A Newly Discovered Aqueduct at Paneas

Recent excavations in front of the Pan Grotto at Paneas exposed a hitherto unknown aqueduct. The aqueduct, dated to the first Century CE, drew water from the grotto and was part of a royal dining Compound in the style of a Roman nymphaeum-triclinium. The aqueduct kept the water level in the grotto at a certain elevation and protected the Compound from floods. A massive rock at the center of the pool in the grotto was a focal point in the median axis of the Compound; the aqueduct ensured that it stayed constantly exposed above the water level. Stratigraphic and radiometric data indicate that the complex was erected during the reign of Agrippa II in the last third of the first Century CE. The aqueduct's gabled ceiling and plaster type serve as chronological markers for aqueducts in Judaea from the early and middle Roman periods.