Lost piece of Jesus' world emerges after 2,000 years in extraordinary discovery

A 2,000-year-old aqueduct was recently uncovered near Jerusalem — and it likely supplied water used by Jesus and his disciples, according to a biblical scholar.

Archaeologists unearthed a roughly 984-foot section of the ancient waterway south of Kibbutz Ramat Rachel — which once carried water from Solomon's Pools near Bethlehem to Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

The discovery was announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) on Oct. 11, following excavations ahead of a planned residential development.

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Originally constructed during the Hasmonean period, the aqueduct remained in intermittent use until about a century ago, the IAA said.

The waterway relied on gravity to transport water to the Second Temple complex, the center of Jewish religious life at the time, where it was used for ritual purification and cleaning up after sacrifices.

The Second Temple complex was also the setting of the biblical account of Jesus cleansing the Temple, during which he overturned the tables of money changers and drove out merchants.

The Lower Aqueduct was "probably built in the time of the Hasmonean kings to supply water to Jerusalem," according to excavation directors Benyamin Storchan, Gil Freid and Rotem Cohen of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

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"The aqueduct runs about 21 km [13 miles] from Solomon's Pools, south of Bethlehem, to Jerusalem," the directors said in a statement.

"Along most of the route, the water flowed along a very gentle gradient, dropping just one meter [3.3 feet] in elevation per kilometer [0.6 miles]."

The aqueduct will be preserved and incorporated into the main entrance of the planned residential development, allowing visitors to see the ancient engineering firsthand.

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"The engineering that was required to make this work is really amazing," Douglas Estes, an associate professor of religion at New College of Florida, told Fox News Digital.

Estes said the aqueduct's construction reflected Jerusalem's prominence in the ancient world, comparing the significance of such infrastructure to the construction of modern skyscrapers.

"The Hasmoneans, Jewish rulers, were building this aqueduct at the same time that the Romans were building their aqueduct that carried water to the Temple of Jupiter on Capitoline Hill," Estes said.

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"We think of Rome as being the power in the Mediterranean at the time, and we think of Jerusalem as being a small capital of the city-state, but they were actually advancing in technology at the same time and building their aqueducts together."

Beyond its impressive engineering, Estes said the discovery also sheds light on religious practices in ancient Jerusalem and their connections to early Christianity.

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Estes said the aqueduct's water was used for both practical and religious purposes, including cleaning up after sacrifices and performing purification rituals at the Temple Mount.

Estes said he was "confident" that Jesus, his disciples and other early Christians would have used water supplied by the aqueduct, although direct archaeological evidence of their individual use has not been established.

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The system, which relied on fresh, or "living" water, also carries symbolic significance for Christians, Estes said.

"It brought living water from Bethlehem to the Temple Mount, so that sanctification could take place after sacrifice," Estes said.

"For Christians, Jesus is the living water, and therefore … he came from Bethlehem as the living [water] to become the temple, to make the sacrifice of himself for all people."

Estes added, "There is a rich symbolism that we see here in this aqueduct."