Aqueducts carrying water to cisterns, Masada
In 37-31 BCE, King Herod’s engineers came up with an ingenious water system to supply water for his cliff top fortress in the arid Judean Desert.
Rain water on Masada was collected, but this would not be enough. However, five times the amount of rainfall fell on the mountains running from Jerusalem to Hebron. A system of catchment areas was devised. Rainwater flowing down from the mountains into the desert would often cause flashfloods near the Dead Sea. A gorge to the west of Masada was transformed into a dam to catch the flood water which was then diverted through a system of aqueducts, using only gravity to bring the water to the cisterns on Masada’s western side.
Aqueducts carrying water to cisterns, Masada
In 37-31 BCE, King Herod’s engineers came up with an ingenious water system to supply water for his cliff top fortress in the arid Judean Desert.
Rain water on Masada was collected, but this would not be enough. However, five times the amount of rainfall fell on the mountains running from Jerusalem to Hebron. A system of catchment areas was devised. Rainwater flowing down from the mountains into the desert would often cause flashfloods near the Dead Sea. A gorge to the west of Masada was transformed into a dam to catch the flood water which was then diverted through a system of aqueducts, using only gravity to bring the water to the cisterns on Masada’s western side.