A limepit is either a place where limestone is quarried, or a man-made pit used to burn lime stones in the same way that modern-day kilns and furnaces constructed of brick are now used above ground for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO3) and by which quicklime (calcium oxide, CaO) is produced, an essential component in waterproofing and in wall plastering (plaster skim).
The production of lime in the Land of Israel has been dated as far back as the Canaanite period, and has continued in successive generations ever since. The man-made limepit was usually dug in ground near the place where limestone could be quarried. Remnants of old limepits have been unearthed in archaeological digs all throughout the Levant. In a country where hundreds of such limepits or limekilns for burning limestone were found, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) describes dozens of them (Hebrew : בור סיד / כבשן סיד), one discovered in Kiryat Ye'arim, [1] another in Har Giora - East (2 km. north of Bar-Giora), [2] as well as in Neve Yaakov, [3] among other places. Two lime kilns, stratigraphically dated to the late Hellenistic period were excavated at Ramat Rachel, the latter of which being circular in shape (3.6 metres in diameter) and built into the ruins of a large pool, using earlier walls. [4] A rounded kiln (2.5–2.8 metres in diameter) was found northeast of Jerusalem dating back to the Iron Age (seventh–sixth century BCE), and was built of stones and had a rectangular unit adjacent to it. [5] In the Lachish area, several lime kilns were excavated by a team on behalf of the IAA, and which kilns were partially hewn in the bedrock and partially built of fieldstones, and last used at some point between the mid-15th century and the mid-17th century CE. [6]
In Bedouin-Arab culture in Palestine, the limepit was dug to a depth of about 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) and about 3 metres (9.8 ft) in diameter. By all appearances, the pit was made after the same basic principle used in a "Dakota fire pit," which is made with an air inlet at the base, allowing for air-ventilation, but on a larger scale. Air intake was achieved by digging an adjacent channel which ran from a short distance into the limepit, or else an underground shaft (shafts) at floor level of limepit leading from an open area, allowing for a steady, free-flowing draught of air to be drawn into the limepit as it burns. In this way, there was no need for the use of bellows to reach a high temperature, but only to stoke the fire with wood continuously for several days for it to reach a temperature of 900° Celsius (1650° F). Its mode of operation was similar to that of a shaft kiln. After cooling, wood ashes that had accumulated were then separated from the burnt blocks of limestone. The limestone blocks were then crushed, afterwards slaked (the process of adding water and constantly turning the lime to create a chemical reaction, whereby the burnt lime, or what is known also as calcium oxide, [7] is changed into calcium hydroxide), and mixed with an aggregate to form an adhesive paste (plaster) used in construction and for daubing buildings.
When properly burnt, limestone loses its carbonic acid (H2CO3) and becomes converted into caustic or quicklime (CaO). [8] One-hundred parts of raw limestone yields about 56 parts of quicklime. [8] In the West, quicklime was formerly a major component in common mortar, besides its predominant use in plastering. In some Middle-Eastern countries where rain-fall was scarce in the dry season, lime production for use in plastering home-made cisterns (in making them impermeable by adding thereto a pozzolanic agent) was especially important. This enabled them to collect the winter run-off of rain water and to have it stored for later use, whether for personal or agricultural needs. [9] Lime is also an important component in the production of Nabulsi soap, [10] in dyeing fabrics, and in use as a depilatory.
Many limepits were sunken in the ground at a depth of between 2.5 and 5 meters and 3 to 4.5 meters in diameter, in a circular fashion, and some were built with a retaining wall along the inside for support, usually constructed of uncut field-stones. Simpler limepits were made without supportive walls. In the following account, Abu-Rabiʻa describes the practice of Bedouins in the Negev, during the late 19th and early 20th-century:
Lime is derived from chalk by burning. The Bedouins used it in plastering their cisterns. Burning chalk stone was performed in simple kilns in close proximity to where the chalk was found. Lime kilns were made by digging a round hole, three metres wide, two and a half metres deep. After the hole was dug, the chalk and fuel for a fire would be brought to it. Stones of chalk (limestone) would be arranged in a circular dome in the pit. The burning process would last three to six days, without letup. After the burning was finished, the kiln would be left to cool for four to six days. The lime would then be taken out. The large lime blocks along the edge of the pit were considered of the highest quality, while the small pieces towards the center of the pit were considered grade B. One camel load, or cantur (qentar / quntar = 100 ratels, or 250-300 kilograms), of lime would fetch 40 grush on the Jerusalem market in the early 1880s. [11]
In Palestine, the principal fuel used to keep the lime-kiln burning was the dried brushwood of prickly burnet ( Sarcopoterium spinosum ) and savory ( Satureja thymbra ), where often camel loads of this dried wood would be hauled to the lime-kiln. [12] Monolithic stone structures were already in use for burning limestone during the Ottoman period, throughout the Levant. [5] Modern kilns for burning lime first appeared in Palestine during the British Mandate. [11]
The lime stones selected were those that had the least amount of impurities within them. Limepits were almost always built near the supply of limestone, and a sufficient pile of wood kindling was heaped in great store before the actual burning process began, a supply that was to last between 3 and 7 days of continual burning, both, by night and day. In the southern Mediterranean regions, one of the favorite wood sources was thorny burnet ( Sarcopoterium spinosum ). [13] [14] The fire was attended by men with long staves and pitchforks who pushed the burning material into the pit. Initially, a cloud of smoke billowed from the pit. After several days of burning, when the uppermost stone in the fire pit began to glow a fiery red, it signaled that the burning process of the lime was finished, and that the process of carbon dioxide emissions from the limestone has been completed, and that the lime was now ready for marketing as lime or powder. [13] After being allowed to cool, the burnt limestone was extracted from the pit when it was light and brittle. During the burning process, the limestone loses about 50% of its original anatomical weight. [13] The lime becomes ready for use only after water has been added.
