There ’s an ancient stone pool mentioned in the Bible that ’s said to have been where Jesus execute one of his most famous miracle . Remarkably , 2,000 years subsequently , part of these pools can still be insure today in Jerusalem .
The historical site of the Pool of Siloam is chance in Wadi Hilweh , a neighborhood just south of the walls of Jerusalem ’s Old City , that ’s been home to Palestinian Arabs in late history .
The long story of the pool is mirky , partially enshroud in unobjective tales and mythology . That said , we get laid that the kitty did exist in a variety of variety over the C thanks to written source backed up by archaeologic evidence .
An artist’s impression of the Pool of Siloam, Second Temple period. Image credit: Shalom Kveller/City of David Archives
A kitty was initially built here by King Hezekiah in the eighth century BCE in monastic order to provide water supply to Jerusalem . The construction of this pool is even note in the Old Testament . Kings II , 20 : 20 read : “ As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah , along with all his might and how he constructed the pocket billiards and the tunnel to work water system into the metropolis , are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah ? ”
It is unclear what happened to this original social structure , but it ’s said the pocket billiards was afterwards redo around the sovereignty of Alexander Jannaeus ( 103–76 BCE ) during the Second Temple menstruum . It is unclear whether or not the pocket billiards was in the same location as the earlier pool built by Hezekiah .
Regardless , the Second Temple period pool would have been the one that was supposedly visited by Jesus . Most scholar agree he was a veridical historic person , although it is backbreaking to split up fact from fiction in his life taradiddle ( the turning water system into wine-colored affair seems middling unconvincing ) .
In the New Testament ’s John 9 , there is a story aboutJesusat the Pool of Siloam where he performs the miracle of giving sight to a blind adult male . It reads : “ He told him , ‘ Go , lap in the Pool of Siloam ’ . So the man went and washed , and come back reckon . ”
Of course , we would n’t count on the hypothecate healing prop of the Pool of Siloam , but it is known the pool was used during this meter as a ritual tub , bang as “ mikveh ” , by pilgrims who inundate themselves in the water before head through theCity of Davidto theTemple .
Considering the stone pool may have been over 0.4 hectares ( 1 acre ) in sizing at its peak , hundreds of people could have potentially congregated here . Othershave suggestedthat it likely function as a kind of swimming pool too .
The pool fall into disrepair when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE . However , people stay on to shop at the Byzantine Pool , a pool found along Hezekiah ’s Tunnel that go out to the tangled earned run average , more or less 300 yr after the time of Christ , which was credit as bear links to the original Pool of Siloam .
Further tincture of the Pool of Siloam werefirst unearthedin 2004 during construction work . Over the follow few months , further archaeological excavation revealed a 50 - cadence ( 164 - pes ) farseeing pool , a channel that brought in water from the Silwan give , and a phone number of ancient gemstone steps .
archeology has the potentiality to dig up sometime grievance , however . Criticshave suggestedthat many of the archaeological projects around the City of David are used a political peter to legalize Jewish presence in the city while downplaying the history of Palestinians who live here .
The latest regaining task of the Pool of Siloam isno unlike – when you may control the past , you also control the present and future .
