Underground Jerusalem The excavation of tunnels, channels, and underground spaces in the Historic Basin 2015 >> Introduction >> Underground excavation in Jerusalem: From the middle of the 19th century to the Six Day War >> Tunnel excavations following the Six Day War >> Tunnel excavations under archaeological auspices >> Ancient underground complexes >> Underground tunnels >> Tunnel excavations as narrative >> Summary and conclusions >> Maps >> Endnotes Emek Shaveh (cc) | Email: [email protected] | website www.alt-arch.org Emek Shaveh is an organization of archaeologists and heritage professionals focusing on the role of tangible cultural heritage in Israeli society and in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We view archaeology as a resource for strengthening understanding between different peoples and cultures. September 2015 Introduction Underground excavation in Jerusalem: From the middle of the The majority of the area of the Old City is densely built. As a result, there are very few nineteenth century until the Six Day War open spaces in which archaeological excavations can be undertaken. From a professional The intensive interest in channels, underground passages, and tunnels, ancient and modern, standpoint, this situation obligates the responsible authorities to restrict the number of goes back one 150 years. At that time the first European archaeologists in Jerusalem, aided excavations and to focus their attention on preserving and reinforcing existing structures. by local workers, dug deep into the heart of the Holy City in order to understand its ancient However, the political interests that aspire to establish an Israeli presence throughout the topography and the nature of the structures closest to the Temple Mount. Old City, including underneath the Muslim Quarter and in the nearby Palestinian village The British scholar Charles Warren was the first and most important of those who excavated of Silwan, have fostered the decision that intensive underground excavations must be underground Jerusalem. In order to avoid the searching gaze of the Ottoman authorities, undertaken in the Historic Basin of Jerusalem, especially in the Old City and in Silwan. Warren dug vertical shafts some distance from the walls of the Temple Mount, and from These excavations focus on highlighting the Jewish connection to ancient Jerusalem, and there continued to excavate in “galleries” — horizontal channels that were dug along the creating an underground city that undermines the city above. length of the ancient walls. Warren excavated close to the Western Wall, from the area of From 2007 until today the Israel Antiquities Authority (henceforth: IAA) has focused Robinson’s Arch towards Barclay’s Gate (one of the gates of the Temple Mount/Haram al- the bulk of its efforts in the Historic Basin on creating a system of channels, tunnels, Sharif) and even further north, in areas that are included today in the complex of “Western and underground spaces. Under the guise of academic excavations, the IAA is preparing Wall Tunnels.” He uncovered an ancient gate thought to be part of Herod’s Temple (the 1st 1 the groundwork for tourism with political overtones. Though it is ostensibly engaged in century BCE) that leads to the Temple Mount itself. scientific archaeology, the IAA does not provide reliable information regarding the location Warren’s excavation project was based on an 1862 map that documented the cisterns and of excavations, their scope, or their objectives. The majority of this information is only overall water system of the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. In addition to the excavations available after-the-fact, in the form of IAA press releases, and not during the course of the around the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, Warren and his team also excavated in the excavations themselves as one would expect from a public body working in a city center. nearby village of Silwan, discovering important parts of a water system dated to the biblical This report aims to provide an updated survey of the underground excavations in the Jerusalem. As within the walls of the Old City, the excavations were undertaken deep Historic Basin. We suspect other areas are also being excavated in addition to those beneath the ground, far from the prying eyes of the authorities. Among other discoveries, described here, but we lack reliable information concerning these sites. The excavations they found shafts, passages, and natural and artificial channels. underway underground and in the dark are considered as Israeli attempts to undermine As long as the Ottomans ruled Jerusalem, excavations continued using the shafts-and- Palestinian ownership, and as a means to prevent a political solution in Jerusalem. galleries method. In 1894-1897 archaeologists Frederick Jones Bliss and Archibald Dickie excavated an expansive system of channels and tunnels in the area of Mt. Zion and the Siloam Pool/Barkat al-Hamra. In 1909-1911 a team under the direction of Montague Parker continued to excavate Jerusalem’s ancient water works. The team’s goal was to find a subterranean passage leading from the area of the