Pool of Siloam

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Image:Pool-of-Hezekiah.jpg Pool of Siloam (Hebrew "sent" or "sending") is a landmark mentioned or alluded to several times in the Bible, most notably in the context of where Jesus healed a man blind from birth in the Gospel of John. The present pool is located in the Silwan district of Jerusalem, just to the south (and outside) of the walls the Old City, at the lowermost portion of the Judahite city. Its first version dates from the reign of King Hezekiah, when the waters of the Gihon Spring were first transported here via a tunnel, ca. 700 BC.

On August 9, 2005, the discovery of the pool from the Second Temple period, which includes the timeframe of Jesus, was formally announced.

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The Pool Through Time

There would seem to have been at least three pools built, but with various reconstructions over time:

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Hezekiah's Pool

The first pool would have been built at the same time as King Hezekiah's tunnel from the Gihon Spring. The Siloam inscription was discovered in this tunnel in 1880, and is among the oldest extant Hebrew records. It is an accounting of the manner in which the water tunnel was constructed during the reign of Hezekiah. This pool would have been at least rehabilitated after the return from the Exile, in the early Second Temple period.

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Later Second Temple Period Pool

The second pool, which has been recently discovered, dates from the later Second Temple period. What portion of it might be Herodian is not yet understood. Any relationship to the earlier original pool is not presently known.

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Byzantine Pool

The third pool, a version of which represents the present-day pool, dates from 5th century Byzantine times, and is said to have been built at the behest of the Empress Aelia Eudocia.

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Present Day Pool

The present pool is part of the pilgrim trail. It's just a stone pool, smaller than you might think with a modest mosque hard by it (and actually over part of it). Hezekiah's tunnel is barred off, but apparently tours are possible.

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Bible

Hezekiah's tunnel is never explicitly referred to, but a celebratory inscription now in Istanbul records the event. Second Chronicles 32:2-3 does allude to this, however. A contemporary reference is found at Isaiah 8:6 which mention its waters, while Isaiah 22:9 ff. possibly makes a clear reference to the pool, in the context of the King's preparations for war, if not necessarily against Sennacherib.

1 Kings 1:33 mentions the spring.

According to Gospel of John 9:6-11, this is the location referred to when Jesus of Nazareth performed a miracle in giving sight to the blind:

6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. (King James translation)

The pilgrimage to Jerusalem was a trip that religious law required ancient Jews to make at least once a year, noted archeologist Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, who excavated the pool. "Jesus was just another pilgrim coming to Jerusalem," he said. "It would be natural to find him there."

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Discovery of the Second Temple Period Pool

In the Fall of 2004, workers making excavations for a sewer line near the present-day pool in the Silwan district outside the walls of the old city, uncovered stone steps.

Almost immediately, archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron were on the scene, and it was apparent that this was likely the Second Temple period pool. Excavation thereafter swiftly commenced and confirmed the initial supposition. A portion of the this pool remains unexcavated, as it is owned by a nearby Greek Orthodox church and is occupied by an orchard known as the King's Garden (compare Nehemiah 3:15).

This find was formally announced on August 9, 2005 and received substantial international media attention.

The pool is not perfectly rectangular, but a soft trapezoid. There are three sets of five steps, two leading to a platform, before the bottom is reached. It is suggested the steps were designed to accommodate various water levels.

It is stone lined, but underneath there is evidence of an earlier version which was merely plastered. Coins found within this plaster date from the time of Alexander Jannaeus (104—76 BC). A separate additional collection of coins were found which date from the time of the Jewish War (AD 66—70).

As a freshwater reservoir, it was a major gathering place for ancient Jews making religious pilgrimages to the city. The New Testament pericope (John 9:6-11) suggests it was used as a mikvah (ritual bath), but as these were done in the nude and as nothing has been discovered to indicate provisions for privacy, this awaits further research.

The pool is less than 200 yards from a later reconstruction of the Pool of Siloam by the empress Eudocia of Byzantium who oversaw the rebuilding of several Biblical sites.

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Silwan

Main article Silwan

This pool was identified with the Birket Silwan in East Jerusalem. Easton's Bible Dictionary describes Silwan as "in the lower Tyropoeon Valley, to the south-east of Mount Zion." The present-day area has been much changed by archaeological excavations and is now largely dedicated to tourists.

Easton's comments that

the water which flows into Silwan intermittantly by a subterranean channel derives from a spring renamed by Christians the "Fountain of the Virgin". The length of this channel, which has several windings, is 1,750 feet, though the direct distance is only 1,100 feet. The pool is 53 feet in length from north to south, 18 feet wide, and 19 deep. The water passes from it by a channel cut in the rock into the gardens below.
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See also

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Sources

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