Bryant G. Wood
Water was one of the most important considerations in choosing a settlement site in antiquity. The city of Jerusalem was no exception. Its earliest inhabitants, the Jebusites, were no doubt attracted to the site by the generous supply of water provided by the Gihon Spring on the east side of the Hill Ophel.
Over the centuries of occupation at Jerusalem, efforts were made to make better use of and to protect the waters of Gihon, and to provide additional water from other sources. Reference is made at a number of places in the Bible to these water systems and the events associated with them. In this article we shall briefly survey the water systems of Jerusalem in Bible times and point out the biblical allusions to them.
Gihon Spring
Gihon means “gushing forth.” The name evidently stems from the fact that the spring flows intermittently from a natural cave — once or twice a day at the end of the dry season and four or five times a day after a rainy winter. Gradual filling of the Kidron Valley in which it is located has raised the ground level around the spring so that today it is reached by climbing down two flights of stairs.
The Jebusites built their city on the Hill Ophel just above the spring. In order to have access to the spring in time of seige, they chiseled a tunnel back into the hillside and then carved out a staircase and well shaft from above. When David captured the city, his men apparently gained entry through this water shaft (2 Samuel 5:6–10, see Bible and Spade, Autumn 1972, pp. 99-105).
When David grew old, he chose Solomon, son of Bathsheba, to be his heir. Following David’s instructions, Solomon was anointed at the Gihon Spring by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet:
And King David said, “Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 43
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” And they came before the king. The king also said unto them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, ‘God save king Solomon.’ Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.” …So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon. And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, “God save king Solomon.” (I Kings 1:32–35, 38, 39)
Inside the Gihon Spring.
En Rogel
Another water source close to Jerusalem is the En Rogel, meaning “spring of the fuller,” or “wanderer,” or “spy.” It too is located in the Kidron Valley, about a half-mile south of the Gihon Spring. Although the well is sunk deep into the rock and reaches an underground stream, its yield is small compared with that of Gihon. It served only as a supplementary source of water in Bible times.
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 44
As with Gihon, significant events occurred at this well. En Rogel was important early in Israelite history, for when the land was divided among the tribes it marked the border between Benjamin and Judah (Joshua 15:7 and 18:16). Later, when David had to flee from Jerusalem in the days of Absalom’s rebellion, two of his men remained near En Rogel to gather intelligence information concerning the progress of the revolt in the capital city (2 Samuel 17:17).
It was at En Rogel that Adonijah tried to proclaim himself successor to his father David. Adonijah procured chariots for himself and an entourage of knights and fifty men “to run before him” (I Kings 1:5). He then proceeded to En Rogel where he prepared a sacrificial feast and invited the royal princes and the officials of Judah, excluding Solomon and his supporters (I Kings 1:9, 10). The intent of this festal gathering was unquestionably the proclamation of Adonijah as king. However, before the actual coronation could take place, Nathan and Bathsheba secured from the aged king the succession for Solomon, who was immediately anointed by Zadok the priest at Gihon. When the resounding acclamations from the procession that accompanied Solomon were interpreted by Jonathan the son of Abiathar to mean the ruin of the hopes of Adonijah, the adherents of the rejected prince fled from his festal gathering. Adonijah himself took sanctuary by laying hold of the horns of the altar in the Tabernacle (see our cover photo) and was persuaded to leave this asylum only by the promise of Solomon that his life would be spared. (1 Kings 1:11–53)
The Shiloah Channel
During Solomon’s reign, Jerusalem expanded northward and the size of the city more than doubled. It became necessary to use the waters of Gihon more efficiently to meet the needs of the expanding population, so a new system was constructed.
Water was collected at the outlet of the spring in a reservoir dug out of the rock. A few remains of this reservoir have been discovered beneath the modern steps. It is probable that this is the reservoir referred to as the “Upper Pool” in the Old Testament (2 Kings 18:17; Isaiah 7:3, 36:2) and may possibly be the “Old Pool” mentioned in Isaiah 22:11 and the “Artificial Pool” (KJV-”the pool that was made”) of Nehemiah 3:16.
Two channels were then cut in the hillside to carry the waters of Gihon in a continuously running stream to be utilized by the citizens of Jerusalem. The older of these channels has been followed for a
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 45
Water works of Jerusalem in the time of the Judean Monarchy.
