by Yori Yalon
Infrastructure work in the capital's Umm Tuba neighborhood turns up section of 13-mile subterranean conduit built by Hasmonean kings to bring water to Jerusalem • Aqueduct was used off and on for two millennia, replaced by modern system 100 years ago.
The section of the ancient
conduit, which was the city's main source of water for two millennia
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Photo credit: Israel Antiquities Authority / Assaf Peretz |
A section of a subterranean aqueduct that
brought supplied water to the city of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago was
recently unearthed in the neighborhood of Umm Tuba during preparations
to lay a new sewer pipe.
Now that part of the aqueduct has been
uncovered, the Israel Antiquities Authority has set up an official
archeological excavation at the site.
Yaakov Billig, who is overseeing the dig for
the authority, noted that "the aqueduct, which was constructed over
2,000 years ago by the Hasmonean kings to bring water to Jerusalem, was
used on and off until about 100 years ago.
"The aqueduct begins in Ein Itam, near King
Solomon's Pool south of Bethlehem, and is about 21 kilometers [13 miles]
long. For most of its length, [the aqueduct] runs down a very slight
incline, with the water flowing down about one meter every kilometer.
When it was first built, the water flowed along an open conduit. About
500 years ago, during the Ottoman Empire, it was lined with clay so the
water would be better protected," Billig said.
The aqueduct originally ran through open
territory, but it now runs through a number of neighborhoods that have
been built as Jerusalem expanded in the modern era, including Umm Tuba,
Sur Baher, East Talpiot and Abu Tor.
According to Billig, "Since this was one of the main
sources of water for Jerusalem, the city's rulers throughout the ages
took care to preserve it and improve it for 2,000 years, until it was
replaced nearly a century ago by a modern system that is electrically
operated."
Yori Yalon
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=25667
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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