The Jerusalem water channel is an archaeological site in Jerusalem, Israel. It is a large, ancient drainage tunnel or sewer that runs down the Tyropoeon Valley and once drained runoff and storm water from the city of Jerusalem.
The tunnel was discovered in 2007 by archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron who were excavating the Jerusalem pilgrim road when they happened on the water channel.[1][2]
The walls of the channel are made of heavy slabs of stone. Manholes with round, stone manhole covers are spaced along the length of the channel. Some of the original plaster is intact. Pottery and coins found in the water channel confirm its date. [1]
The water channel has been identified as the water channel described in Josephus Flavius’s The Wars of the Jews. According to Josephus, in which thousands of Jerusalemites took refuge from the Roman sacking of Jerusalem inside this water channel. Archaeologists attribute ash on the walls of the channel to fires set by the Romans attempting to force the Jewish survivors out of the channel.[3][4]
The channel is about a kilometer in length.[1]