Israel Uncovers 984-Foot Aqueduct Near Jerusalem, Preserving 2,000-Year-Old Waterway
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Oct 15
Israel Uncovers 984-Foot Aqueduct Near Jerusalem, Preserving 2,000-Year-Old Waterway
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 15
Summary
A 984-foot section of a 2,000-year-old aqueduct was unearthed south of Kibbutz Ramat Rachel during excavations ahead of a residential project, the Israel Antiquities Authority said.
The Lower Aqueduct carried water about 21 km from Solomon's Pools near Bethlehem to Jerusalem's Second Temple complex, using a gravity-fed gradient of just 1 meter per kilometer.
IAA archaeologists said the system was probably built in the Hasmonean period, supplied water for ritual purification and cleaning after sacrifices, and stayed in intermittent use until about a century ago.
The authority plans to preserve the aqueduct and incorporate it into the development's main entrance, while a biblical scholar said the waterway likely also served people in Jesus' time.