Amazing stuff!
"The largest dam in ancient Israel, uncovered just outside the walled Old City of Jerusalem, has been dated back to the time of the biblical kings, some 2,800 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced on Monday.
The monumental dam, which runs about 12 meters high, more than 8 meters wide and 21 meters long, was excavated over the last two years in the history-rich ancient City of David.
A new study carried out jointly with the Weizmann Institute of Science concludes that the barrier constructed to both hold back water and raise its level was built around 800 BCE, and dates it to the reign of the kings of Judah, Joash or Amaziah, making it the earliest one ever found in Jerusalem, the state-run archaeological body said. ..."
From the abstract:
"Using well-established microarchaeological sampling methods, we reached a precise radiocarbon date of 800 BC for the Siloam Pool’s monumental water dam in Jerusalem. This date is a critical link connecting several imposing waterworks constructed at that time.
Climate data pointing to droughts and flash floods during the last decades of the 9th century BC provide a logical framework for the reasons behind such endeavors. These included the fortification of the city’s primary water source, the Gihon Spring, and the redirection of the water into the city through a channel to an artificial reservoir created by building the Siloam Dam at the end of the Tyropoeon Valley, which blocked the drainage of rain and redirected spring waters."
"... The newly uncovered structure joins two other water systems from the same period discovered in the City of David: an imposing tower that dammed the Gihon Spring, and a water system that gathered water from the Gihon, directed through a channel into the Siloam Pool, where it was joined by floodwaters blocked by the dam.
These systems reflect comprehensive urban planning for managing Jerusalem’s water supply as early as the late 9th century BCE – clear evidence of the city’s power and sophistication. ..."
The largest dam in ancient Israel was uncovered in the City of David (original news release) "A monumental dam excavated in the Siloam Pool in the City of David has now been dated in a joint study by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Weizmann Institute of Science, to the reign of the kings of Judah, Joash or Amaziah. Its construction may have been a creative solution to climate crisis, about 2,800 years ago, according to the researchers. The research, published Monday in the prestigious scientific journal PNAS, will be presented at the upcoming "City of David Studies" conference in early September"
Fig. 1 (A) The study sites. Graphics by Manuel Cimadevilla, Israel Antiquities Authority. (B) The Siloam Dam excavation. Arrows mark the sampling locations. (C) A representative straw fragment embedded in the mortar.
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