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 46
short distance only. Several sections of a more recent channel, however, have been thoroughly explored.
The channel followed the contours of the western side of the Kidron Valley with a minimal slope, to make possible as extensive watering of terrace cultivations between the channel and the bottom of the Kidron. Some sections of the channel were covered with slabs and some sections were underground because of higher rock levels. The irrigation was effected by means of lateral openings in the east wall of the channel.
The channel drained into a pool at the southern tip of the city called the “Pool of Shiloah” (Isaiah 8:6) or “Siloah” (Nehemiah 3:15). This may also be the “Lower Pool” referred to in Isaiah 22:9 and the “King’s Pool” mentioned in Nehemiah 2:14. The pool is filled in today.
Besides providing for irrigation, the new channel and pool made it far easier to draw and store the water from Gihon, and we may guess that the number of persons able to use it could have doubled. But it was hard to defend, and though it may have had walls to protect it, we cannot say for certain what protection it had.
In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah (ca. 731-715 B.C.), Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the king of Israel conspired to overthrow Jerusalem. The Lord spoke to the prophet Isaiah and told him to meet Ahaz “at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field” (Isaiah 7:3), which would be the Pool of Shiloah. Here, Isaiah was to deliver the Lord’s message of comfort to Ahaz (Isaiah 7:4–9).
The Lord Himself used the slowly flowing waters of the channel as an illustration when he spoke to Isaiah: “Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly” (Isaiah 8:6). As a result, “the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks” (Isaiah 8:7).
When Sennacherib sent his envoys to Jerusalem to demand Hezekiah’s allegiance in 701 B.C. (see p. 34 of this issue), they “stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field” to talk to Hezekiah’s representatives (2 Kings 18:17 and Isaiah 36:2). The meeting took place somewhere along the channel near the eastern wall of the city. They were within earshot of the wall, for Hezekiah’s representatives asked the Assyrian envoy to “talk not with us in the Jew’s language in the ears of the people that are on the wall” (2 Kings 18:26 and Isaiah 36:11).
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 47
Jerusalem in the time of the Monarchy, with the present-day walls also shown.
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 48
The Etam System, the Arrub extension and the Herodium aqueduct.
The Etam System
As Jerusalem continued to grow in size, it was necessary to bring in water from outside to augment the local sources. The nearest large supply of water at an elevation higher than that of Jerusalem is at Etam, about eight miles south of Jerusalem. Here three reservoirs were constructed to receive the water from a number of strong springs. The water was then carried to Jerusalem by means of an aqueduct system which terminated on the Temple Mount. Because of its winding route the total length of the aqueduct was 14 miles.
Scholars are not sure when this system was built, but tradition ascribes the making of the three reservoirs to Solomon. This is feasible in view of the growth and prosperity of Jerusalem during his reign. Ecclesiastes 2:6 indicates that Solomon made pools of water to water the trees that he planted in Jerusalem. Perhaps this is a reference to the Etam system. Water was also required for the High Priest’s ritual bath and the Sea of Brass in the magnificent temple that was built during Solomon’s reign. The Jewish historian Josephus records that Etam was a favorite rural retreat for Solomon. He enjoyed taking the eight-mile journey from Jerusalem early in the morning in his chariot (Antiquities of the Jews, 8.186).
Later, perhaps under Herod the Great in 23 B.C., the aqueduct system was extended another five miles south to three strong springs at Arrub. With this extremely winding extension, the total length of the system was now about 42 miles.
When Herod the Great built his palace at Herodium in 23 B.C., he supplied it with water from an aqueduct which drew its water from near Etam. Josephus said that at Herodium there were pleasure grounds “worth seeing because of the way in which water, which is
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 49
lacking in that place, is brought in from a great distance at great expense” (Antiquities of the Jews 15.323–6). At this time Herod the Great also built a palace in the Upper City of Jerusalem. It seems reasonable, then, that he would have built the Arrub extension for the people so that he would not be accused of supplying his palaces with water at the expense of the city.
The Etam system was kept in use for over 2, 000 years; only in modern times has it been replaced by newer systems.
Hezekiah’s Tunnel
When Judah was threatened by an attack from Assyria at the end of the 8th century B.C., Hezekiah (ca.715-687 B.C.) dug a tunnel through the solid bedrock beneath Jerusalem to provide water in time of seige. The tunnel went from the end of the Jebusite tunnel at the Gihon Spring to a pool on the western side of the Hill Ophel. The pool lay within the city wall and thus a secure supply of water was provided. The Bible describes this remarkable engineering feat by simply stating that Hezekiah “stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David” (2 Chronicles 32:30; cf. 2 Kings 20:20).
