Study finds first cave pearls containing archaeological artifacts in historical Jerusalem tunnel

A research performed by Dr. Azriel Yechezkel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his colleagues from the Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University, printed within the journal Archaeometry, found the biggest recognized cave pearl deposit within the southern Levant. What makes these 50 cave pearls so distinctive is that a few of them comprise archaeological artifacts, making them the primary on the earth to comprise man-made objects.

Cave pearls are a kind of speleothem present in caves. They are spherical, pearl-like formations normally between 0.1 mm and 30cm lengthy. They kind round central nuclei, corresponding to sand grains coated in layer upon layer of mineral deposits.

Unlike most speleothems, which take hundreds of years to kind, cave pearls can kind over the course of some hundred years. To kind, cave pearls want quite a few circumstances met, particularly, the presence of saturated water, nuclei, a flattish cave flooring with a shallow pool of water, water motion within the type of drips or slow-flowing water, and modifications within the soil chemistry over time.

The cave pearls Dr. Azriel Yechezkel and his colleagues, Dr. Vaknin, Mrs. Cooper Frumkin, Dr. Ryb, Prof. Shhar, Prof. Gadot and Prof. Frumkin discovered, got here from the Joweizeh spring tunnel (ST). STs are synthetic tunnels designed to extract subsurface water from a perched aquifer and convey it to the floor.

The Joweizeh ST is without doubt one of the longest within the southern Levant and one of many oldest STs found worldwide. It spans 232m and flows northwest right into a wadi (dry valley or channel) earlier than contributing to the Refaim stream southwest of Jerusalem’s previous metropolis.

It consists of assorted sections, together with the primary part, constructed of hewn stone and roofed with stone slabs, and a second part carved instantly into the bedrock.

It was throughout the second part that the cave pearls have been found, though this discovery was fully by chance, says Dr. Yechezkel. “Our preliminary analysis targeted on mapping and surveying for archaeological artifacts throughout the spring tunnel. Cave pearls, a uncommon sort of speleothem, weren’t the first goal of our investigation. The discovery of those formations, and much more surprisingly, the presence of archaeological stays like pottery shards inside them, was an sudden and important discover.”

In a beforehand sealed-off and undiscovered part of the tunnel, the researchers found 50 cave pearls. Further evaluation revealed that 14 of those pearls contained pottery, whereas one other two contained historical plaster.

It was discovered that a lot of the pottery dated to the Hellenistic intervals (333–63 BCE), Roman (63 BCE–324 CE), or Byzantine (330–636 CE) intervals with solely two exceptions. One pottery sherd could have come from the Middle Bronze Age II (ca. seventeenth century BCE), whereas the opposite dates to across the Early Hellenistic, Iron Age, Persian, or Babylonian intervals.

Despite their finest efforts, a lot of the pottery fragments’ unique kinds and functions couldn’t be decided, says Dr. Yechezkel. “Despite our efforts, we couldn’t definitively establish the remaining pottery fragments embedded within the cave pearls. Nevertheless, it’s evident that these fragments span varied historic intervals and are composed of a variety of supplies.”

However, two fragments have been discovered to comprise a cobalt-rich coating. The manufacturing of cobalt-coated pottery was not attribute of native pottery however had been noticed in Cyprus and Ephesus (Turkey) in the course of the second and first centuries BCE. Such coatings have been typical for ceramic lamps, different examples of which have been present in luxurious Jerusalem homes.

Dr. Yechezkel explains why such an costly imported lamp would have discovered its means into the ST, “It’s my speculation that the guide labor of excavating and eradicating the particles was carried out by the employees. Yet, the general mission was undoubtedly overseen by engineers with experience in hydrology and geology.

“Evidence of such engineers, although from later time intervals, has been found in quite a few different tunnels each in Israel and internationally. The imported lamp might have belonged to one in all these engineers.”

Based on the findings within the cave pearls in addition to Proto-Aeolic capital reduction within the first part of the ST, it was decided that the Joweizeh SP was initially constructed in the course of the Iron Age II (eighth and seventh centuries), probably as a part of a royal property close to Jerusalem.

The tunnel was repeatedly visited and maintained, together with after Jerusalem’s destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and continued for use by the Persian (586–333 BCE) and Hellenistic intervals.

During the Hellenistic interval, nonetheless, it could have undergone important renovations, as evidenced by the plaster items and lots of pottery fragments discovered within the cave pearls that date to this period. It was additionally round this time that the primary cave pearls probably started to kind. The ST continued for use all through the Roman and Byzantine intervals earlier than it was deserted.

Besides historical looting, the one proof of more moderen visitation is the set up of a clay pipe by the tunnel, which was laid down within the twentieth century.

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