A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is
Afula is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of 2021, the city had a population of 59,075.
Kiryat Ata is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. In 2021 it had a population of 60,102, 92% of whom were Jewish citizens.
Tell Qasile is an archaeological site near the Yarkon River in Tel Aviv, Israel. Over 3,000 years old, the site contains the remains of a port city founded by the Philistines in the 12th century BC.
Avdat, also known as Abdah and Ovdat and Obodat, is a site of a ruined Nabataean city in the Negev desert in southern Israel. It was the most important city on the Incense Route after Petra, between the 1st century BCE and the 7th century CE. It was founded in the 3rd century BCE, and inhabited by Nabataeans, Romans, Byzantines, and during the early Islamic period. Avdat was a seasonal camping ground for Nabataean caravans travelling along the early Petra–Gaza road in the 3rd – late 2nd century BCE. The city's original name was changed to Avdat in honor of Nabataean King Obodas I, who, according to tradition, was revered as a deity and was buried there.
Lime plaster is a type of plaster composed of sand, water, and lime, usually non-hydraulic hydrated lime. Ancient lime plaster often contained horse hair for reinforcement and pozzolan additives to reduce the working time.
Bir al-Maksur or Beer el-Maksura is an Arab Bedouin local council in the Northern District of Israel located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north-west of Nazareth. In 2021 its population was 9,959. The villagers belong to the Arab el-Hujeirat Bedouin tribe, settled there in the 1950s.
Eilabun is an Arab Christian village located in the Beit Netofa Valley around 15 kilometres south-west of Safed in northern Galilee between Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. It ihad a population of 5,812 in 2021, which is predominantly Christian (70.5%). In 1973, Eilabun was granted local council status by the Israeli government.
Eshtaol is a moshav in central Israel, and a biblical location mentioned in the Books of Joshua and Judges and in the first Book of Chronicles. Located 6 km (4 mi) north of Beit Shemesh, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2021, it had a population of 1,231.
Ilut, also spelt ʿAilut, is an Arab local council in the Northern District of Israel. It was declared a local council in 1991. In 2021 its population was 8,654.
Taibe, meaning "The goodly", is a Muslim Arab village in northeastern Israel on the Issachar Plateau. It falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 1,965.
Tamra is an Arab village in north-eastern Israel. Located in the Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 1,656.
Ibtin is a Bedouin village in northern Israel. Located in the Lower Galilee around half a kilometre from Kfar Hasidim, it falls under the jurisdiction of Zevulun Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 2,900.
Meleke, also transliterated melekeh or malaki, is a lithologic type of white, coarsely-crystalline, thickly bedded-limestone found in the Judaean Mountains in Israel and the State of Palestine. It has been used in the traditional architecture of Jerusalem since ancient times, especially in Herodian architecture. Though it is often popularly referred to as Jerusalem stone, that phrase can refer to a number of different types of stone found and used in or associated with Jerusalem.
Ras al-Amud is a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, located southeast of the Old City of Jerusalem, overlooking the Palestinian neighborhoods of Silwan to the south and Abu Dis and al-Eizariya to the east, and bordering the Jewish neighborhood of Ma'ale HaZeitim to the north, which overlooks the Temple Mount. There were about 11,922 Arabs living in the neighborhood in 2003.
Khirbat Zakariyya was a Palestinian village in the Ramle Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 12, 1948, under the second stage of Operation Dani. It was located 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Ramla.
Tel Hashash or Tell el-Hashash is an archaeological site in the heart of the Bavli neighborhood of Tel Aviv. It is one of the ancient sites along the Yarkon River, located 800 meters south of the river, overlooking Tell Qasile on the northern bank of the river. The site was excavated in the 1960s by Jacob Kaplan on behalf of the Old Jaffa Museum of Antiquities, and in the 1980s by Haya Ritter Kaplan of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The excavations exposed remains of the first century CE and the late Byzantine period.
'En Esur, also En Esur or Ein Asawir, is an ancient site located on the northern Sharon Plain, at the entrance of the Wadi Ara pass leading from the Coastal Plain further inland. The site includes an archaeological mound (tell), called Tel Esur or Tell el-Asawir, another unnamed mound, and two springs, one of which gives the site its name.
Abattoir Hill, pronounced in Hebrew as Giv'at Bet Hamitbahayim, is an archaeological site in Tel Aviv, Israel, located near the southern bank of the Yarkon River. The site is a natural hill made of Kurkar, a local type of sandstone. In 1930 ancient burials and tools were discovered upon the construction of an abattoir on top of the hill, hence its name. Between 1950 and 1953, Israeli archaeologist Jacob Kaplan studied the site, ahead of the construction of new residential units and streets on it. He discovered the remains of burials and small settlements spanning from the Chalcolithic period to the Persian period. In 1965 and 1970 Kaplan conducted two more excavations next to the slaughterhouse and discovered settlement remains from the Bronze Age and the Persian period. In February 1992 a salvage excavation was conducted by Yossi Levy after antiquities were damaged by development works. Two burial tombs dated between the Persian period and the Early Arab period were discovered. In June 1998 another salvage excavation was conducted by Kamil Sari after ancient remains were damaged by work of the Electric Corporation. Two kilns were unearthed, similar to two found by Kaplan.
