Dam and Tunnel

This is a view of the old Dam and related Tunnel at the Nahal Tanninim (also Taninim; Crocodile Stream).  It is located about 2.6 mi. north northeast of Caesarea.  The Dam was built to block up the Tanninim Stream so that a 1,500-acre lake formed behind it.  The elevated water level of the lake (about 9 feet) was the major source of water for the Low Level Aqueduct.

Later, in the Byzantine and Ottoman Periods, water-operated flour mills were constructed in the area.

The stream was named "Tanninim" — Hebrew for crocodiles (תנינים/תנין) — because these reptiles inhabited the nearby Kebara swamps until the beginning of the 20th century.

This photo was taken in the 1970s, prior to the development of this place as a Nature Reserve.