News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the City of David Foundation unveiled an important remnant of life in ancient Jerusalem on Sunday. The main drainage canal of the holy city, dated around the first century CE, before the destruction of Second Temple and the City of Jerusalem, was displayed for the first time to journalists near the entrance to the City of David.

The 70-meter long segment is located between the Temple Mount and the Shiloah (Silwan) Pool and stretched underneath the main street of the Old City. The drain carried rainwater from the area of the Western Wall now used as the Jewish Quarter, and the western area of the City of David, to the Kidron River near the Dead Sea. Shards and coins were also found at the site. Archaeologsts Roni Reich and Eli Shukrun said they had to dig 10 meters deep in order to reach the main street. They added that Jews hid in the drain on their way to the southern gate of the Old City as they fled the Roman siege, according to the account of the period by the historian Josephus.

The IAA has, however, blocked archaeologists from inspecting a ditch being dug by the Wakf (Arab Religious Authority) with heavy machinery on the Temple Mount that may be of equal importance. Vehement insistence by the archaeologists that precious artifacts from the Second Temple period are being destroyed by the construction have been met with silence.  Photos snapped surreptiously, despite police attempts to block entry to the site, show chunks of stone that appear to be part of a wall from the era.