THE SILOAM POOL

Few places better illustrate the layered his-

tory that archaeology uncovers than the
little ridge known as the City of David,
the oldest inhabited part of Jerusalem. For
example, to tell the story of the Pool of
Siloam, where Jesus cured the blind man,
we must go back 700 years before that—
to the time of the Assyrian monarch
Sennacherib and his siege of Jerusalem.
Hezekiah, the Judahite king at that time,
could see the Assyrian siege coming. Pro- COURTESY OF HOLYLANDPHOTOS.ORG

tective steps were clearly called for,

especially to protect Jerusalem’s water sup-
ply. The only source of fresh water at this

Jesus Where

Cured the Blind Man

HERSHEL SHANKS
 commemorate the feat—the famous Siloam Inscription,
now in the Istanbul Museum (it was discovered in Ottoman
times). Water flowed through the tunnel from the spring
to the Pool of Siloam at the other end. It is still known
as Hezekiah’s Tunnel, and it is still a thrill for tourists
Gihon to walk through its 1750-foot length.
Spring The waters of Siloam are mentioned by the prophet
Isaiah, a contemporary of Hezekiah’s, who refers to
“the gently flowing waters of Siloam” (Shiloah in Hebrew)
(Isaiah 8:6). When the exiles returned from Babylon
and rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah tell us
that a certain Shallun rebuilt “the wall of the Pool of
City of David Shiloah by the King’s Garden” (Nehemiah 3:15).
In Jesus’ time the Pool of Siloam figures in the cure
of a man who had been blind from birth. Jesus spits
on the ground and mixes his saliva with the mud,
which he smears on the blind man’s eyes. He then tells
yle
Val

the man “to wash in the Pool of Siloam.” When the

ron

blind man does so, he is able to see ( John 9:1-7).

Kid

We still haven’t found the Pool of Siloam from Isa-

iah’s and Hezekiah’s time. We’re not even sure where
Byzantine-Era it was. The same is true regarding the pool in
Pool of Siloam
Nehemiah’s time. In the Byzantine period the empress
Pool of Siloam Hezekiah Tunnel Eudocia (c. 400-460) built a church and a pool where
from Jesus’ time Siloam Channel the water debouches from Hezekiah’s Tunnel to com-
memorate the miracle of the blind man. Early in the
King’s 0 100 last century archaeologists found the remains of that
m
Garden church, over which today sits a mosque. The church

HERSHEL SHANKS
and the pool are mentioned in several Byzantine pil-
PRECEDING PAGES: While watching municipal workers grim itineraries. Until last year, it was this pool that
replace a sewer pipe in the City of David, south of Jeru- people meant when they talked of the Pool of Siloam.
salem’s Temple Mount, archaeologist Eli Shukron noticed Now we have found an earlier pool, the pool as it
that the construction equipment had revealed two ancient existed in Jesus’ time—and it is a much grander affair.
steps. Shukron quickly notified his colleague Ronny Reich, THREE SETS OF STAIRS (above), each with five steps,
who identified the steps as part of the Pool of Siloam from As with so much in archaeology, it was stumbled have been uncovered at the New Testament-era Pool of
the late Second Temple Period (first century B.C.-first cen- on, not part of a planned excavation. In June 2004 Siloam. The excavators have exposed an area 225 feet long
tury A.D.), as further excavations soon confirmed. It was at archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron were dig- on one side of the pool and have reached both corners of
the Pool of Siloam, according to the Gospel of John, that that side (one corner is shown at right). The corners are
ging in the area of the Gihon Spring where Hezekiah’s somewhat greater than 90 degrees, indicating that the pool
Jesus cured the blind man ( John 9:1-11). The newly discov- Tunnel begins. Far to the south, between the end of
ered pool is adjacent to an area referred to as the King’s Gar- was not a square but a trapezoid.
den and is just southeast of what had long been called the the rock ridge that forms the City of David and a
Pool of Siloam (see plan above). The other pool, however, lush green orchard that is often identified as the Bib- Seligman, the district archaeologist for Jerusalem. A
does not date to Jesus’ time but to the fourth century (a lical King’s Garden, is a narrow alley through which quick response was called for because the winter rains
photo of this later Pool of Siloam appears on p. 22). a sewer pipe runs carrying waste from the valley west were fast approaching and the sewer pipe had to be
of the City of David into the Kidron Valley east of repaired or replaced. Ronny and Eli were quickly autho-
time was the Gihon Spring, near the floor of the adja- the City of David. The city authorities needed to repair rized to excavate the area on behalf of the Israeli Antiq-
cent Kidron Valley. So Hezekiah decided on a major or replace this sewer and sent workers with heavy equip- uities Authority. The more they excavated, the more
engineering project—he would construct a tunnel ment to do some excavating. Eli was watching the steps they found, and the wider the steps became.
under the ridge on which the City of David lay to bring operation, when suddenly he saw two steps appear. They have now excavated the entire length of the
the water of the spring to the other, less vulnerable, side He immediately halted the work and called Ronny, steps on the side adjacent to the rock ridge of the
of Jerusalem. It was dug by two teams of tunnelers work- who came rushing down. As soon as Ronny saw the City of David. There are in fact three short segments

