Pool of Siloam (recently excavated)

"The rest of the events of Hezekiah's reign, along with all his might and how he made the pool and the tunnel and brought water into the city, are written about in the Historical Record of Judah's Kings." II Kings 20:20

My last post was about my recent trip through Hezekiah's Tunnel with Preston, Rickey Augustus and his friend, Sam. I can't leave you there. I have to let you see what's at the end....the whole reason for the tunnel. Hezekiah channeled the Gihon Spring through the tunnel he dug and into a beautiful pool at the south end of the City of David within the walls. The pool is thought to have been the size of 2 olympic swimming pools. It has just recently been discovered and partially excavated. Recently meaning in the last 2 or 3 years. That is VERY recent in Israel! When you're talking about archaeology dating 4ooo years, 2 or 3 years is a drop in the bucket!

This might be hard to imagine, but think of Rickey, Preston, and Sam as standing in the pool. All the earth behind them is gone, and the pool extends many meters to the right. The corner that has been excavated (above where Rickey is standing on one leg) is the southeast corner of the pool. Here is one mention of this pool in the New Covenant. "After He said these things He spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. "Go," He told him, "wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means "Sent"). So he left, washed, and came back seeing." John 9:6-7 The blind man that Yeshua healed was right here in this place!

The orchard with all the trees is above the rest of the pool. "...He also made repairs to the wall of the Pool of Shelah (Siloam) near the king's garden, as far as the stairs that descend from the city of David." Nehemiah 3:15 The "king's garden" was in the same vicinity as this orchard is today. (It wasn't exactly where the orchard is now, because it would be in the middle of the pool.) It is owned by a Greek Orthodox church and they are refusing to sell or to even let anyone dig on their property. So, for now, we have to be content with a little section of this ancient pool.


There are many steps that lead down to the pool. I was so interested in the pool itself that I didn't think about taking pictures of all the steps. Just trust me. There are a lot of steps
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Ok...this is so cool. Remember the last verse I referred to about the king's garden? It mentioned stairs leading from the City of David? These steps are an even more-recent discovery. They aren't marked and you have to know where to look for them. Most tour groups don't go here. These steps used to lead up to the Temple Mount! There is no doubt that they were here during Yeshua's time. The Pool of Siloam was used for ritual cleansing (mikvah) before sacrifices were made in the Temple. This was a well-worn path, and I'm sure Yeshua walked here. The Temple Mount is straight uphill from the Pool and Hezekiah's Tunnel. It's a tough climb and at least 2oo-300 meters to the southern entrance of the Temple.

I took this pic from as far up as I could go (which isn't too far).

Underneath these steps runs an ancient drainage system from the Temple Mount. During the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. bodies of Jews were found where they had been hiding in these drains. They died while they were hiding. It is very touching to stand there and know that lives were lost right underneath you.

Tomorrow we are taking the interns to a prayer watch on the Temple Mount and then we will be seeing the recent excavations of David's palace. There will definitely be more pictures coming!

Have I ever said that I LOVE this place?!!!