Page 53 - HaMizrachi # 22 Rosh HahHana - Yom Kippur 2020 USA

PLACES IN ISRAEL THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND

Eve Harow

The Biyar Aqueduct

n August 1995, the Dagan Hill, an horizontally through the mountain
unoccupied strategic location within to empty into Solomon’s Pools. In the
Ithe municipal boundaries of Efrat, absence of electrical pumps, gravity dic-
was the scene of a major two-week tated the flow and the Dagan Hill was
protest (with deep involvement by the too high to straddle and keep the water
author of this article) against the Israeli flowing.
government’s plan to relinquish it to the
Palestinian Authority in nearby Bethle- After a sojourn in the enormous catch-
hem. During the mayhem, we uncovered ment basins (capacity 250,000 cu/meters)
ancient man-made shafts in the ground of Solomon’s Pools (not built by King
and archaeologists were called in to Solomon but perhaps inspired by him),
investigate. the collected water took different direc-
The covered shaft on the Dagan
The Biyar system was apparently initi- an aquiclude and then streaming all the tions. One section led east to the desert
1
fortress-palace at Herodian; remnants
ated by the Hasmoneans and extensively water via its gradient.
expanded by Herod the Great (37-4 BCE) can still be seen on Efrat’s Eitam Hill.
as a solution to the growth of Jerusalem’s It was in use until 1967 (a 2000-year run!) Another, the Upper Aqueduct, appar-
population and the commensurate need maintained over many periods and aided ently ended at Hezekiah’s Pool in today’s
for more water, especially during the fes- significantly by a pumping station built Christian Quarter, to supply Herod’s
tival pilgrimages bringing many thou- under the British Mandate in 1924, still Palace at Jaffa Gate, although north of
sands to Jerusalem. Local springs like visible near the Pina Chama at Tzomet Kever Rachel in Bethlehem no remnants
the Gihon in Ir David and cisterns that Gush Etzion. It’s now a fun tourist attrac- have yet been identified. The Lower
caught winter rains no longer sufficed tion where one can climb underground Aqueduct’s destination was no less than
with the construction of mikvaot, pools via one shaft, traverse the tunnel through the Temple Mount, and we do have sec-
muddy waters and see how water still
and bathhouses. In fact, the Gemara flows in, then climb up a ladder and out tions in a few areas including the Sultan’s
(Ta’anit 19b) and Mishna (Shekalim 4) another shaft further down the valley in Pools in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion.
speak of the water shortage during the between Efrat and Elazar, called appro-
festivals and building the aqueduct as one priately Nachal Pirim (Shafts Creek), Fast forward to 2020: the Dagan Hill is
of the uses for the half-shekel Temple tax. with 40 shafts. The nearby Gush Etzion home to a few hundred families, and the
Winery has a line with the same name municipality is building a park integrating
The aqueduct is an incredible feat of on the label. the aqueduct with bike paths and walk-
engineering. They used very sophisti- ways. We still flow towards Jerusalem,
cated techniques for those times, includ- The Arrub section is a hewn stone sur- just now in traffic on the Tunnel Road.
ing measuring tools such as grommets, face aqueduct with dams and walls on the
siphons and the best technology Rome mountain ridges, wending 40 kilometres
could provide while combining different (10 km as a crow flies) at a gradient of less 1 A geological formation that absorbs and holds
collection methods. The Wadi al Biyar than 0.1%. Portions of it are still visible water but does not transmit it at a sufficient rate
section is springs sourced and used today although much of it was destroyed to supply springs, wells, etc.
dams and shafts to channel water into by negligence or dismantled over the
an enlarged natural underground water years for use as building material. It was For a virtual tour of the Biyar, visit www.
likely added after Herod’s reign.
tunnel. This tunnel also gathered rain eveharow.com under Chol Hamoed tour.
percolating through the limestone until The northern section was what was dis- Eve Harow is a licensed tour guide, podcaster
hitting a nonporous marl layer, creating covered in 1995, the deep tunnel carved and public speaker.

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