Water reservoir from first temple period found in jerusalem

Jerusalem: A water reservoir dating back to years 1006 to 586 B.C., has been found in Jerusalem, Israeli archaeologists said. The reservoir may have been used by pilgrims coming to the Temple Mount.

The Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) has said that the cistern could have held 66,000 gallons (250 cubic metres) of water.

It likely dates back to the era of the First Temple, which, according to the Hebrew Bible, was constructed by King Solomon in the 10th century BC and then destroyed 400 years later, Livescience reported.

Israeli archaeologists believe the reservoir served the general public in the ancient city, but said its location hints at a role in the religious life of Jerusalem.

The Temple Mount is a trapezoid-shaped, walled-in area in the southeastern corner of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Excavation director Eli Shukron, with the IAA, said the reservoir also sheds new light on the extent of the public water system in Jerusalem hundreds of years ago.

“It is now absolutely clear that the Jerusalem’s water consumption during the First Temple period was not solely based on the output of the Gihon Spring, but that it also relied on public reservoirs,” Shukron said.

The Gihon Spring was the main source of water for the city.

The reservoir was exposed during excavations on a massive drainage channel dating to the Second Temple period, according to the IAA.

Archaeologists said they were able to estimate the age of the cistern based on signatures in its plaster treatment and its similarities with other First Temple reservoirs at sites such as Tel Be’er Sheva, Tel Arad and Tel Bet Shemesh.

The findings were presented at an annual conference on the City of David Studies of Ancient Jerusalem

“We found a huge water system that (was) built in the First Temple period. The water system was cutting in the bedrock, all the sides and the top of the water system was plastered with plaster that we know (is) from the First Temple period. And the size of this water system is huge,” excavation director Eli Shukron said. “This is a first time that we found (a) water system from the First Temple period in Jerusalem ever.”

The First Jewish Temple was built in 957 B.C.E, by King David’s son, King Solomon, and was destroyed during the Babylonian conquest in 586 B.C.E.
The reservoir has an approximate capacity of 250 cubic meters and was presumably used by the general public and for the needs of the temple, Shukron added.

The archaeologist explained that the current finding, as well as smaller cisterns that were revealed along the valley, show that Jerusalem’s water consumption in the First Temple period was not solely based on the output of the Gihon Spring water works as previously thought, but also on more “available” water resources.

Researchers know little about the ancient city in the First Jewish Temple period mainly due to 2,800 years of construction and human activity that erased most remains from that era.

According to an Israeli Antiquities Authority press release, the exposure of the impressive water reservoir joins a series of finds that were uncovered during recent excavations in this region of the city, suggesting the existence of a densely built-up quarter that extended across the area west of the Temple Mount. Those were later ruined and built over, as the temple’s platform was extended during the Second Temple period.
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