JERUSALEM: Israeli archaeologists said on Sunday they had discovered an ancient drainage tunnel in Jerusalem that Jews had used to escape from the Holy City’s Roman conquerors 2,000 years ago.

The tunnel is believed to have been Jerusalem’s main drainage channel at the time of the Roman conquest in 70 AD, stretching beneath the main road of the city and eventually reaching the Dead Sea, the Antiquities Authority said in a statement.

“According to the writings of Josephus Flavius, the residents of the city fled to this channel at the time of the revolt in order to hide from the Romans,” it said.

“The channel is built of ashlar stones and is covered with heavy stone slabs that are actually the paving stones of the street. In some places the channel reaches a height of about three metres (yards) and is one metre wide, so that it is possible to walk in it comfortably,” it said.

The excavation was led by Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa and Eli Shukron of the Antiquities Authority.

“There is evidence in the writings of Josephus Flavius, the historian who described the revolt, the conquest and the destruction of Jerusalem, that numerous people took shelter in the channel and even lived in it for a period until they succeeded to flee the city through its southern end,” the statement said.

The dig also turned up pottery shards, fragments of vessels and coins from the era. The Romans conquered Jerusalem in the year 70, destroying the Jewish Second Temple.—AFP