POOL OF SILOAM (SHILOACH)

a view of the ancient Pool of Siloam (Shiloach), courtesy, 123rf.com

The Pool of Siloam (Shiloach in Hebrew) is an ancient rock-cut pool on the southern slope of the City of David in Jerusalem, situated outside the walls of the Old City, to the southeast.

During the time of Joshua, the site where the Pool would be located, was in the southern point of the tribal territory of Benjamin. Centuries later, it was built during the reign of King Hezekiah (715–687/6 BCE), in order to prevent access to Jerusalem’s water source at the nearby Gihon Spring by the besieging Assyrian armies under Sennacherib. The pool was fed by the newly constructed Siloam tunnel which connected it with Gihon. An older Canaanite tunnel had been very vulnerable to attackers, so under threat from the Assyrians, Hezekiah sealed up the old outlet at Gihon and built the new Siloam tunnel in its place (2 Chronicles 32:2–4). During the Second Temple period, it was centrally located in the Jerusalem suburb of the Acra also known as the Lower City. Often, it would have an excess of water due to an overflow of water in the tunnel caused by an overflow in the Gihon. The pool was reconstructed no earlier than the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BCE). According to the Jerusalem Talmud, since Siloam was a freshwater reservoir, it was the starting point and major gathering area for those who made the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and where they ascended by foot to the inner court of the Temple Mount to bring their sacrificial offerings. It remained in use during the time of Jesus. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus sent "a man blind from birth" to the pool in order to complete his healing. “…And [Jesus] said unto him [the blind man], Go wash in the Pool of Siloam. He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing." The Mishnah tells us of the practice of filling stone cups (clearly the so-called "measuring cups") with the Pool’s waters (Par. 3:2). One should also mention an interesting text from Oxyrhynchus in Egypt – a fragment of an uncanonical gospel – which refers to a mikveh-like pool close to the Temple area with separate stairs for going in and out. It served as a landmark in Josephus' descriptions of Jerusalem during the siege by the Roman General Titus, and marked the boundary between the sections defended by John of Gischala and Simeon Bar-Giora (Wars, 5:140, 252). After the Romans crushed the Jewish rebellion in Jerusalem in the year 70, the pool was destroyed and covered but served as a refuge for the rebels afterwards (6:401).

In the 1870s, the pool was visited by the French Jewish traveler and explorer Joseph Halevy. In 1884 Jews from Yemen established themselves in Shiloach village which overlooked the pool but in 1936, they were ethnically cleansed by the Arabs and British authorities. In 1967, after the Six-Day War, the village and the pool itself became incorporated into the Jerusalem municipal area. In 2004, the pool was the site of a major archaeological expedition in preparation for a building project. The expedition was conducted by Ir David Foundation workers, following a request and directions given by archaeologist Eli Shukron accompanied by Ori Orbach from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.