Hi,
Amitim Latiyulim group have done it again =)
They have arranged a visit to Tel Gibeon water system! This place is only 5 km from my parents old house in Jerusalem. But not only that I havn’t been there, I only learned about this place couple of years ago when I found a tour book and saw the illustration of this beautiful water system: the spring, the well, the staircase….
This tell, is located in the south edge of Jib, in the West Bank Palestinian territories. Means that even if I have learned about it before it was impossible to get in there. I did use to run along the road that run a km away from there. But it was after the fence was built. The soldier Nahchson Wachsman was hold and murdered by terrorists a couple of kilometers away from here in 1994. My classmate, Ronen Landau, was killed here in 2001 by terrorists. That is why we got in with security forces escort.
Th place has landmark product of biblical archaeology, because it’s recognized with the ancient city of Gibeon and the “pool of Gibeon“. A site that mentioned several times in the bible (such as is 2 Samuel 2:13). This identification was made possible mainly due to the wine cellars (with room for 95,000 liters of wine) that was found here. Hebrew inscriptions of גבען (GBʻN) on the handles of wine storage jars, most of which were excavated from a large pool matching the biblical description.
Getting up to the armored bus near Ofer Prison
The border crossing
In the distance you can see the fence and road stretched along the hills
Part of the village of El-Jib
Some of the security forces escorting us in, there and out of the place
El-Jib mosque
The fence along the road and and underground passage for the Palestinian of El-Jib.
Israeli settlements West to El-Jib: Har Samuel (part of Giv’at Ze’ev), Givon HaHadasha, Giva’t Ze’ev.
Some of the village older buildings
The area looks like the oldest area of the village, and I thought it is where the tell is. But the tell itself is remarkable kept, and isn’t built =)
5 buses with around 250 people
The cemetery on the edge of the village. Separating it from the tell.
The pool
The wine cellars, on which 95,000 liters of wine have been found
The pool from within. dug in two stages: the first is 11.8m in diameter and 10.8m in deep. The second continues 13 meter down into a water chamber, but is closed with rock.
The entrance to the staircase leading to the spring pool
The illustration of the water system showing the layout and section of the staircase, tunnel and pool.
Going down the tunnel staircase of 93 stairs, leading to the spring. Unfortunately, it is full of rubbish
The spring pool and the lower entrance
The spring tunnel about 60 meter long, 2*2 meter. Wonderful of chiseling. The guys there are trying determine what is the age of the tunnel. Those tunnels are dug in order to increase the water flow by allowing it to run easily in the tunnel instead through the rock.
The lower entrance to the water pool (covered with garbage)
The lower entrance from the outside
The external water tunnel. Dug during the British mandate to run the water from the pool down to the fields in the valley.
The Tell from below. Three directions are stiff as this, and the North one (directed to the village) is almost without slope.
The pool from the lower entrance (you can see it is also full of garbage)
Climbing up the staircase
Looking down on the lower entrance and the external tunnel from the edge of top of the tell. The opening in the right pic is a air hole of the external tunnel.
Looking North from the edge top of the tell to El-Jib village houses
Looking East from the tell you can see on the horizon the Northern outskirts of Jeruslaem
Panorama view looking from North to the East. On the horizon one can see Ramallah.
Yes the water are cold and I got goosebumps, but I did noticed the stinging nettles waiting for me and I got stung.
While I was down in the spring the rest of the group listened to the explanations about the winery.
Going down to the pool
Looking down half way to the bottom
Looking up half the way down
Looking up from the bottom of the pool
The staircase going down to the lower chamber
But the way to the lower chamber is closed with rocks and garage
The winery
The winery cellars used to hold the jars of wine
Wondering around the tell
Looking South from the Tel Gibeon to Nabi Samwil
Going home, we were quite an attraction for the people of the village
The village of El-Jib is in area B (Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control)
The Gibeon valley, such a beautiful place but scared with fences.
Take Care
Gad
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