During the 2006 and 2008–2013 school years, an educational excavation was conducted north of Caesarea National Park (Permits Nos. A-4780, A-5348, A-5611, A-5817, A-6291, A-6410, A-6743; map ref. 19028–33/71227–32). The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was directed by D. Weinberger, Y. Porath, P. Gendelman, C. Gur and S. Mahajna, with the assistance of E. Bachar (administration) and K. Sari, and the participation of fourth-graders from schools in the Hof Ha-Karmel Regional Council.
The excavation took place near the southern part of the Lower Aqueduct, north of Caesarea National Park. The goal was to uncover the southward continuation of the aqueduct, in a previously unexcavated area. The Lower Aqueduct, which brought water from the Na
hal Taninim Dam to Caesarea, was built in the late third–early fourth centuries CE and remained in use until the Muslim conquest. The aqueduct’s point of entrance to the city is unknown (
Sa‘id and ‘Ad 2004;
Gendelman and ‘Ad 2010).
Two excavation squares were opened (A1, A2), west and east of the aqueduct, unearthing a built channel whose walls were coated with hydraulic plaster. The channel was covered with sand and alluvial soil. A few eroded, nondiagnostic sherds were found. The results of the excavation do not contribute any new information about the route of the aqueduct, its manner of construction or its date.