The earliest name of the pool in which the tunnel exited is not certain. The first name that is known is that used in the New Testament, the Pool of Siloam. Hezekiah’s tunnel, or the Siloam Tunnel as it is sometimes called, can still be seen in Jerusalem today.
The cutting of the shaft was memorialized in an inscription which was accidentally found by a boy playing in the tunnel in 1880. It tells of the dramatic moment when two gangs of workmen, one coming from the north and one coming from the south, joined the two ends of the tunnel. The entire inscription was never finished; what we have preserved is only the second half of the text. The workman started with the end of the inscription and was working his way to the beginning when, for some reason, his work was interrupted. Was he stopped by the arrival of the Assyrian army? We don’t know, but what he did finish gives us a fascinating account of the triumphant completion of the project:
…when the tunnel was driven through. And this is the way in which it was cut through: While the quarrymen were still striking with their axes, each man toward his fellow, and while there were still three cubits to be cut through, there was heard the voice of a man calling to his fellow, for there was an overlap in the rock on the right and on the left. And when the tunnel was driven through, the quarrymen hewed (the rock), each man toward his fellow, axe against axe; and the water flowed from the spring toward the reservoir for 1200 cubits, and the
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 50
(a) Plan view of the Jebusite tunnel and the northern end of Hezekiah’s tunnel (b). Cross section of the Jebusite tunnel and Hezekiah’s tunnel. (c) Plan view of Hezekiah’s tunnel.
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 51
Hebrew inscription found in Hezekiah’s tunnel in 1880.
height of the rock above the heads of the quarrymen was 100 cubits. (W.F. Albright in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, p. 321.)
Exactly how Hezekiah’s engineers directed the course of the digging such that the two parties were off only about 12 inches in elevation when they met no one really knows. Another mystery about the tunnel is why does it follow such a winding, twisting course? If the diggers would have gone in a straight line, the tunnel would be less than 300 yards long instead of over 500. Four explanations have been offered for the serpentine nature of the tunnel:
1. The diggers were avoiding the tombs of the kings of Judah which were in this area. Archaeologists, however, have found no trace of the royal tombs.
2. The workmen were merely following a crevice in the rock through which the water was already seeping. But would a crevice follow such a tortuous route? In studying the plan of the tunnel it is seen that prior to the two parties meeting, they were on parallel paths and seemingly would have missed each other by about 75 feet. Suddenly, however, when the two parties were opposite one another, they each made a right angle turn to the left and soon met, thus joining the two ends of the tunnel. It does not seem that a crevice would make such right angle turns; rather it appears that these turns were deliberately negotiated by the two parties in order to successfully complete the tunnel.
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 52
3. Poor surveying methods on the part of the Judahites. The fact that the two parties met at all gives ample testimony to the adequacy of their surveying methods. The close control on the elevation of the tunnel also shows that they knew what they were doing. The overall drop in elevation from Gihon to Siloam is only a little over six and one-half feet. While it is true that corrections in depth had to be made at several points, and, at some place the tunnel actually inclines in the wrong direction, nevertheless, the fact that they were only off by about 12 inches when they met is an amazing feat considering the crude instruments they had to work with.
4. Another explanation is that the diggers encountered hard rock beds which made changes in direction necessary. Differences in hardness evidently occurred for, throughout its length, the height of the tunnel varies from four feet to ten feet, the height apparently being dependent on the hardness of the rock above. The “hard rock” theory would apply only to the beginning sections of the tunnel, however, for eventually the two teams would have had to go towards one another hard rock or not.
However it was done, Hezekiah’s engineers provided a safe supply of water for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. When the Assyrian threat was imminent, Hezekiah made further modifications to the city’s water systems. He reasoned “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?” (2 Chronicles 32:4). So he proceeded to seal off the water sources outside the city walls. A work force was
Dr. Wilson makes his way through Hezekiah’s tunnel beneath the site of ancient Jerusalem.
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 53
Pool of Siloam where Jesus healed the man blind from birth.
gathered and they “stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land” (2 Chronicles 32:4). This undoubtedly refers to the reservoir at the Gihon Spring, and any other reservoirs that were outside the city, and the Shiloah Channel.