Gihon spring in Silwan to the heart of the Temple Mount, where they hoped to find treasures from the Temple.2 Parker and his team explored the Siloam Tunnel and the Warren’s Shaft and excavated new horizontal channels, but they were forced to abandon the excavations after their attempts to bribe Waqf officials and dig under the Temple Mount itself became known. This series of excavations – undertaken, as mentioned, in secret and through the intentional deception of the authorities – established a Western-scientific narrative that identifies the true Jerusalem with artifacts discovered underground. This narrative sees the residents of the present city as degenerate remnants of the past who conceal its splendid history. At the << Back to Contents 3 same time, archaeology became permanently fixed in the eyes of Jerusalem’s Palestinian Tunnel excavations following the Six Day War residents as a tool of imperialism, the only goal of which is to undermine the Islamic presence in Al-Quds and the Haram al-Sharif. After the Six Day War, intensive archeological activity began in the Old City and its surrounding. Among other projects, senior researchers from the Hebrew University in With the development of scientific archaeology, the method of excavating in channels Jerusalem undertook large-scale excavations: Nahman Avigad in the Jewish Quarter, was abandoned. Instead, the central goal of every excavation now became revealing the Benjamin Mazar to the west and south of the Temple Mount (in the Ophel), and Yigal Shiloh sequence of historical layers from top to bottom. During the British Mandate and Jordanian on the hill of ancient Jerusalem (the City of David). Most of these excavations adhered to rule, the archaeology of Jerusalem emerged from the dark: excavations were undertaken accepted, modern standards, and underground systems were examined from the surface in the open and in the light of day, and the ancient layers were peeled back systematically down, revealing their access points and their relation to the underlying structures. from the surface on down. But unscientific excavations were also underway alongside these projects: at the initiative Nonetheless, clandestine underground excavations continue today, though, as we will see of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, an excavation was begun in 1969 of a tunnel along in what follows, in a different historical, political, and cultural context. the length of the Western Wall, underneath a built-up residential area of the Muslim Quarter abutting the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. This excavation continued until the beginning of the 1990s, revealing, among other discoveries, Warren’s Gate--the gate leading to the Temple Mount that lies below the settled layer of today. Despite being undertaken under the auspices of a government ministry, this excavation was considered for years to be a clandestine operation since the Israeli Department of Antiquities and Museums (the body that preceded the IAA) did not grant it a license and did not document the excavation’s finds. In the first stage of preparing the tunnel, visitors entered and exited through a single opening near the Western Wall plaza. In 1993 the work of extending the Western Wall tunnel to the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim Quarter was completed, though its opening to visitors was delayed until 1996. This was the period of Benjamin Netanyahu’s first premiership, less than a year after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and at the height of the struggle with the Palestinian Authority over the political control of East Jerusalem. Led by then mayor Ehud Olmert, it was decided to open the tunnel’s northern exit on the Via Dolorosa. The opening of the tunnel caused violent protests and gun battles between Israelis and Palestinians throughout the West Bank in which dozens were killed and hundreds injured.3 With the cessation of confrontations, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation began using the tunnel’s northern exit in order to increase the number of visitors to the Western Wall tunnel. In this way the Western Wall Heritage Foundation expanded the area under its control into the heart of the Muslim Quarter. The new tunnel next to the southern part of the Western Wall (on the right side) << Back to Contents 4 Tunnel excavations under archaeological auspices It is worth noting that the excavations in Silwan are funded by the El’ad Foundation, and they are conducted by the IAA as part of the tourist development of the City of David In the middle of the 1990s the IAA became the central and virtually exclusive organization National Park. conducting excavations in the Old City and the Historic Basin. The IAA is responsible for excavations from the Siloam Pool on the slopes of Silwan to Herod’s Gate in the Since 2007, excavations have been taking place within the Western Wall Tunnels and in northern wall of the Old City.4 Most of the excavations were undertaken on the initiative the spaces that extend westward to HaGai/Al-Wad Street, beneath the residential houses of of governmental and non-governmental bodies excluding the IAA.