auberg-inn-jericho-logo

Weekly Jericho water supply – Ein Dyook

Jericho Water Supply Ein Dyook Auberg-Inn

At the feet of the Mount of Temptation in Jericho, lies the small village of Al Dyook Al Tahta, the neighborhood of Auberg-Inn. Other than hosting the important archaeological ruins of Herod’s Palace and Tel A-Samarat (and potentially the ruins of Palestinian homes threatened with Israeli military destruction orders), it also hosts Ein Dyook water source which supplies neighboring population and land with water for irrigation and human consumption.

Ein Dyook,  with two other main waters sources in the area, defy the desert and make Jericho the oasis that it is. The water’s distribution system reflects part of the ecological and social heritage of the village. The social aspect is reflected through the collective and equally distributed ownership of the five main original tribes over the source’s water. More recent properties and proprietors purchase water from one of the five owner tribes. As for the ecological side, it is easily visible in the distribution techniques used which have been practiced over the different ages (and Jericho goes back quite far). The methods used are primitive and are a living example of ancient irrigation techniques that use gravity to manual route and distribute water to the neighboring lands and farms (source article in Arabic).

[gdlr_row]
[gdlr_column size=”2/3″]
 Auberg-Inn was fortunate to be one of the last properties to gain access to the source’s old distribution network and to become part of this ecological system. The water arrives for about 20 minutes on schedule every six days and implies manual water routing outside and inside the property. The job requires a lot of attention and timing is the key to ensure our share is not wasted in between routes.  [/gdlr_column]
[gdlr_column size=”1/3″]Jericho water irrigation Auberg-Inn Palestine[/gdlr_column]
[/gdlr_row]

When its time, Abu Hasan leaves to the neighboring distribution point to route it to Auberg-Inn’s garden, then follows it along its route inside the garden to manually route it into different sections. During the 20 minutes, other than being a refreshing event to attend, the flowing water also fills two wells on different sides of the garden. Their water content is then pumped to irrigate the garden and plants during the following week until the next water schedule is due.

[gdlr_video url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSQkh1lyWw4″ ]