2,000-year-old Hasmonean aqueduct section uncovered in Jerusalem

*During the Ottoman period, approximately 500 years ago, ceramic pipes were installed inside the original channel. *

By Pesach Benson, TPS

A 300-meter section of Jerusalem’s 2,000-year-old Lower Aqueduct has been uncovered near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, offering new evidence of how ancient engineers supplied water to the city and how later generations maintained and adapted the system over centuries.

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery ahead of construction of a new neighborhood in southern Jerusalem.

The excavations were funded by the Israel Land Authority. The aqueduct carried water from Solomon’s Pools, south of Bethlehem, to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

“The Lower Aqueduct was an impressive engineering project, probably built in the time of the Hasmonean kings to supply water to Jerusalem,” said excavation directors Dr. Benyamin Storchan and Gil Freid.

The Hasmoneans ruled Judea from the second century BCE into the first century BCE, when Jerusalem was a major political and religious center.

Supplying the growing city with reliable water required careful planning and considerable engineering skill.

The aqueduct stretched approximately 21 kilometers from Solomon’s Pools to Jerusalem.

An aerial view of the Jerusalem Lower Aqueduct uncovered near Ramat Rachel. Photo by Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority/TPS-IL

It relied entirely on gravity, with engineers maintaining a gradual descent across the hilly terrain.

The channel dropped just one meter in elevation per kilometer, allowing water to flow without pumps or other mechanical equipment.

The system also included access points that enabled workers to clear blockages and maintain the flow of water.

“The system was so well planned that it remained in intermittent use until about 100 years ago,” Storchan and Freid said.

The newly uncovered section also shows how the aqueduct was modified over time.

Originally, water flowed through a built channel lined with plaster.

During the Ottoman period, approximately 500 years ago, ceramic pipes were installed inside the original channel.

Workers also plastered the aqueduct’s exterior and pressed small stones into the wet surface, creating a distinctive finish.

The modifications provide evidence of continued investment in the water system across successive periods of Jerusalem’s history, as people adapted the infrastructure to changing needs and technologies.

Dr. Amit Re’em, the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Jerusalem District Archaeologist, described the aqueduct as “an engineering marvel.”

“Even today, with all our modern technology, building such a system would require extensive planning and effort,” Re’em said.

“The thought that about 2,000 years ago they managed to bring water to Jerusalem this way is astonishing.”

Planners intend to incorporate the aqueduct into the main entrance of the new neighborhood and make the remains accessible to the public.

Re’em said the Israel Antiquities Authority hopes to develop a continuous park along the aqueduct, allowing visitors to walk beside it from southern Jerusalem toward the Old City.

The discovery and new research on the aqueduct are scheduled to be presented this week at the annual New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and Its Region conference.

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