Pool of Siloam
The term Pool of Siloam (
The Lower Pool or "Old Pool" was historically known as Birket el Hamra, literally "the red pool".
History
During the Second Temple period, the Pool of Siloam was centrally located in the Jerusalem suburb of Acra (Hebrew: חקרא), also known as the Lower City.[3]
Today, the Pool of Siloam is the lowest place in altitude within the historical city of Jerusalem, with an elevation of about 625 metres (2,051 ft) above sea level.
Hezekiah
The Pool of Siloam was built during the reign of Hezekiah (715–687/6 BCE), to leave besieging armies without access to the spring's waters. The pool was fed by the newly constructed Siloam tunnel. An older Canaanite tunnel had been vulnerable to attackers, so, under threat from the Assyrian king Sennacherib, Hezekiah sealed the old outlet of the Gihon Spring and built the new underground Siloam tunnel in place of the older tunnel (Books of Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 32:2–4).
During this period the Pool of Siloam was sometimes known as the Lower Pool (Book of Isaiah, Isaiah 22:9),[7] as opposed to a more ancient Upper Pool (Books of Kings, 2 Kings 18:17, Isaiah 7:3)[7] formerly fed by the older Canaanite tunnel.
Second Temple period
The pool was reconstructed no earlier than the reign of
The pool was destroyed and covered after the
Late Roman and Byzantine periods
Roman sources mention a Shrine of the Four Nymphs (Tetranymphon), a nymphaeum built by Hadrian during the construction of Aelia Capitolina in AD 135[12][13][14] and mentioned in Byzantine works such as the 7th-century Chronicon Paschale; other nymphaea built by Hadrian, such as that at Sagalassos, are very similar.[15] It is unlikely that this shrine was built on the site of the Second Temple Pool of Siloam, but it may have been a precursor to the Byzantine reconstruction.
In the 5th century, a pool was constructed at the end of the Siloam Tunnel, at the behest of the Empress of the Byzantine Empire, Aelia Eudocia. This pool survives to the present day, surrounded on all sides by a high stone wall with an arched entrance to Hezekiah's Tunnel. The pool is around 70 yards (64 m) from the Second Temple (or Lower) Pool of Siloam, and is significantly smaller. Until the discovery of the Second Temple pool, this pool was wrongly thought to be the one described in the New Testament and Second Temple sources.
Discovery in the 21st century
The pool was rediscovered during an excavation work for a sewer in the autumn of 2004, by Ir David Foundation workers, following a request and directions given by archaeologists Eli Shukron accompanied by Ori Orbach from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Archaeologists Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich (working with the Israel Antiquities Authority) uncovered stone steps, and it became obvious that these steps were likely to have been part of the Second Temple period pool. Excavations commenced and confirmed the initial supposition; the find was formally announced on August 9, 2005, and received substantial international media attention.[16][17]
The excavations also revealed that the pool was 225 ft (69 m) wide, and that steps existed on at least three sides of the pool. Close to two decades after the initial discovery a portion of this pool remained unexcavated, as the land above was owned by a nearby
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, and it has been suggested that the steps were designed to accommodate various water levels. The pool is stone-lined, but underneath, there is evidence of an earlier version that was merely plastered (to help it retain water). Coins from the reign of Alexander Jannaeus were found embedded in the plaster lining of the pool, and therefore provide a secure earliest date for the pool's (re-)construction.
Earlier excavations
Archaeologists excavating the site around the Pool of Siloam in the 1880s have noted that there was a stairway of 34 rock-hewn steps to the west of the Pool of Siloam leading up from a court in front of the Pool of Siloam.[18] The breadth of the steps varies from 27 ft (8.2 m) at the top to 22 ft (6.7 m) at the bottom.[18]
The remnants of an ancient wall dating to the Bronze Age were unearthed near the older Pool of Siloam, known also as the "Lower Pool," and locally as Birket al-Ḥamrah, during the excavations conducted by F. J. Bliss and A. C. Dickie (1894–1897).[19] At the "Lower Pool" of Siloam there was a weir (levee), used to raise the level of water upstream or to regulate its flow.[19] Conrad Schick's research in connection with a partially rock-hewn aqueduct related to the water system of Siloam has led researchers to conclude that the Lower Pool, Birket al-Ḥamrah, received water directly from the "Fountain of the Virgin" (Gihon Spring) at some period and which Schick places prior to the completion of the Siloam Tunnel.[20][21]
See also
- Siloam
- Stone of Claims
- Tower of Siloam
References
- ^ "Biblical site where Jesus healed blind man excavated for public view: 'Affirms Scripture'". 2 January 2023.
