Hezekiah's Tunnel & Siloam Pool - Jerusalem
Introduction
Hezekiah’s Tunnel and Siloam Pool are situated inside the City of David in Jerusalem. This tunnel is also known as the Siloam Tunnel. There are lockers available for a small fee in order to get changed and store extra belongings before going to the Hezekiah’s Tunnel. Stairs go down from the City of David to the Hezekiah’s Tunnel where Warren’s Shaft is accessible for it’s visitors. Captain Charles Warren was a British explorer, who first rediscovered this tunnel in 1867.
A display before the entrance of the tunnel shows the depth of water. There are winding stairs brought me to the lower end of the path to the Warren’s Shaft. Steep stairs descend visitors to the bottom of the tunnel and photos are displayed on both sides of the wall.
History of Siloam Tunnel
A sign at the entrance shows direction of the two tunnels and a small gate provides access to the tunnel. The water rushes from the right side into the tunnel. The water was flowing fast and I lost my one of the shoes, as soon as I entered the tunnel but luckily it got stuck under second foot. This tunnel was dug around 701BC during the reign of King Hezekiah. The reason to build this tunnel was to protect Jerusalem’s water source, the Gihon Spring, from the invading Assyrians.
Underground Water Channel
The crystal clear and cold water is coming from the Gihon Spring in the Kidron valley was the main source of water for the Pool of Siloam in the City of David. This curving tunnel is 533 m in length and it gets water from the Gihon Spring which erupts from 636m height. Some parts of the tunnel were wide in some area I was unable to look back even with my rucksack (camera bag).
There are remains in this pool from the Byzantine church built by Empress Eudocia. This is the pool that has long been visited as the pool of Jesus’ miracle.
Pool of Siloam
Then stairs lead out of the tunnel to the ground floor. There were scattered stones and broken columns in the area of the Lower Pool of Siloam. Few more steps and one comes to a small vistitors’ centre, where audio visual display was being shown.
It is believed that at this location Jesus sent “a man blind from birth” in order to complete the healing. The Pool of Siloam from the Second Temple was destroyed and covered after the capture of Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70AD.
