population

Measuring cups in various stages of working were found in all the workshops discovered so far ub quarries. Dozens of measuring cups that had been damaged while being worked, enabling us to reconstruct the production process. After the chunk of stone to be worked was detached from the rock, it was given the basic shape of the vessel with mallet and chisel. The next stage entailed hollowing out the vessel with mallet, gouge and a chisel. Judging from the finds, one can see that many vessels must have been damaged at this stage of the manufacturing process. Finally, the outer surface of the vessel was fashioned with a fine chisel, no effort being made to smooth the chisel marks on the sides of the vessels.

Vessels other than "Measuring Cups" made in this way include mainly square bowl with rounded corners and ledge-handles on the rim.