Page 182 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

168 Archaeological Review

aqueduct, it was first necessary to raise the water level to an elevation of at least 6
m a.s.l. To that end the two dams were constructed, creating a lake which covered
an area of 5000–6000 dunams (c. 1250–1500 acres). The foundations of the stone-
built western dam were set on gray calcareous hydraulic cement poured into a
long wooden frame whose sides were well preserved under the surface of the water.
A C14 test showed that the date of the wooden frame and the cast is the end of the
third or beginning of the fourth century. Three passageways 1.5 m wide, bordered
by barriers of rock and wedge-like walls made it possible to regulate the flow of
water from the dam onward. Flow control was maintained by wooden slats that
could be lowered or raised in vertical slits 0.2 m wide, in which they were affixed
(Fig. 191a–b). Three panels of slats were preserved at the bottom of one of the
passageways. A C14 test dated them to the fourth century.

The Lower Level Aqueduct, whose total length is 5.5 km, began here (Fig. 192)
as a rock-cut channel 3.5 m wide and 2 m high. A different channel led to six
double Roman flour mills of the Vitruvian type, which were discovered west of the
western dam of the lake (Fig. 193a–b). Millstones of the Pompeian type were found
in two of them.

Examinations of soil samples of sediment that accumulated on the floor of
the artificial lake and the swamp that preceded it, to the depth of 4 m beneath
the current surface, showed that the lake water was too salty for drinking; it was
intended for agriculture and industry. The lake dried out only in the twelfth or
thirteenth century, probably owing to an intentional breach in the dams.

The western dam, which today closes in on a small reservoir, as well as the
system of channels and flour mills, are located in the Nah. al Tanninim Nature
Reserve of the Israel Parks and Nature Authority. The reconstruction of the
ancient technology was done by Y. Dray. This is a site maintained with marked
pathways and information signs; it has a parking lot and restrooms. There is an
entrance fee.