- ^ "Biblical site where Jesus healed blind man excavated for public view: 'Affirms Scripture'". Fox News. 30 December 2022.
- ^ Josephus, The Jewish War 6.6.3 (6.351; 6.7.2. (6.363)
- ^ OCLC 745203905.
- ^ Moses Margolies' commentary Pnei Moshe on Jerusalem Talmud (Hagigah 1:1 3a–b), s.v. נישמעינה מן הדא, being an explanation of Mishnah (Hagigah 1:1), "Anyone that cannot...go up from Jerusalem to the Temple Mount."
- ISBN 978-0-520-96807-3., Chapter 7: The City of David / Silwan
- ^ a b The City of David; revisiting early excavations; English translations of reports by Raymond Weill and L-H. Vincent/ notes and comments by Ronny Reich; edited by Hershel Shanks. pp. 197–227.
- ^ John 9
- ^ John 9:6–11
- ^ James H. Charlesworth, quoted in Los Angeles Times, article: Biblical Pool Uncovered in Jerusalem, 9 August 2005
- S2CID 161774603.
- ^ Dave Winter, Israel handbook, (1999), p. 180.
- ^ André Grabar, Martyrium, (1946), volume 1, p. 193.
- ^ E. Wiegand, The Theodosian Monastery, (1929), volume 11, pp. 50–72
- ^ for example, see this view Archived 2018-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Archaeologists identify traces of 'miracle' pool". NBC News. 23 December 2004. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
- ^ Rossner, Rena (26 January 2006). "The once and future city". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 15 November 2009.
They have also discovered thousands of fish bones that, together with the bullae were found in an area that Reich and Shukran believe to be the Shiloah Pool, used as a ritual bath for the Temple Mount, and a tiled road which ends at the pool and has its origins near the Temple Mount. Ostensibly, this is the road that worshippers used to go back and forth between the Shiloah Pool and the Temple Mount.
- ^ Bliss, F. J. (1897). "Eleventh Report of the Excavations at Jerusalem". Quarterly Statement – Palestine Exploration Fund. 29: 11, 13.
- ^ OCLC 745203905.
- .
- Hezekiah's Tunnelcreated a more southern exit for the water, from which the garden could then be irrigated.
External links
Further reading
- Wening, Jens M. (2021). Siloah – Quelle des Lebens. Eine Kulturgeschichte der Jerusalemer Stadtquelle. Ägypten und Altes Testament. Vol. 101. Münster: Zaphon. ISBN 978-3-96327-096-3.
- Rabbi Yitzchak Levy (2015) "The place" in the world. The Shiloach Pool . The Zomet Institute
- Elitzur, Yoel (2008). "The Siloam Pool – 'Solomon's Pool' – was a Swimming Pool". Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 140 (1): 17–25. S2CID 161774603.
- Reich, R.; Shukron, E.; Lernau, O. (2007). "Recent Discoveries in the City of David, Jerusalem". Israel Exploration Journal. 57: 153–168.
- Image and text of the Siloam inscription
- Shanks, Hershel (September–October 2005). "The Siloam Pool Where Jesus Cured the Blind Man". Biblical Archaeology Review. 31 (5): 16–23.. Click here for an abridged article in html or the full article in pdf format.
- Pictures of the recently rediscovered Pool of Siloam from holylandphotos.org
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- Fuad Abu-Taa', Aliza Van Zaiden and Tsagai Asamain, Conservation of the Shiloah Pool and preparing it for the public, Israel Antiquities Authority Site – Conservation Department