Page 159 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

A Walk to Caesarea: A Historical-Archaeological Perspective 145

Aqueduct Chart

Aqueduct Source Length Level of head of Date
name (km) water near the city
7.5
Upper Level Shuni Springs 7.92 m above sea level Herod/procurators/
Aqueduct, Channel A 13.5 Flavians?

Upper Level Upper Nah. al 5 10.28 (Channel C) Hadrian

Aqueduct, Channel B Tanninim Springs ?

Lower Level Nah. al Tanninim Lake 5.5 end of 3rd century
Aqueduct

Ceramic pipe line cEn el cAssal 2.50 fourth century

Channel A of the Upper Level Aqueduct, Fig. 162
which is c. 7.5 km long, starts at the Shuni
springs – c. 6 km northeast of Caesarea (11.80 m The Upper Level Aqueduct,
a.s.l.); this aqueduct, therefore, could not carry view to the north. Seen in the
water to the upper surface of the temple’s platform, cross-section are Channel A,
whose level is 12.50 m a.s.l.). The aqueduct can above it Channel C and to the
be divided into four segments, which were built left – Channel B
using three different construction methods: the
first part, which bypasses the southern spur of
the Carmel, was a masonry channel. The second
and fourth segments were built atop arches: the
second segment crossing a swampy section, while
the fourth goes through sand dunes on the seashore north of Caesarea. The third
segment crosses the kurkar ridge on which the Arab village Jisr az-Zarqa is built in
a rock-cut tunnel, 442 m long.

In 1992–1993, the Israel Antiquities Authority carried out conservation works
in the arches of the aqueduct and while doing so found they rested on a foundation
wall c. 3.5 m thick, with a graded top that ran the entire length; there was no
separate foundation for each pier. This guaranteed the stability of the entire arcade.
The Jisr az-Zarqa tunnel, c. 0.9 m wide and 1.8 m high, was lined on the bottom
and sides (up to 1.6 m from the floor) with waterproof lime plaster. It had 15
ventilation shafts (6.6–13.4 m deep; at 11.5–37.4 m intervals from each other).
Such shafts are known in the Hellenistic aqueduct of Acre-Ptolemais and in the
Herodian aqueduct to Jerusalem. The western end of the tunnel was covered with
two slanting stones that formed a gabled ceiling.

In Hadrian’s time, to the north and west, a second, attached arched aqueduct
was added, which carried Channel B. Eleven Latin inscriptions were affixed to its
visible side, noting the names of the auxiliary units of four legions (X–Fretensis;
VI–Ferrata; II–Traiana Fortis; XXII–Deiotriana), which took part in the
construction. In time Channel A was blocked and on top of it, on a higher level,
Channel C was built. The aqueduct was also lengthened to the east and took in
the water of the Aviel and Sindyanna springs that flow in the southern edges of