Archaeologists have made remarkable discoveries in a recent excavation of an ancient drainage channel beneath Jerusalem’s principal thoroughfare from the Second Temple era. The finds, including an intact glass vial, grape seeds, 2,000-year-old eggshells, and ceramic lamps still bearing soot marks, offer a glimpse into urban life in Jerusalem during the decades leading up to the Temple’s destruction in 70 CE.
This excavation, conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by the City of David, is unearthing the city’s primary underground conduit. This channel ran below Jerusalem’s vibrant marketplaces near the Temple Mount and stretched the entire length of the City of David.
These discoveries are shedding new light on the evolving urban landscape of Jerusalem in its final years before the Temple’s fall, providing tangible connections to daily life in this historic period.
“Into the channel’s mouth were swept the detritus of the life above Jerusalem’s main street; where they remained preserved between the walls just as they were at the moment of the city’s destruction,” explains Dr. Ayala Zilberstein, Excavation Director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “Small finds tell us a big story, from Jerusalem’s heyday of prosperity and splendor when its streets bustled with life, until the city’s ebbing moments during the rebellion against the Romans, and its total abandonment following the Temple and city’s destruction.”
According to Dr. Zilberstein, “Since most of these municipal channels were maintained and cleared regularly, to find layers of silt in the main drainage channel filling it to almost half its height, indicates a gradual neglect of city maintenance. And indeed, this very neglect and abandonment that we are now witness to here corresponds to the story of the process of Jerusalem’s destruction.”
The upper layers of sediment yielded artifacts from Jerusalem’s final days, including intact pottery lamps dating to the late Second Temple period. These lamps still bear soot marks on their rims, silent witnesses to the flames they once held. This discovery echoes a previous find made several meters south by Eli Shukron’s team: a complete Roman sword in its leather scabbard. Researchers are now investigating whether, like the sword, these lamps might have belonged to rebels who sought refuge in this channel during the city’s fall.
As excavations progressed deeper, a wealth of artifacts emerged, painting a vivid picture of Jerusalem’s prosperity during the Second Temple era. This period was marked by constant activity and urban vitality. The meticulous manual excavation, led by Nissim Mizrahi and his skilled team, unearthed numerous intact vessels. These included vials that once contained perfumes and costly oils, primarily made of ceramic. Among these was a remarkably well-preserved delicate glass vial, an extraordinary find given its fragile nature.
The initial examination of the pottery and glass vessel assemblages, conducted by Dr. Yael Gorin-Rosen and Dr. Shulamit Terem, indicated an exceptionally rich and diverse concentration of vessel types, some quite rare.
“Through this large variety of pots and dishes that accumulated in the drainage channel we encounter nearly the complete tableware set of Jerusalem’s residents. In contrast to the limited set of vessels generally found when excavating a single household kitchen, the channel assemblage is drawn from many houses, and from different streets in town, thus presenting us with examples of almost all wares the city’s merchants had to offer,” explains Dr. Zilberstein.
Recognizing the archaeological significance of the channel’s sedimentary layers, all excavated soil was carefully preserved and sent to the Sifting Project at Emek Zurim National Park for thorough examination. While this process yielded coins and decorative beads, its most significant contribution came from an unexpected source: food remains that offered insights into the ancient Jewish diet.
The discovery of grape seeds, grain kernels, fish bones, and even eggshells provided a glimpse into the culinary habits of Jerusalem’s inhabitants during the city’s vibrant period. The abundance of organic material prompted a series of diverse laboratory analyses to detect microscopic remains.
Even in preliminary examinations conducted by Vitali Sterman and Dr. Yotam Asher from the Israel Antiquities Authority, a clear distinction emerged between layers representing the city’s active life and those from later periods. This stratification offers a timeline of Jerusalem’s urban evolution and eventual decline. These findings not only illuminate daily life in ancient Jerusalem but also demonstrate the value of meticulous archaeological practices in uncovering hidden aspects of history.
“The closer you get to the layers from the city’s later days – there is less and less evidence of human artifacts, and the picture begins to form of the demise of the city’s vitality,” adds Dr. Zilberstein.
The important layers will be sampled using innovative methods.
