Who Built the Water System at Gezer? A Preliminary Assessment of the Renewed Excavations

By: Dan Warner

In 1907, the Irish archaeologist Robert S. Macalister found an anomaly during his pioneering excavations at Gezer. He thought it was a reservoir but the feature turned out to be one of the largest, if not the largest, water systems in the ancient Near East [i].

But no sooner had he cleared it out, a severe winter storm hurled his debris back in sealing it for over 100 years and leaving it untouched until recently. But some of the fog maybe lifting concerning certain unanswered questions, left by Macalister so long ago[ii].

In her recent discussion concerning the dating of the Megiddo water system, Norma Franklin raised an interesting question-could other water systems that have been confidently ascribed to the Iron Age and the Kings of Israel really have been built much earlier? It is our pleasure to add to the discussion of water systems in Israel based upon our four seasons (2010-13), at Gezer and to present my current thinking, which may not necessarily reflect the opinions of the entire staff.

Over the past four years, the Gezer Water System Project has removed roughly 463 tons of debris with a modified backhoe and winch. Excavations have been under the direction of myself, Jim Parker and Dennis Cole of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and Tsvika Tsuk of the Israel National Parks Authority. At the end of the 2012 season, we reached the bottom of the water shaft, and in 2013 began to investigate its water pool and sink several probes into the extended cavern. The system consists of three major sections: a keyhole shaped entrance, a vaulted water shaft or tunnel which turns east terminating at a water pool, and a cavern which continues east from the water pool.

Function – The primary function of the Gezer water system was to reach water (which may have been obvious to them from springs outside the city), and apparently not to create an exit from the city. After tunneling approximately 60 feet through compacted mud, the nose of the cavern opens up enough for a person to stand upright.

Many scholars have believed that an exit might exist inside the cavern, which Macalister missed. However, after probing the cavern and re-examining the entire length of its southern wall (as did Macalister), no signs were found of engineering works that might lead one to conclude there was an exit. Ronny Reich and Ely Shukron had several years earlier probed the southern slope of the tell, following the presumed line of the cavern, and also found no traces of an exit[iii]. If the hewers of this system had wanted to include an exit, they could have done just that, based upon the engineering of this monumental system.

Several stylish, artistic features suggest we may also need to consider whether the water system had some type of special or even cultic function. Consider the well-plumbed, and smoothed arched walls that terminate half way down the water shaft into a nice ornamental frieze or ban, followed by a second, less artistic arch located half again down the water shaft. In addition, at least six niches were carved in the walls of the water shaft, at least three may be “baetylic,” that is, they may have functioned like a “standing stone.” One was found to have a resemblance to the standing stones found by Macalister in the center of the tel, which also dates to the Middle Bronze Age[iv].

Dating – This is the big question. Can the water system be dated and what would the ramifications be for other water systems? Several factors in my mind seem to confirm dating the system along Macalister’s lines. Macalister had dated the water system to his “Third Semitic” period, which we would now call the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1550-1150 BCE), based upon pottery and other artifacts found in the accumulated debris above the silted-up mouth of the system’s entrance. Allowing for a rather long period of use to account for the wear on the stone steps, he thought the water system had been cut between 2000-1800 BCE or the Middle Bronze Age.

Having reached the water pool at the base of the water shaft, we exposed the last in a series of 80 steps, which Macalister had completely revealed previously. When he reached the water pool it was very muddy and difficult to transverse into the cavern so he laid a series of stone slabs across the water pool to enter the cavern. This was a Godsend for us, since he was not able to clean the cavern. His stone slabs over the water pool sealed to a certain extent the contents in the pool.

In 2013, we opened three probes in the water pool, most reaching a depth of 2 meters or more, and still were not able to reach the bottom (there was no water either). However, after wet sifting the mud, we did find pottery, with no sherds later than the Late Bronze Age. This is, again, only a preliminary evaluation, as we have not done an extended analysis of the sherds. In 2014, we intend to clear the rest of the water pool and check for other dateable materials. But to date the material supports the idea that the water system was constructed and used during the second millennium, not the first.

To this we may add Reich and Shukron’s comparative work in Jerusalem. They have made the important observation that the gradient of both Jerusalem and Gezer’s water systems are very similar, which suggested to them the possibility that both tunnels could have been cut using the same technical Middle Bronze Age technical expertise. The Jerusalem water system also has niches similar to those mentioned above.

Then there is the Gezer water system’s location. In a study published during his excavations William Dever used the water system’s proximity to the Southern Gate to argue against a Middle Bronze Age date, reasoning that it is too close for the two to have been constructed at the same time. However about 12 meters separates these two structures. Reich and Shukron have pointed out that if there had a protective enclosure surrounding the water system to prevent one falling in, it would have been one of the first things to collapse back into the tunnel when it went out of use. It should also be added that Macalister found no walls.

Conversely, it should be noted that the entrance to the water system is at the same level as the gate (215 meters above sea level), which points there was indeed a relationship between the two rather than not. Certainly, the 12 meters distance between them is more than enough space to navigate around the water system safely whether or not there was a protective structure.

One final question is, what did the builders do with all that chalk they excavated from the system? Again, the keen eye of Reich and Shukron, noticed in Dever’s article[v] that project geologist Ruben Bullard found unweathered chalk in the both the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze glacis around the site. Could it not have come from here? This is another hint of the water system’s date.

As Norma Franklin noted, the water system’s engineering matches well the demonstrated abilities of the Canaanites. Here at Gezer and other places, they were able to construct impressive structures like the massive standing stones, enormous earthen ramparts, fortified walls, the substantial Southern Gate, and the massive tower (L5017) to the west of the Southern Gate complex. While the kings of Israel were capable of substantial engineering feats, the Gezer water system, like its counterpart at Megiddo, is unlikely to have been one of them.

I invite all to come by during this summer’s excavations (May 25-June 13, 2014), and take a look at this engineering marvel.

Dan Warner is Associate Professor of Old Testament and Archaeology and Don and Helen Bryant Chair of Archaeology at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

[i] See Macalester’s final report in Gezer I-III, The Excavations of Gezer, I902-1905, 1907- 1909 (London)

[ii] See my forthcoming article “The Renewed Excavations of the Gezer Water System” in A City Set on a Hill, Festschrift in Honor of James F. Strange, edited by Daniel Warner, and The Rev. Donald Binder, Borderstone Press, (2014).

[iii][iii] See R. Reich And E. Shurkon’s investigation looking for an outer exit, “Notes on the Gezer Water System”, PEQ, 135, 2003:22-29.

[iv][iv] See photos of standing stones and niche

[v] Dever, W. G. 1969. ‘The water systems at Hazor and Gezer, BA, 32, 71-78