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The Hasmonean Water Channel

A rock-cut aqueduct under the Western Wall Tunnels that Herod's Temple Mount cut in two

Return, Persia & the Maccabees · water system · Debated · found 1867

Narrow rock-cut water channel lit for visitors
Photo: David Shankbone · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Found 1867 — Charles Warren (Palestine Exploration Fund) explored it 1867–1870; cleared and dated by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Dan Bahat's Western Wall Tunnel excavations (1970s–1990s)

Where Northern end of the Western Wall Tunnels, Old City, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) (Israel (Old City))

Dates from 2nd–1st century BCE; cut off by Herod's expansion c. 20 BCE · Hellenistic (Hasmonean) to Early Roman · Hasmonean rule; the Temple Mount before and during Herod's rebuilding

Now at In situ; forms the last section of the Western Wall Tunnels tour, ending at the Struthion Pool

How The Hasmonean Water Channel was found

Warren crawled through parts of the channel from the Struthion Pool during his Jerusalem explorations. A century later the tunnel excavations along the Western Wall reopened it as the northern exit of the visitor route.

What it is

A narrow channel cut through bedrock, roofed in places, running north from the Temple Mount area toward the Struthion Pool beneath the Sisters of Zion convent. It carried water south to cisterns under the Hasmonean citadel (the Baris) north of the Temple. When Herod extended the Temple platform northward, the platform's foundations severed the channel.

Why it matters for the Bible

It is one of the few surviving pieces of the Hasmonean Temple Mount, the one the Maccabees rededicated, buried under Herod's much larger platform. The relationship between the channel, the Struthion Pool and Herod's Antonia Fortress lets visitors see, in rock, how Herod's project remade the city Yeshua later walked in.

Debated: The channel is real and well known. Its 'Hasmonean' date is the accepted working label, but some scholars allow an earlier (Persian or early Hellenistic) origin; no inscription dates it.

The Hebrew word: ah-MAHT hah-MAH-yim

אַמַּת הַמַּיִם

אַמַּת הַמַּיִם is pronounced ah-MAHT hah-MAH-yim and means water channel, conduit (Strong's H8585 + H4325).

Places

Events

Hasmonean rule and the Baris fortress · Herod's expansion of the Temple Mount

The Hasmonean Water Channel in Scripture

Genesis 22:2 One of only 2 verses that name Temple Mount (Moriah).

2 Chronicles 3:1 One of only 2 verses that name Temple Mount (Moriah).

Questions people ask

What is The Hasmonean Water Channel?
A narrow channel cut through bedrock, roofed in places, running north from the Temple Mount area toward the Struthion Pool beneath the Sisters of Zion convent. It carried water south to cisterns under the Hasmonean citadel (the Baris) north of the Temple. When Herod extended the Temple platform northward, the platform's foundations severed the channel.

When was The Hasmonean Water Channel discovered?
It was found in 1867 by Charles Warren (Palestine Exploration Fund) explored it 1867–1870; cleared and dated by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Dan Bahat's Western Wall Tunnel excavations (1970s–1990s), at Northern end of the Western Wall Tunnels, Old City, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).

Where is The Hasmonean Water Channel today?
In situ; forms the last section of the Western Wall Tunnels tour, ending at the Struthion Pool.

Which Bible verses does The Hasmonean Water Channel relate to?
Genesis 22:2, 2 Chronicles 3:1.

Is The Hasmonean Water Channel authentic?
The channel is real and well known. Its 'Hasmonean' date is the accepted working label, but some scholars allow an earlier (Persian or early Hellenistic) origin; no inscription dates it.

Related discoveries

Sources

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