wfn.org | New Archaeological Find Could Revolutionize Jerusalem History

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5-August-1998 
98245 
 
    New Archaeological Find Could Revolutionize 
     Jerusalem History 
 
    by Elaine Ruth Fletcher 
    Religion News Service 
 
JERUSALEM-New archaeological discoveries in the City of David area reveal 
that Jerusalem, a city revered as holy by Jews, Christians and Muslims, was 
first a major Canaanite fortress with a highly sophisticated water system 
at least 800 years before the biblical King David made it the capital of 
ancient Israel. 
 
    Archaeologists say the discovery is likely to revolutionize thinking 
about the history of Jerusalem, which traditionally was regarded as a minor 
hilltop outpost bereft of significant fortifications before David conquered 
the city around 1000 B.C. 
 
    It also may disappoint Jewish settlers who are reportedly planning to 
build a visitor's center to illustrate the early Jewish history of 
Jerusalem above the Canaanite archaeological sites now under excavation. 
Over the past six years, the settlers have moved into homes in the adjacent 
Arab neighborhood of Silwan, claiming the City of David area is of rich 
Jewish significance. 
 
    "In effect, they'll have to show tourists the massive Canaanite water 
works from Jerusalem of that period - at least that's what came out of the 
excavations," Gideon Avny, chief Jerusalem district archaeologist of the 
Israel Antiquities, said in an interview July 22. 
 
    The City of David lies south of the present-day Old City walls and 
Temple Mount.  It is believed by archaeologists and religious historians 
alike to have been the place where David built the first Israelite capital 
some 3,000 years ago.  In contrast, the excavated areas of the Old City and 
Temple Mount, which are popular tourist sites, date back 2,600 years, at 
most, and are predominantly ruins from the era of Greek and Roman rule in 
Palestine, before and after the birth of Jesus. 
 
    Archaeologists looking for clues to the earliest Israelite presence in 
the city have spent the last several years intensively exploring the City 
of David area but have found little to complete the historical record. 
They say no significant artifacts have been found from David's period, nor 
from the time of King Solomon, David's son, who, according to the Bible, 
launched a massive building campaign in the city and constructed the First 
Temple, which was destroyed in 586 B.C. by the Babylonians. 
 
    Instead the excavations exposed the foundations of an extensive water 
supply system connecting ancient Canaanite Jerusalem to its sole water 
source, the Gihon spring.  The water system, prior to its full excavation, 
had previously been considered of early Israelite origins. 
 
    "We thought that part of these water works were from the period of 
David and Solomon, but to my dismay, we have to date them 800 years before 
that," said Antiquities Authority archaeologist Ronnie Reich after leading 
journalists through the dank, damp system of tunnels. 
 
    "It's not only that the system was built earlier than King David - 
nobody imagined the extent of the city's defenses and the sophistication of 
the water system in the Canaanite period," said Avny. 
 
    Archaeologists had previously believed that during the Canaanite period 
the spring lay in an unfortified position outside the Canaanite city walls, 
vulnerable to enemy attack.  But new excavations show the spring was 
actually massively fortified as early as 1800 B.C.  And the system of 
aqueducts and channels leading from the spring south along the length of 
the ancient city fortifications was highly sophisticated.  Meanwhile, the 
Canaanite city of Jerusalem was found to be twice the size of what had 
previously been believed - spanning an area of about 30 acres. 
 
    "The water system is probably one of the most ancient and sophisticated 
in the Near East," said Avny. 
 
    British engineer Charles Warren discovered the first elements of the 
system 130 years ago; they are known to archaeologists as Warren's Shaft. 
The recent excavations uncovered much more of the shaft system and tunnel 
system, leading eventually to a protected pool where water could be easily 
drawn for use by city residents.  The pool was protected by a tower built 
of huge stones, each 
weighing two to three tons. 
 
    Hebrew University archaeologist Amy Mazar, who is currently searching 
for remains from the Kind David period in northern Israel, described the 
Jerusalem finds as "very revolutionary - there is rather clear evidence 
that in the middle Canaanite period there were large fortifications around 
the Gihon spring," Mazar said. 
 
    While the failure to turn up clear evidence of David and Solomon's era 
may be a disappointment for many biblical archaeologists, Mazar said the 
latest discoveries may still shed light on biblical accounts of Jerusalem - 
including an obscure Old Testament passage that states King David's forces 
first infiltrated the Canaanite city via a mysterious "pipeline." 
 
    "There are many who believed that the `pipeline' was this water shaft, 
and now these findings could bolster that interpretation," said Mazar. 
 
    In addition to the Tourism Center planned as a private initiative by 
Jewish settlers in the area, the Antiquities Authority and the Ministry of 
Tourism are developing the system of underground water tunnels and shafts 
for walking tours. 
 
    The system, to be opened to the public before 2000, will link to a 
larger network of archaeological walks and trails known as the Valley of 
Kings, which is being developed along the rocky precipices and valleys just 
outside of the Old City Walls. 

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