About the Spring

Ein Mesayaat 7020 is a stratum spring in the Kesalon stream in the Jerusalem Mountains, about half a kilometre east of Moshav Beit Nekofa. A small, square concrete pool is set within a 9 × 10 metre quarry that was probably the pool in ancient times.

The pool receives its water through a tunnel about 25 metres long which leads the water in from several directions. According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the tunnel and pool date back to the Roman period in Israel and were mainly used by the 10th Legion, which camped at the site and besieged Jerusalem during the Second Temple period.

Apart from the ruined terraces once used for farming, no village is known to have stood in the vicinity. A ditch leads from the pool to the south, which probably served as an irrigation system.

The spring has had several names. Veterans of Beit Nekofa, some of whom took part in the establishment of the village in 1949, immediately after the end of the War of Independence, call it the "rotating spring", after the sprawling tunnel — about 80 metres long — carved into the mountain rock, which leads the water into the pool from a number of places.

Other names mentioned in various places are "Ein Erez", "Ein Naqaa", "Ein Dilab", "the revolving cave" and more.

The place was neglected for decades after the pool was intentionally blocked by various parties following work done in the area. Nature took over, terraces collapsed and the antiquities were covered with earth. After decades of neglect, the entire complex was renovated and rebuilt by past and present reserve-duty fighters of the 7020 Auxiliary Company together with residents of Beit Nekofa, as a memorial site in memory of the 13 fighters of the 7020 Auxiliary Company (a reserve company) who were killed in battle at Jenin on 9 April 2002, during Operation Defensive Shield.

Also helping to restore the place were past and present fighters from the 7020 Battalion and the 5th Brigade, volunteers of the "New Shomer" organisation, and friends from the area.

In 2012 a rescue excavation was carried out at the site as part of the widening of Road No. 1 (the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem road). The excavation was conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by Netivei Israel. It revealed the water system used by the Roman legion stationed in the country.

Adjacent to the water pool are several ancient water installations whose use is unclear; one of them holds an additional spring flowing into the pool. After the restoration work began, water started to accumulate inside the collection pool, both from the tunnel and from the ancient water installations.

The place was restored and is maintained by volunteers, by the 7020 Auxiliary Company nonprofit organization, and with the support of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council and the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Over several concentrated days of strenuous work, the Company's past and present fighters worked alongside residents of Moshav Beit Nekofa and began to rehabilitate the spring and its surroundings, neglected for many years.

The Beit Nekofa Cooperative Association, the residents of the village and the members of the Company continue to develop and care for the complex on a regular basis, for the benefit of everyone hiking in the area. The Israel Antiquities Authority contributed greatly to the restoration of the place.