Ein Lavan () is a spring located in the outskirts of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, 2 km east of the

Jerusalem Biblical Zoo The Tisch Family Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem (, ), popularly known as the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, is a zoo located in the Malha neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel. It is famous for its Afro-Asiatic collection of wildlife, many of which are descri ...

. It lies in the

Judean Mountains The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills (, or ,) are a mountain range in the West Bank and Israel where Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron and several other biblical sites are located. The mountains reach a height of . The Judean Mountains can be div ...

. Ein Lavan springs in the Lavan Ridge, just above the northern bank of Nahal Refaim, and is surrounded by

fig trees ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending in ...

walnuts A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an invo ...

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

carob The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit, which takes the form of seed pods, and as an ornam ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

terebinth ''Pistacia terebinthus'' also called the terebinth and the turpentine tree, is a deciduous shrub species of the genus '' Pistacia'', native to the Mediterranean region from the western regions of Morocco and Portugal to Greece and western and ...

, and mulberry trees.

Archaeology

Over the years, the

Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...

conducted several salvage excavations around Ein Lavan and in the valley at its foot. Archaeological remains revealed during excavations indicate the site was intensively used for agriculture since ancient times. According to the excavators, the remains are typical of the rural agricultural hinterland of the

southern Levant The Southern Levant is a geographical region that corresponds approximately to present-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan; some definitions also include southern Lebanon, southern Syria and the Sinai Peninsula. As a strictly geographical descript ...

. The uncovered remains include

agricultural terraces A terrace in agriculture is a flat surface that has been cut into hills or mountains to provide areas for the cultivation for crops, as a method of more effective farming. Terrace agriculture or cultivation is when these platforms are created s ...

and

watchtowers A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

, winepresses, quarries,

rock-cut tombs A rock-cut tomb is a burial chamber that is cut into an existing, naturally occurring rock formation, so a type of rock-cut architecture. They are usually cut into a cliff or sloping rock face, but may go downward in fairly flat ground. It was a ...

, residential caves,

irrigation canals Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or river engineering, engineered channel (geography), channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport watercraft, vehicles (e.g. ...

, water pools and remains of structures. The remains indicate that there was continuous human activity at the site from the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

up until the end of the Mandatory period. The spring was used for agriculture by the inhabitants of al-Walaja. Most of the findings that were uncovered were from the

Byzantine period The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and the early Muslim period. They include numerous mosaic stones and fragments of tiles that indicate a public building, fragments of pottery that are mostly dated to the Byzantine and early Muslim periods and a few to the Iron Age, six coins that can be identified: a coin from the years 351-361 (uncertain identification), a coin from the period of Constantine II (355-361); Two coins from the years 383–395, a coin from the

Umayyad period The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member ...

after the reform (697-750 CE) and a Mandatory coin ( mil) from 1943. In addition, several metal items were found, including a bell with an English inscription and a button of a unit of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

from the Mandatory period.

Development

In 2015, the spring was renovated and the water pools were built and restored by the

Jerusalem Municipality The Jerusalem Municipality (), the seat of the Israeli municipal administration, consists of a number of buildings located on Jaffa Road in the city of Jerusalem. History British Mandate town hall (1930) Jerusalem's old town hall was bui ...

and the Nature and Parks Authority as part of the wider Jerusalem Park. In September 2017, the National Council for Planning and Construction approved the construction of 4,500 housing units on the Lavan ridge above the spring. There have been several concerns raised about the planned construction in Ein Laban that would cut off the flow of water there. In March 2022,

Moshe Lion Moshe Lion, or Moshe Leon (, born 6 October 1961), is an Israeli politician who is currently the Mayor of Jerusalem. He previously served as a member of the Jerusalem City Council, director-general of the Prime Minister's Office, Chairman of t ...

, mayor of Jerusalem, decided to cancel the plan in its original form and promote another alternative that would result in construction on a third of the area that was originally intended for construction. His decision received support from most environmental organizations.

References

{{coord, 31.7500, N, 35.1581, E, source:wikidata, display=title Geography of Jerusalem Tourist attractions in Jerusalem Ancient sites in Jerusalem Springs of Israel Landforms of Jerusalem District