Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the use of tunnels in this manner soon inspired the development of countertunnels. By digging a hidden trench right up to a city’s walls, and then tunneling underneath to undermine the walls and force a breach, the Romans discovered that it was possible to end a siege long before the city’s population was starved into submission by blockade. It wasn’t long before the Roman Empire began using them as an offensive weapon in siege warfare. The Romans faced the same tactic around that time in their fight along the Rhine and Danube frontiers in Europe, against Germanic tribes who would dig hidden trenches connected by tunnels and then spring out of the ground to ambush the Roman soldiers.īut the use of tunnels hasn’t been limited to insurgencies. Archaeologists have found more than 450 ancient cave systems in the Holy Land, including many that were dug into mountainsides, which the Jews used to launch guerrilla-style attacks on Roman legionnaires during the Great Jewish Revolt from ad 66 to 70. Ironically, this has been especially so in the region where present-day Israel and Palestine are located. For at least 3,000 years, embattled populations have used them to hide from, and strike at, stronger enemies. Tunnels and caves, tunnels’ geologic predecessor, have a long history in warfare stretching back to biblical times. But as long as there is warfare, tunnels will almost certainly be part of the fight.
There’s no way to know how long drones or lasers or anti-missile defense systems will last. Compared with the most sophisticated weapons systems in use today, tunnels have withstood the test of time: for centuries, they have allowed military units to approach their enemies undetected and helped weaker combatants turn the battlefield to their advantage. The dark, low-tech tunnels running underneath Gaza offered a stark juxtaposition to the modern artillery Israel deployed on the surface.īut if the tunnels hinted at an older kind of warfare, that doesn’t mean they should be dismissed as a military curiosity. Perhaps the most surprising development of the recent war between Israel and Gaza was the discovery of the sophisticated network of tunnels that Hamas had quietly developed in the preceding years.
Notes From the Underground: The Long History of Tunnel Warfare