Mamilla pelvis

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The Mamilla Basin ( Arabic بركة ماميلا, DMG Birkat Māmīlā , Hebrew בריכת ממילא birkat mamilla , German 'Mamilla pond' ) is an ancient water basin west of the old city of Jerusalem . It is a rectangle, 65 m wide (in north-south direction), 97 m long and about 6 m deep.

Mamilla Basin, 2005

Surname

Antiochus Strategios first mentioned the name Mamilla in 614. Eutychios of Alexandria has the variant maqulla, which can easily be explained as a spelling mistake. The derivation of the name Mamilla from mamla = memory, to fill appears doubtful. More probable is the origin of the Roman woman's name Maximilla, which indicates a benefactor from Roman times .

Overview of the Hinnom Valley with the Mamilla Basin and Sultan's Pond

geography

The Mamilla Basin is located approximately 650 m northwest of the Jaffa Gate . To the west of the Mamilla Basin is Menasche-Ben-Israel-Straße and behind it the Independence Park. To the north and north-west of the Mamilla Basin is the construction site for the Museum of Tolerance and Hillel Street. The Gershon-Agron-Straße delimits the area to the south and south-east.

The Mamilla Basin has been surrounded by a large Islamic cemetery since the 11th century . This cemetery was gradually destroyed and built over by the creation of parking lots, streets, the Independence Park and the building of the Museum of Tolerance.

The Mamilla Basin is located at the upper, northwestern beginning of the Hinnom Valley . During the rainy season, the water flowed into the reservoir from the surrounding mountains. There was no source of its own. Already in antiquity, the water from the Mamilla Basin was forwarded via an aqueduct , which has been proven by excavations , to the Hezekiah Basin in downtown Jerusalem and to the Sultan Basin southwest of the Old City. Steps lead down to the bottom of the Mamilla Basin.

Mamilla Basin 1857

history

So far, exact archaeological investigations of the Mamilla basin are missing. The assumptions for its origin go in the direction of the Hellenistic- Roman and Roman times.

Some authors mention Herod as the builder of the Mamilla Basin . He improved the water supply systems in Jerusalem during his reign.

The discovery of aqueducts and grottoes near the confluence of Menasche-Ben-Israel-Straße and Gershon-Agron-Straße suggest its use in ancient times. Several cisterns were connected to an underground water supply system here.

The Byzantines used the Mamilla Basin as a water reservoir.

As part of the war between the East and the Persians , the Persians conquered Jerusalem in 614. During this conquest, Persians and Jews murdered 4500 to 24,500 (some sources: up to 60,000) Christians in the Mamilla basin and buried them in a mass grave in the vicinity. At the edge of the mass grave stood a small Byzantine chapel. This chapel was mentioned by the monk Bernardus in 870. He writes that it was built by St. Mamilla, who buried the Christians who were killed in the massacre here.

In the time of the crusaders (1099 to 1187) further legends were created. At that time the small Byzantine chapel was still standing. A legend from this period tells of a lion who was sent down by God to collect the corpses of the murdered Christians in a cave and to save them from burning. This cave was called carnarium leonis (= meat house of the lion). The grottos were considered this cave. Johannes von Würzburg , around 1170, mentioned 12,000 corpses. Theodericus Monachus , around 1172, described a chapel on the way, in which over 100 steps lead down into a grotto with corpses. Ernoul , around 1187, spoke of a monastery at this point where mass is read every day.

After the crusaders withdrew, the chapel fell apart. Mujir ad-Din , around 1496, mentioned a former Dair al-Achmar (= Red Monastery). This was converted into a meeting place for the Sheikh Qalandarije in 1390 and disintegrated in 1488.

In the 19th century it was common to water and bathe animals in the Mamilla Basin. In 1845 Titus Tobler described the “Mamilla corpse field”: a water basin, to the west of it the ossuary grotto, above the square ruin of a chapel. Jewish immigrants who settled Jerusalem and the surrounding area respected the burial ground and left it untouched. It was not until 1957 that the area began to be gradually destroyed and built over.

In 2007 you could visit the Mamilla Basin and its surroundings on walking paths. The small remaining remnant of the Islamic cemetery was in a ruinous state. The "lions' den" formed an underground cave system with two grottos that was misused for waste disposal. There was still some old Christian graffiti around the entrance steps.

Wildlife

In the rainy season, crabs, frogs and insects live in the Mamilla Basin. It is visited by migratory birds in spring.

In 1997 a new species of tree frog was discovered in the Mamilla basin . This species was named Hyla heinzsteinitzi in honor of the Israeli marine biologist Heinz Steinitz . It is believed that this species became extinct in 2007.

Web links

Commons : Mamilla Basin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Max Küchler: Jerusalem: A manual and study travel guide to the Holy City. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-525-50170-2 , pp. 789, 1013, 1020-1023.
  2. ↑ Mamilla's pelvis in OSM. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  3. ↑ An Archaeological Excavation in Jerusalem Has Revealed: This is How They Filled The Sultan's Pool With Water at Israel Antiquities Authority. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  4. ↑ Illustrations of Scripture: suggested by a tour through the Holy Land By Horatio Balch Hackett, Heath & Graves, 1856, p. 269
  5. ↑ הניסיון המצטבר בנושא פירוק והרכבה מחדש מלמד כי זהו אמצעי מפוקפק ביותר לשימור at 02net. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  6. ↑ Jerusalem at Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  7. ↑ Massacre at Mamilla at The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  8. ↑ Illustrations of Scripture: suggested by a tour through the Holy Land By Horatio Balch Hackett, Heath & Graves, 1856, p. 269
  9. ↑ Jerusalem blessed, Jerusalem cursed: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Holy City from David's time to our own. By Thomas A. Idinopulos , IR Dee, 1991, p. 152
  10. ↑ Who's to blame for disappearance of a new species of amphibian? , By Ofri Ilani, Haaretz, 2007
  11. ↑ Constantin Grach, Yeshurun ​​Plesser and Yehudah L. Werner: A new, sibling, tree frog from Jerusalem (Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae) , Department of Evolution, Systematics and Ecology, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904 Jerusalem, Israel, Journal of Natural History, 2007; 41 (9-12): 709-728, ISSN 0022-2933 print / ISSN 1464-5262, DOI: 10.1080 / 00222930701261794, online
  12. ↑ מבריכת ממילא לשולחן המזכירה: כך נעלמה האילנית החדשה bie Haaretz. Retrieved July 22, 2019.

Coordinates: 31 ° 46 ′ 40.4 ″  N , 35 ° 13 ′ 14.5 ″  E