According to rabbinical sources, the ''kallal'' was a small stone

urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

kept in the

Tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...

and later in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem which contained the ashes of a red heifer. The Hebrew Bible does not mention any urn in the Numbers 19 account. ''Kallal'' is the

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

word for a stone vessel or pitcher. Alternatively, ''kallal'' is also used for large jars for washing.

Mishnah

The ''kalal'' is mentioned specifically in the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...

(

Parah Parah ( he, פָּרָה) is the name of a treatise in the Mishnah and the Tosefta, included in the order Tohorot. The Pentateuchal law (Num. ) decrees that a red heifer, "wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke," shall be burned an ...

3:3,

Eduyot Tractate Eduyot (Hebrew: עדויות, lit. "testimonies") is the seventh tractate in the order Nezikin of the Mishnah. When, after the destruction of the Temple, it became necessary, through the removal of R. Gamaliel II from the office of patriar ...

7:5), Hebrew Rabbinic writings describe vessels hidden under the direction of

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewi ...

seven years prior to the destruction of

Solomon's Temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by th ...

, because the dangers of Babylonian conquest were imminent. The vessels that were hidden included the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle fittings, the stone tablets of Moses, the altar (with cherubim) for the daily and seasonal sacrifices, the menorah (candelabra), the ''kallal'' and numerous vessels of the priests.

Dead Sea Scrolls

Mainstream scholarship does not recognise any mention of the ''kallal'' vessels in the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

. However

Vendyl Jones Vendyl Miller Jones (May 29, 1930 – December 27, 2010) was an American Noahide scholar who directed archaeological searches for biblical artifacts such as the Ark of the Covenant. Biography Vendyl was born in Sudan, Texas. He received his bach ...

of the Vendyl Jones Research Institute interpreted the Copper Scroll in the Archaeological Museum of Jordan to contain mention of sixty-four lost objects buried in the "Cave of the Column" mentioned in the Copper Scroll, including a ''kallal'' buried behind a pillar, which would be a reference to the ''kallal'' of ashes in the Mishnah.''Ready to rebuild: the imminent plan to rebuild the last days Temple'' Thomas Ice, Randall Price - 1992 "The Missing Urn - About a decade ago, Vendyl Jones, a onetime Baptist minister ... Jones has been digging in what he believes is the "Cave of the Column" mentioned in the Copper Scroll. Jones died without finding such an urn, and his findings and readings of the Copper Scroll have not been accepted.

References

{{reflist Tabernacle and Temples in Jerusalem Jewish mysticism Jewish ritual objects Containers