In November 2018, a salvage excavation was conducted on al-Madina al-Munawara Street in the Sur Bahir neighborhood of southern Jerusalem (Permit No. A-8361; map ref. 221530–50/627320–40), after the discovery of a built channel prior to the installation of a drainage pipeline. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and financed by the Gihon Company–Water and Sewage Works, was directed by Z. ‘Adawi, with the assistance of I. Novoselesky, M. Samhouri, B. Dwyat, N. Sanduka (archaeological inspection), A. Baharno (photogrammetric documentation) and O. Rose (plans).
A rectangular area was opened in the middle of the road (c. 4 × 10 m; Fig. 1), and two squares (c. 4 × 4 m each) were excavated, to the north and south of a drainage unit installed while laying the drainage pipeline.
A segment of the west wall of the built channel was preserved (W302; length c. 1.8 m, width 1.6 m) in the southern square. The wall, constructed of partially worked fieldstones, was supported on the west by a surface of fieldstones of various sizes (L300; Fig. 2).
A well-preserved segment of the built channel (L401; length 1.6 m, outer width 0.9 m, inner width c. 0.35 m, inner height 0.5 m; Figs. 2, 3) was unearthed in the north square.It was built of two rows of building stones, over which were placed partially worked slabs (length 0.7–0.9 m, width 0.4 m, thickness 0.2–0.4 m). The channel floor was paves with a packed layer of small stones, some of which were made of flint.
Since probes dug at the site discovered no northward or southward continuation of the channel, its origin and destination are unclear. No diagnostic finds were recovered, leaving the question of the channel’s date unsolved.
‘Adawi Z. 2010. Jerusalem,
Sur Bahir.
HA-ESI 122.
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