Hezekiah’s tunnel remained in service in the New Testament times and, in fact, still functions today. One of the favorite activities of visitors to Jerusalem is to walk through Hezekiah’s tunnel beneath the city of David.
In New Testament times the pool into which Hezekiah’s tunnel exited was known as the Pool of Siloam. It was there that Jesus healed the man blind from birth as recorded in John 9:1–7. Jesus made clay from dirt and spittle and anointed the blind man’s eyes with it. He then told him to wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam. When the blind man did so, he “came seeing” (John 9:7).
In Jesus’ day the pool of Siloam was surrounded by porticoes and integrated in an architectural ensemble. Only scanty remains of this are visible today. A church erected at the site in the fifth century to commemorate the miracle, greatly altered the topography of the area. Later on, a mosque was built over the ruins of the church. A small minaret now emerges above the portion of the pool which is still extant, and from which women of the neighborhood still draw their water.
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 54
Rain Collecting Pools
The land to the north and west of Jerusalem rises higher than the city within the walls, and thus provided the potential for a considerable water supply. In four of the valleys in this area, ancient pools are visible which were for the purpose of collecting rain from their surrounding catchment areas (see figure below). It is possible that the first rain collecting pools were constructed in the period of the Late Monarchy, but there are no clear literary references to them at this time.
In his account of Titus’ seige of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, Josephus mentions three of these pools. The first, which he calls the “Strouthion” (War 5.467), was perhaps made by Hyrcanus I in about 134 B.C. to provide the supply for his fort, the Baris. The Baris was later renamed Antonia and is referred to in Acts as the
Catchment areas near Jerusalem with their various pools and connections.
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 55
“barracks”, or “castle,” where Paul was taken after he had been accused of desecrating the temple (Acts 21:34-37; 22:24, 23:10, 16, 32). The other pools, the “Amygdalon” (War 5.468) and the “Serpents Pool” (War 5.108), were in existence at the latest at the time of the seige. The “Dragon’s Well” mentioned in Nehemiah 2:13 may be the same as Josephus’ “Serpents Pool.”
The suburb called Bethzatha (KJV-Bethesda) immediately to the north of the Temple area, was in the earliest stage of its development probably served by a pool in the position of the south pool of the Probatica, which collected rain run-off from that area. The three pools north of the Temple area were intended to receive more water than the catchment area could supply. It seems evident that the extra water was brought by aqueduct from the Birket el Miya’a’s catchment area as shown in the figure on page 54. Since the larger of these three pools seems to have been constructed in conjunction with the north wall of the Temple area we may guess that the whole system was completed by Herod the Great when he was enlarging the Temple area between 18 and 10 B.C.
Most scholars believe that the two pools of the Probatica group formed the Pool of Bethzatha in John 5. It is described as having five porches or porticoes. Excavations in 1888 revealed these twin pools which had a rock partition 20 feet thick between them. Five
Pool of Bethzatha where Jesus healed a man who had been crippled for 38 years.
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 56
porticoes were found — one on each of the four sides and one on the partition. The remains of the twin pools can be seen today behind the Church of St. Anne, just inside St. Stephen’s Gate.
It was here at the Pool of Bethzatha that Jesus healed a man who had been crippled for 38 years. Although the man had come hoping to be healed by the waters of the pool, Jesus challenged him to trust in His healing power when He said to him, “Rise, take up thy bed and walk” (John 5:8). The man was immediately healed as he obeyed Jesus and took up his bed and walked.
The High-Level Aqueduct
Probably the last major source of water to be harnessed to meet the needs of ancient Jerusalem was the spring named Bir el Daraj, about nine miles to the south. Its aqueduct begins as a tunnel stretching the greater part of the way to Etam. It makes its way from there to Jerusalem at a level higher than that of the older Etam system. The date of the construction of this aqueduct is not certain, but it may have been built by Pontius Pilate to supply the upper city of Jerusalem soon after A.D. 26, and it might have been a major source of water for the city during the time of Jesus’ ministry there.
(Ref.: John Wilkinson, “Ancient Jerusalem — Its Water Supply and Population,” Palestine Exploration Quarterly, Jan.-June, 1974.)
BSP 4:2-3 (Spring—Summer 1975) p. 57