Tourism & History
February 18, 2010
The 1,800 Year Old High-Level Aqueduct of Jerusalem was Exposed Next to Jaffa Gate in the Old City
A beautiful aqueduct, standing 1.50 meters high and built of large stones, has been situated for almost two millennia right under one of the most familiar and traveled places in Jerusalem – beneath the road that leads from Jaffa Gate toward the David Citadel Museum and the shops on David Street.
The High-Level Aqueduct of Jerusalem, which dates from the second-third century CE, was exposed in excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is conducting, with funding provided by the Jerusalem Development Authority for the purpose of replacing the infrastructure in the region.
According to Dr. Ofer Sion, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “The side of the aqueduct was discovered during the course of the excavation. When we removed the stones in its side and peeked into it we saw a splendidly built aqueduct covered with stone slabs where one can walk crouched down for a distance of approximately 40 meters. It is very exciting to think that no one has set foot there for many hundreds of years”. According to Sion, “The noted Land of Israel scholar, Dr. Conrad Schick, described a specific section of the aqueduct in a survey he conducted at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1898 a building was erected in this area which afterward became what we know of today as the Imperial Hotel. Schick’s documentation provided us with the clue that led to exposing this section of the aqueduct”.
The aqueduct is c. 60 centimeters wide and 1.5 meters high. Shafts were exposed at fifteen meter intervals or so that allowed the ancients to check the state of the aqueduct from what was the surface level in those days.
Up until the end of the Second Temple period, in the first century BCE, Jerusalem’s water supply was derived from the Gihon Spring; however, as the number of residents steadily increased, the city’s water resources proved insufficient. The shortage of water was the principal factor that led to the construction of Jerusalem’s magnificent waterworks during Herod’s reign.
Gravity and very sophisticated engineering were employed to carry water to the city from springs located in the Hebron Hills, which were sufficiently high enough to convey the water by way of aqueducts to Jerusalem. The water was brought dozens of kilometers on its way to Jerusalem until it reached Solomon’s Pools and was distributed from there via two main aqueducts: the Low-Level Aqueduct and the High-Level Aqueduct. The High-Level Aqueduct conveyed water to the high part of the city where King Herod’s palace and Hezekiah’s Pool were situated, the latter being the main source of water for all those arriving in the city; and the Low-Level Aqueduct carried water to the Temple Mount and the Temple.
According to Dr. Sion, “For now, we can date the section of the aqueduct that was exposed to the second century CE, to the time of the pagan city Aelia Capitolina, which was built on the ruins of Jerusalem following the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 135 CE. Presumably, however, the aqueduct was first constructed in the days of Herod, as we know from other places along its route, particularly in the Bethlehem area. Archaeological research has shown that the total length of the aqueduct, which begins at Solomon’s Pools, is about 13 kilometers.
(Courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority)
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February 15, 2010
1,400 year-old Byzantine wine press uncovered
The press, unearthed during an excavation by the Israel Antiquities Authority, is one of the largest ever discovered in Israel.
One of the largest wine presses ever revealed in an archaeological excavation in the country, which was used to produce wine in the Late Byzantine period (6th-7th centuries CE), was recently exposed in excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority. The excavation was carried out in a region that will be the farmland of Ganei Tal, a new community slated to be built for the evacuees from Gush Katif.
The impressive wine press is 1,400 years old and measures 6.5 x 16.5 meters. It was discovered southwest of Kibbutz Hafetz-Haim and was partly damaged during the installation of the infrastructure there.
According to Uzi Ad, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "What we have here seems to be an industrial and crafts area of a settlement from the sixth-seventh century CE, which was situated in the middle of an agricultural region. The size of the wine press attests to the fact that the quantity of wine that was produced in it was exceptionally large, and was not meant for local consumption. Instead it was intended for export, probably to Egypt, which was a major export market at the time, or to Europe. An identical wine press was previously exposed north of Ashkelon, c. 20 kilometers from the wine press that was just found in Nahal Soreq and we can assume that the two installations were built by the same craftsman." Ad adds that "The wine press' collecting vats were neither circular nor square as was the custom, but octagonal. And since this method of construction is far from being practical because sediment would accumulate in the corners of the vats, it seems that they were built in this manner for primarily aesthetic reasons."
Ad says, "This is a complex wine press that reflects a very high level of technology for this period, which was acquired and improved on from generation to generation." The wine press originally measured 15.0 x 16.5 meters and included a central treading floor with a mosaic pavement where the grapes would be trod on. The must that was produced from the grapes would flow from the treading floor to a distributing vat that was originally elliptical and had a mosaic pavement. The must was directed by way of a hole from this vat to one of the two collecting vats located on either side. The must would remain in the collecting vats for a period of three to five days during which different ingredients were added to cause it to ferment and become wine. A round sump that was used for collecting the waste grape sediment was exposed in the middle of the mosaic pavement in the two collecting vats.
Rectangular surfaces were also discovered around the treading floor. These too were originally paved with a mosaic floor and were connected to the treading floor by way of a hole in the wall they shared with it. The grapes were probably placed on these surfaces before being trod on, and sometimes the initial fermentation process of the grapes would begin.
