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Return to Zion and the Second Temple Period
  • The Hasmonean tunnel in Armon HaNatziv. Photo: Koby Harati. Courtesy of the City of David Archives.
    The Hasmonean tunnel in Armon HaNatziv. Photo: Koby Harati. Courtesy of the City of David Archives.
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Return to Zion and the Second Temple Period

Water to Jerusalem: the Hasmonean Tunnel on Government House Hill

During the last centuries of Second Temple times, Jerusalem grew, and its population more water for the Temple, purification, drinking and irrigation. For the first time in its history, aqueducts were built to channel water to the city from the Hebron Mountains.

In the picture: The Government House Hill (Armon HaNatziv) tunnel is part of the Lower Aqueduct, attributed to the Hasmonean period, which channeled water from the area of Solomon’s Pools, south of Bethlehem, toward the Temple Mount.