The Bilama historical tunnel to the south of Jenin city to the north of the West Bank serves as a reminder of the deep history of the city and its heritage which dates back to the Bronze Age three thousand years BC.
The eye-catchy tunnel draws the attention of all people who cross by extending thousands of years back and serving as a symbol of protection for a historical Canaanite city called Bilama.
The Bilama tunnel has been hidden under the ruins until it was revealed and rehabilitated to receive visitors in 2005 as one of the most important historical landmarks in Palestine. Most of the secrets of this historical site are still to be revealed as only a small part of it was rehabilitated so far due to the lack of funds leaving the largest part of the tunnel hidden until now.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Heritage the water tunnel is one of the oldest water systems in Palestine and maybe in the entire world. It was part of a historical city which has been covered under the ground known as Bilama city and is now known as Khirbit Bilama.
Rooted in history
The site represents a long period of history extending from the Bronze Age some 3000 years BC and reaching the Ottoman Empire. The site had different names throughout history. It was known as Bilaam in the Old Testament and in the Egyptian transcripts. It was known as Telmot in the Greek sources and it was one of the cities in the Bronze Era which was occupied by the third Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III in the 15 Century BC. The site was an important landmark in the Iron Age according to the Bible.
The site maintained its character during the Roman the Bronze the Crusader the Byzantine and the Ayyubid Eras as a small castle was found in it as well as a Muslim shrine known as the Sheikh Mansour Shrine.
Balama tunnel is a historical landmark which was built to serve as a secret path and exit and it provides water to the city to which it is connected on the top of a nearby mountain. Two parts of the tunnel has been revealed with a total distance of 125 meters.
The structure of the site goes back to the Byzantine Era while the tunnel has been used earlier than that and was used by the residents of the city as a secret path to reach out to the water-well during the Iron Age.
Many secrets
Khalid Rabayia a director at the Ministry of Tourism says “The tunnel was discovered in 1996 while constructing the Jenin-Nablus road which called for urgent excavation works at the entrance of the tunnel to maintain it. In 1998 larger renovation works in collaboration between the Ministry and the University of Leiden in Holland took place where 115 meters were revealed. The Ministry learnt that the tunnel was not dug in a straight manner which made digging works even harder.”
Rabayia told the PIC reporter “In 1999 we conducted further renovation works at the tunnel to rehabilitate it as a tourist site as part of the project in cooperation with the UNDP.”
He added “The tunnel represents various historical periods which began at the early Bronze Era some 3000 years BC where pottery discovered goes back to the Bronze and Iron Eras as well as the Persian Hellenistic Romanian Byzantine and Umayyad Eras in addition to the Phoenician writings which dates back to the 7th Century BC.”
The tunnel stops now at an Iron gate no one knows what is hidden behind after the excavations stopped because of the lack of funding making the remaining part of the tunnel unknown and yet to be discovered.