According to Mr. Eli Eskozido, head of the Nahal Soreq Regional Council, "The impressive wine press that was discovered is both beautiful and important and the Nahal Soreq Regional Council will act to conserve the site and open it up to the general public."
(Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority Spokesperson)
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February 10, 2010
Main Byzantine-era road in Jerusalem exposed
Archaeological excavation in the heart of the Old City confirms the description on the Madaba Map and reveals Jerusalem's main road from the Byzantine period for the first time.
The Madaba Map – an ancient mosaic map in a church in Jordan from the sixth-seventh century CE, which depicted the Land of Israel in the Byzantine period, explicitly showed: the entrance to Jerusalem from the west was via a very large gate that led to a single, central thoroughfare on that side of the city.
Various evidence of the important buildings in Jerusalem that appear on the map has been uncovered over the years or has survived to this day – for example the Church of the Holy Sepulcher – but the large bustling street from the period when Jerusalem became a Christian city has not been discovered until now. The reason for this is that no archaeological excavations took place in the region due to the inconvenience it would cause in stopping traffic in such a busy central location.
Now, because of the need for a thorough treatment of the infrastructure in the region, the Jerusalem Development Authority has initiated rehabilitation work and is renewing the infrastructure in this area in general, and next to the entrance to David Street (known to tourists as the stepped-street with the shops) in particular. Thus it is possible for both archaeologists and the public to catch a rare glimpse of what is going on beneath the flagstone pavement that is so familiar to us all.
From his knowledge of the Madaba Map, Dr. Ofer Sion, excavation director on behalf of the
Israel Antiquities Authority, surmised that the place where the infrastructure will be replaced is where a main road passes that is known from the map. “And indeed, after removing a number of archaeological strata, at a depth of c. 4.5 m below today’s street level, much to our excitement we discovered the large flagstones that paved the street”. The flagstones, more than a meter long, were found cracked from the burden of centuries. A foundation built of stone was unearthed alongside the street on which a sidewalk and a row of columns, which have not yet been revealed, were founded. According to Dr. Sion, “It is wonderful to see that David Street, which is teeming with so much life today, actually preserved the route of the noisy street from 1,500 years ago”.
During the Middle Ages a very large building that faced the street was constructed on the stone foundation of the Byzantine period. In a later phase, during the Mamluk period (thirteenth-fourteenth centuries CE) elongated rooms were built inside this structure, some of which are vaulted; these were apparently used as shops and storerooms. It turns out that beneath this building – right below the street that runs between David’s Citadel and David Street and leads to the Armenian Quarter – is an enormous cistern, 8 x 12 meters and 5 meters deep, which supplied water to its occupants.
The Madaba Map is an 8 x 16 meter mosaic map that was built in a church in Madaba, Jordan and described the Land of Israel through the intimate knowledge the mosaic’s builder had of the country. The map depicts schematically all of the Land of Israel, with an emphasis on the Christian sites in it. Among other things that appear on the map are many of the churches they began to erect at this time when the city underwent a religious change from paganism to Christianity. The churches can be identified by the red roofs that are portrayed on the map.
The artifacts that were discovered in the excavations include an abundance of pottery vessels and coins and five small square bronze weights that the shopkeepers used for weighing precious metals.
(Courtesy of the IAA Spokesperson)
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February 3, 2010
A WORLD OF EMPLOYMENT
THOUSANDS OF JOBS WILL BE ON OFFER AT THE TOURISM MINISTRY’S EMPLOYMENT FAIR THAT WILL TAKE PLACE ON TUESDAY, 2.9.10 AT IMTM
The Tourism Ministry is preparing for the anticipated recovery in incoming tourism this spring and in the coming years, as characterized by the high demand in both domestic and incoming tourism. The Tourism Ministry, together with all branches of the tourism industry, will hold an employment and training fair aimed at attracting new employees into the tourism industry, within the framework of IMTM, the International Mediterranean Tourism Market, to be held 9-10 February 2010.
About 2000 jobs from about 40 employers in the hotel and tourism industries will be on offer at the employment fair, which will take place on 9.2.10 from 15:30 – 19:00. In addition, there will be representation from colleges offering professional courses in tourism. Visitors can also visit the many exhibits at IMTM, which will take place in the Tel Aviv Exhibition Grounds, with the participation of exhibitors from Israel and overseas.
The Tourism Ministry will also hold an employment and networking fair at IMTM for tour guides on 10.2.10 from 16:00 – 19:00, in which work opportunities will be on offer for veteran and newly qualified tour guides, as well as those finishing their studies.
Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov: “In this period, with its marked recovery from the recession and slowdown that characterized the year 2008, there is much importance in developing and training people in the tourism industry, both in terms of one of the important growth and employment engines in the economy and given the ministry’s target of 4 million tourists in the year 2012 and 5 million in 2015. The employment fair will serve as the basis for recruiting new employees from around the country, including the periphery which the Israeli government has targeted for advancement.”
The tourism industry represents a significant leverage in increasing employment in the economy. In 2009, about 90,000 people were directly employed in the industry and hundreds of thousands more indirectly. The tourism industry’s contribution to the state coffers in 2009 stood at about 23 million shekel.
(Courtesy of Israel Ministry of Tourism)
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