The Secret of the Cistern

BAR volunteers discover Beth-Shemesh’s lifeblood

When Sennacherib destroyed Beth-Shemesh in 701 B.C.E., he did not drive out all the residents: A few dedicated souls clung to their hometown, resettling beside the town reservoir (drawing, lower left). But they did not last long. In the early seventh century, Philistine marauders apparently attacked Beth-Shemesh and sealed off the water supply, thereby forcing the last Beth-Shemeshites to abandon their city.

Thanks to two volunteers who joined the dig at Beth-Shemesh after reading about it in BAR, excavators Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman have been able to piece together this dramatic story of Beth-Shemesh’s final hours.