Ein Lavan () is a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

located in the outskirts of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, 2 km east of the

Jerusalem Biblical Zoo The Tisch Family Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem ( he, גן החיות התנ"כי בירושלים על שם משפחת טיש, ar, حديقة الحيوان الكتابية في أورشليم القدس '), popularly known as the Jerusalem Bibl ...

. It lies in the

Judean Mountains The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills ( he, הרי יהודה, translit=Harei Yehuda) or the Hebron Mountains ( ar, تلال الخليل, translit=Tilal al-Khalīl, links=, lit=Hebron Mountains), is a mountain range in Palestine and Israel wh ...

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

walnuts A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, ''Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true bot ...

, almonds,

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 pods, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and lands ...

s, olives,

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

, and

mulberry trees ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

Archaeology

Over the years, the

Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of ...

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 encompassing the southern half of the Levant. It corresponds approximately to modern-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan; some definitions also include southern Lebanon, southern Syria and/or the Sinai P ...

. The uncovered remains include

agricultural terraces In agriculture, a terrace is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming. This type of landscaping is therefore ...

and

watchtowers A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

winepress A winepress is a device used to extract juice from crushed grapes during wine making. There are a number of different styles of presses that are used by wine makers but their overall functionality is the same. Each style of press exerts control ...

es, 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 Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

, 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-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

up until the end of the Mandatory period. The spring was used for agriculture by the inhabitants of

al-Walaja Al-Walaja ( ar, الولجة) is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, four kilometers northwest of Bethlehem. It is an enclave in the Seam Zone, near the Green Line. Al-Walaja is partly under the jurisdiction of the Bethlehem Governorate ...

. Most of the findings that were uncovered were from the

Byzantine period The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

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 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 land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

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 ( he, עיריית ירושלים; Iriyat yerushalayim), 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 ...

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 ( he, משה ליאון, 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 ...

, 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