Mysterious passage: Archaeologists have discovered a tunnel carved into the rock in the south of Jerusalem that puzzles them. Because what this centuries, perhaps even millennia-old tunnel once served is still completely unknown. The corridor in the rocky underground, which is at least 50 meters long and five meters high, begins with a staircase and has a kind of ventilation shaft. But the shape and location neither match a water channel nor any other common explanation, as the archaeologists report.
Whether it’s evidence of the First Crusade, an ancient pilgrimage route or the remains of the Jewish Temple: the city of Jerusalem is full of archaeological relics. During excavations, researchers repeatedly come across finds that testify to the long history of this place.
Tunnel carefully carved into the rock
Now there is a new find that is puzzling archaeologists. It is a tunnel of previously unknown function that archaeologists discovered on the southern edge of Jerusalem near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel. During excavations in advance of a new building project, the Israel Antiquities Authority team led by Sivan Mizrahi and Zinovi Matskevich came across something unexpected. “We were digging in relatively rocky and exposed terrain when we discovered a natural karst cavity,” report the archaeologists. “But to our astonishment, this cavity turned into a long tunnel as the excavations continued.”
This tunnel extends at least 50 meters underground and is up to five meters high and around three meters wide. Most of the tunnel is filled with rubble and sediment that has accumulated over centuries or even millennia. Traces of processing on the tunnel walls clearly demonstrate its non-natural origin and are evidence of careful quarry work. A staircase once led from the surface down to an opening carved into the rock that led into the tunnel. Not far from the entrance, the archaeologists also came across a type of ventilation shaft that led from the tunnel ceiling to the surface of the earth.
“It is clear that those who dug this tunnel put enormous effort and careful planning into the work. They clearly had both the skills and resources necessary to achieve this goal,” Mizrahi and Matskevich explain.
What was this tunnel used for?
But who dug the tunnel and why is a mystery. Initially, the archaeologists thought their find was a drinking water pipe – a canal that led to a spring. However, the unpaved tunnel walls and the fact that there are neither springs nor an aquifer in the area surrounding the tunnel speak against this explanation. In addition, no deposits typical of such canals can be seen on the walls of the tunnel. An underground irrigation canal for fields or a sewer can therefore also be ruled out, as the team reports.
Another possibility is that this tunnel was once part of a mine. It could then have served to make a limestone layer accessible from which stones for buildings were extracted or perhaps material for lime production. According to the archaeologists, both the ventilation shaft and the rubble at the bottom of the tunnel support this scenario. However, the researchers emphasize that this explanation has so far been purely speculative.
(Video: Israel Antiques Authority)
“Astonished and perplexed”
“This city never ceases to amaze us,” says Amit Re’em, district archaeologist in charge of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “Normally we have explanations for the discoveries we make, but in this case we are amazed and perplexed.” The archaeologists hope that further excavations in the tunnel will provide them with answers. “Parts of the tunnel have now collapsed, so we don’t yet know all of its secrets,” report Mizrahi and Matskevich.
Even the age of this tunnel remains a mystery. “We have not been able to find even the slightest clue as to when this tunnel was constructed,” say the archaeologists. “At the same time, it is only a few hundred meters away from two important archaeological sites: a public building from the First Temple period and the Tell Ramat Rachel site, where settlement remains from the Iron Age to the Islamic period were found.” However, whether there is a connection between these earlier finds and the tunnel is also still unclear.
Source: Israel Antiques Authority