Water is life. Any civilisation from the Bible or anywhere needed to live. Archaeologists in Israel uncover an ancient aqueduct in Jerusalem, one used for 2000 years to supply water to the city residents. The archaeologists marvel at the engineering and design.
A segment of the Low-Level Aqueduct to Jerusalem has been exposed over the last few weeks in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Armon Hanatsiv.
The Low-Level Aqueduct winds along a route of about 15 miles from Solomons Pools located south of Bethlehem to the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem with a very slight gradient – descending by about one yard along every mile.
This amazing water system, started by the Hasmonean kings in order to increase the water supply to Jerusalem and in particular to the Temple Mount where Jews worshipped God, “astounds us until this very day, and due to the aqueducts ingenuity and quality, continued to be used until the British Mandate 100 years ago when the invention of electric pumps replaced it,” the researchers report.
“Two aqueducts brought water from Solomons` Pools, located between Bethlehem and Efrat to Jerusalem- the Low-Level Aqueduct and the High-Level Aqueduct,” says Ya`akov Billig Of the Israel Antiquities Authority, who has researched the ancient aqueducts to Jerusalem:
“It amazes us to think how they managed in antiquity to make the accurate measurements of elevation along such a long distance, choosing the route along the mountainous terrain and calculating the necessary gradient, all this without the modern sophisticated instruments we have today”.
Remind you of Iran’s water qanat?
Presently, segments of the Low-Level aqueduct are being revealed under Alkachi street in the Armon Hanatsiv, in an excavation directed by Alexander Wiegmann of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Following the excavation, conservation experts will do preservation work along the remains towards their exhibition in a park for visitors and the public.
