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Early
1900s
The photograph at
right was taken in the early 1900s and shows the Pool of Siloam before
later Muslim construction above it. An early description of
the pool reads, "There is nothing picturesque about it, certainly. The
crumbling walls, and fallen columns in and around it, give it an air of
neglect." It is a parallelogram about fifty-three feet long and
eighteen feet wide. . . . Dr. Thomson says he has seen this pool nearly
full, but that now the water merely passes through it. "The
intermittent flow is supposed to be due to a natural syphon, but the
natives' explanation is that a dragon lives below and swallows the
water when he is awake, but that when he sleeps it wells up freely.
"--Major Conder.
Sources:
Text: Earthly
Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 227. Photo:
Library of Congress, LC-matpc-04245, now available with 600 other
high-resolution photographs on the
Jerusalem CD, volume 2 of
The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection.
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The
Pool Today
This is the pool that
you'll see today whether you walk through Hezekiah's Tunnel and emerge
here or walk above through the City of David. There are clear
remains around 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.
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Initial
Discovery
In
the summer of 2004, work along a drainage pipe revealed some large
stone steps. Archaeologists Eli Shukrun and Ronny Reich
quickly revealed a series of steps leading down into the adjacent
garden. In this photo you can see the grates of the drainage
channel which will prove to be an obstacle for future excavation.
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Photo taken on June 24, 2004
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Photo taken November 7, 2004
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The
Steps Revealed
After some months of work, a large section of these steps were
revealed, but work was hindered on one side by the drainage channel
(visible as the concrete section on the left side of the photo) and on
the other by property owned by the Greek Orthodox Church. At
the far end, the corner of the steps is visible, but at this point, no
other corners had been revealed.
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Going
Backward
Visitors to the site in the winter of 2005 were disappointed to see
that the pool had been covered over. This was necessitated by
the removal of the remaining street and drainage channel. In
the meantime, excavations proceeded elsewhere, including in the section
of the Siloam Channel visible on the right side of the photo.
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Photo taken March 13, 2005
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Photo taken May 19, 2005
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Re-Revealed
By Passover the drainage channel had been moved (now visible as the
black pipe at top) and the earth re-excavated from the steps.
At this point, more of the pool has been revealed than ever before,
including the northern corner of the steps at the far end of the
photo. Pottery indicates that this pool was in use in the 1st
century. The blind man washed the mud off of his eyes in this
pool and received his sight (see
John 9).
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Where
Does It Go?
This view is from across the valley (looking east) and shows the steps
that have been excavated (as above). It also gives a
perspective of how the rest of the pool is buried underneath the
garden. Hopes are high that an agreement will be reached to
allow the excavation of the rest of the pool.
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Photo taken April 24, 2006
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Latest
Excavations
Excavations continue to reveal more sections of the pool on the
northern and southern ends. Several shafts at the northern
end of the pool have revealed large paving stones. On the
southern end, excavations have uncovered a large wall and a section of
the pool from the Old Testament period. These are in the pit
below the wall in the foreground of the photo. Altogether
about 20 steps (4 sets of 5 each) have been excavated leading from
street level into the pool.
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Putting
It Together
This drawing, by Father Vincent in the early 1900s, shows the
relationship of the two pools (west is at the top). The pool
marked with a yellow arrow is the modern pool at the end of Hezekiah's
Tunnel. It is narrow and shallow. The new
excavations are in the area labeled as "Birket el-Hamra" and marked
with the red arrow. Scholars have long believed that this was
the area of an ancient pool, but without excavations they have not
understood its date, size, or other important details. A wild
prediction: this will be the archaeological discovery of the decade for
biblical studies. At least there is no chance of it being
declared a forgery.
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