Western Wall Tunnel Tour ©
Developing a proper water supply system has always been a challenge for the Jerusalem area.
Throughout the centuries different aqueducts, pools and cisterns have been made to divert, channel and maintain water for the city and the Temple. We will now explore three waterways that brought and held water for the people, the Temple and their needs.
First, there is an ancient Hasmonean Water Cistern. Next, a Hasmonean aqueduct that brought water to the cistern near and under the Temple. And finally, the "Struthion Pool," which dates back to Herod's time.
As we continue along the "Tunnel" we approach the Northwest Hill, where the street starts to rise upward. Here at the end of the First Temple a fortress called the "Baris" or "Tower of Chananel" was built. This fortress is mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah. The Baris was used as a palace by the Hasmoneans. The waterworks underneath the fortress were praised in a third century B.C.E. source. Underneath the fortress were cisterns used by the people of the fortress. When Herod enlarged the Temple Mount northward, he leveled the Baris and actually dug into the bedrock, making it level with the rest of the Mount. Nothing was left of the Baris except for the water cisterns underneath, which Herod used. Water is, obviously, a priority to enable living in any area, and maintaining a consistent water supply in Jerusalem has always been challenging. Herod kept part of the cistern as a reservoir for rain, but covered up the rest with the street that ran parallel with the wall. In order to ensure that people wouldn't fall into the cistern, he installed a large guardrail. Here to our left is the cistern, the guardrail, and to our right is the original stairway leading down into the cistern.
My hand trails along this ancient stone railing, its edge worn smooth by thousands of hands in centuries past. The cool stone is a pleasant contrast to the warmth of the air. The tunnel widens out ahead and suddenly we stop short in awe. Our eyes behold a full street, perfectly preserved, with pillars, ancient paving stones, water channels...
| Jewish Calendar Date |
GREEK
/ HASMONEAN TIMELINE |
||
| 3500 | |||
 |
245 BCE: Ptolemy, Greek ruler of Egypt, forces 70 Jewish Sages to translate the Bible into Greek (the Septuagint) | ||
|
|||
|
|||
|
174 BCE Antiochus, Greek ruler of Syria, installs Jason, his lackey, as High Priest | ||
|
|||
|
171 BCE Antiochus replaces Jason with the even more corrupt Menelaus | ||
|
|||
|
169 BCE Antiochus IVdefeats Ptolemy and conquers Egypt, but is forced to withdraw by the emerging Rome. | ||
|
|||
|
|||
|
168 BCE Antiochus plunders the Temple in Jerusalem, begins campaign against Judaism. | ||
|
|||
|
|||
|
167 BCE Antiochus makes breaches in the Temple walls; decrees that pigs must be offered in the Temple; he bans Sabbath and Jewish Holidays, circumcision and Torah study; sacred texts are burned. | ||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
166 BCE Mattisyahu and his sons (Maccabees) rebel against Antiochus | ||
|
|||
|
165 BCE
Mattisyahu dies, Judah Maccabee continues the war and defeats the Syrian-Greeks; Miracle of Chanukah |
||
|
|||
 |
|||
|
161 BCE Hasmonean (Maccabee) Kingdom firmly established | ||
|
|||
|
142 -134 BCE Syrian-Greeks attack Israel, again defeated by Hasmoneans | ||
|
|||
| 3600 | |||
|
134 -104 BCE Yochanan Hyrcanus | ||
|
104 -103 BCE Aristobulus | ||
|
103 - 76 BCE Alexander Yannai | ||
|
76 - 66 BCE Shlomis Alexandra | ||
|
66 - 63 BCE Aristobulus II | ||
|
63 - 40 BCE Hyrcanus II | ||
|
40 - 37 BCE Matthias Antigonus | ||
 |
36 BCE
Herod Defeats Antigonus, wipes out Hasmonean Dynasty, and begins his rule |
||
|
|||
|
|||
| 5500 | |||
|
32 BCE Leadership of Hillel begins | ||
|
18 CE Herod begins Temple Reconstruction | ||
|
|||
|
37-44 CE Herod Agrippa I | ||
|
53-100? CE Agrippa II | ||
|
70 CE Second Temple Destroyed by Titus; Roman Rule of Israel established | ||
|
|||
|
73 CE Fall of Massada | ||
|
80 CE Rabbi Akiva's leadership begins | ||
|
|||
|
|||
