The excavations inside the Old City of Jerusalem at Jaffa Gate have exposed a water canal, 40 meters long (44 yards) and 1.5 meters (5 feet) high of an upper Jerusalem waterway from the 2nd and 3rd centuries C.E.  The ancient precursor of today’s Old City road leading from Jaffa Gate to Mt. Zion was uncovered previously, precisely where an ancient and now-famous Mosaic map indicated it should be.

Dr. Ofer Sion, director of the archaeological works at the site, stated that the newly-uncovered section is part of a waterway that was once some 13 kilometers long, leading from Solomon’s Pools. At the end of the 19th century, the Land of Israel archaeologist and architect Dr. Conrad Schick (designer of the Meah She’arim neighborhood) described the location of part of the waterway. “His work gave some clues that led to this discovery.” During the course of the excavation the wall of the waterway was exposed when some of the large stones were removed revealing a perfectly-designed waterway, with a flat stone roof on top. People can walk inside it, bent-over, for a length of 40 meters.”

Originally, water was supplied to Jerusalem chiefly from the Gichon Spring. Just over 2,000 years ago, however, with the population of the city growing, a new source was sought. King Herod began work on large projects bringing water from the Hevron Mountains, using the power of gravity, to Solomon’s Pools just south of the city. From there, two waterways channelled water to the city: The upper channel brought water to the King’s palace, Hezekiah’s Pool and other areas in the higher levels of the city, while water on the lower waterway went to the Holy Temple on the Temple Mount and the lower areas. The now-revealed section is part of the upper channel. The excavations are being conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority as part of a “rescue” operation, customary in Israel before major construction work, prior to the replacement of underground infrastructures there.