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Excavation reveals ancient aqueduct in Jerusalem

16 Jun 2009
An archaeological excavation in Jerusalem has revealed an ancient
aqueduct that brought water to the Sultan's Pool and to the Temple Mount,
supplying clean water to the city's residents and visiting pilgrims.

(Communicated by the Israel Antiquities

Authority Spokesperson)
The Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered
the main aqueduct that conveyed water to
the Sultan's Pool during an excavation prior
to the construction of the Montefiore
Museum in Mishkenot Sha'ananim by the
Jerusalem Foundation. The ancient
aqueduct supplied pilgrims and residents
with water for drinking and purification.
Most Jerusalemites identify the Sultan's
Pool as a venue where large cultural Remains of the Ottoman aqueduct in
Jerusalem(Photo: Skyview Company,
events are held; however, for hundreds of
courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority)
years it was one of the city’s most important
water reservoirs.
In an archaeological excavation the Israel
Antiquities Authority recently conducted prior to the construction of the Montefiore
Museum, which the Jerusalem Foundation plans to build in Mishkenot Sha'ananim,
an aqueduct was uncovered that conveyed water to the Temple Mount and also
served as the principal water supply to the Sultan's Pool. The excavation, directed
by Gideon Solimany and Dr. Ron Beeri of the Israel Antiquities Authority, focused on
a section along the course of the low-level aqueduct, on the western side of Ben
Hinnoam Valley above the Derekh Hebron bridge.
According to Dr. Ron Beeri, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities

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Authority, "We are dealing with a very impressive aqueduct that reached a height of
three meters. Naturally, one of the first things Sultan Suleiman I hastened to do in
Jerusalem (along with the construction of the city wall as we know it today) was to
repair the aqueduct that was already there which supplied the large numbers of
pilgrims who arrived in Jerusalem with water for drinking and purification. Suleiman
attached a small tower to the aqueduct, inside of which a ceramic pipe was inserted.
The pipe diverted the aqueduct's water to the Sultan's Pool and the impressive sabil
(a Muslim public fountain for drinking water), which he built for the pilgrims who
crossed the Derekh Hebron bridge and is still preserved there today."

Close-up of the Ottoman aqueduct

(Photo: Skyview Company, courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority)

Dr. Beeri said, "It is evident that the location of the aqueduct was extremely
successful and efficient: we found four phases of different aqueducts that were
constructed in exactly the same spot, one, Byzantine, from the sixth-seventh
centuries CE and three that are Ottoman which were built beginning in the sixteenth
century CE. The last three encircle a large subterranean water reservoir that was
apparently built before the Ottoman period."
The low-level aqueduct is one of two ancient water conduits that originated at the
springs in the Hebron Highlands and at Solomon's Pools, and terminated in
Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. We can learn about the construction of the
aqueducts and the repairs that were carried out on them from various historical
sources which date from as early as the Second Temple period, as well as from later
sources. Different sections of the aqueduct's course were also exposed in
archaeological surveys and excavations that were conducted from the middle of the
nineteenth century until the present. Research has shown that the ancient aqueduct
was meant to supply high quality spring water to the Temple Mount, to Jerusalem's
residents and to the many pilgrims that have come to the city over the course of
generations. After the Great Revolt was suppressed and the temple was destroyed,
the aqueduct served the Tenth Legion and afterwards Aelia Capitolina, which was
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Roman Jerusalem. The aqueduct was also used during the period of Christian-
Byzantine rule and throughout the years when Muslims governed in Jerusalem.
According to Dr. Beeri, “We can see that from the time of the Second Temple until
the Byzantine period water flowed in an open channel that was covered with stone
slabs. In later phases, beginning in the Ottoman period, water was conveyed in
ceramic pipes which were installed inside the aqueduct”.
The low-level aqueduct is to be incorporated in the Montefiore Museum, which the
Jerusalem Foundation plans to build inside the pool, adjacent to the aqueduct.

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