HERSHEL SHANKS
ing from opposite ends, meeting in the middle—it’s still steps, he exclaimed, “These must be steps going down of descending stairways of five steps each. The first
a mystery how they managed to meet, but they did. to the Pool of Siloam during the Second Temple Period.” leads down to a narrow landing. The second leads to
A memorial plaque was carved in the tunnel wall to He took a few pictures and wrote a report to Jon another landing and the third leads down to the final

18 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY REVIEW SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005 19

 level (so far). The size of the pool itself would vary,
depending on the level of the water. When it was full,
it probably covered all of the steps. The landings served
as a kind of esplanade for people to stand on when
the steps were submerged in water.
The archaeologists also uncovered the two stepped
corners at either end of these steps. So we know how
wide the pool was at this point: more than 225 feet.
We also know that the steps existed on at least three
sides of the pool.
The corners are not exactly at right angles, how-
ever; they are a little more than 90 degrees. The pool
appears to have been a trapezoid, widening apron-like
as it descends into the valley. How far into the val-
ley the pool extended, the archaeologists are not sure.
Ronny’s best guess is that it is about the same as the
HERSHEL SHANKS

width of the pool on the side they have uncovered.

Many times archaeologists are unsure of the date of
what they find. But in this case, there is no question.
Ideally, archaeologists want two dates: the date of con-
RONNY REICH was the first to identify the steps as part of struction and the date when the facility went out of

JASON CLARKE
the Pool of Siloam from the time of Jesus. Now the leading use. Here the archaeologists are fortunate to have both.
archaeologist specializing in Jerusalem, Reich worked with the
late Nahman Avigad in the Old City’s Jewish Quarter and The pool had two phases. The stone steps are part
has also dug at the western wall of the Temple Mount. His of the second phase. Under the stone steps and in
excavations at the Gihon Spring have revolutionized our places where the stones are missing, the excavators plastered. Only in the second phase were the steps THE SILOAM POOL as it might have looked during the
understanding of the city’s ancient water supply system. were able see that in the first phase the steps were faced with stones. The excavators went over the early New Testament era is shown here in an artist’s rendition.
steps with a metal detector, and in four places it beeped, Bathers would have enjoyed a view of the Kidron Valley, just
revealing four coins in the plaster. These coins would east of the City of David. In the Gospel of John, when Jesus

jesus cures the blind man (john 9:1-11)

cures the blind man, he tells him, “Go to Siloam and wash”
date the first phase of the pool. (John 9:11). The pool probably served as a miqveh, a Jewish
They were all coins of Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 ritual bath.
B.C.), one of the later Hasmonean ( Jewish) kings who
AS HE WALKED ALONG, HE SAW A MAN BLIND were succeeded in 37 B.C. by Herod the Great. The the winter rains flowing down the valley deposited
from birth.2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned,
excavators cannot be sure precisely how long these another layer of mud in the pool. And after the Roman
this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus
answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, he
coins were in circulation before being embedded in destruction of the city, the pool was no longer
was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in the plaster of the first phase of the Pool of Siloam. cleaned. Over the centuries a thick layer of mud accu-
him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me But they can say with some assurance that the pool mulated and the pool gradually disappeared. The archae-
while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. was constructed in the late Hasmonean period or early ologists found it under nearly 10 feet of mud in places.
5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the Herodian period. They may know more precisely if When Byzantine Christians returned to the area in
world.” 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground they dig under the steps and find a coin from Herod’s the fourth century, they assumed the Pool of Siloam
and made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud on time. Then the pool would be Herodian. referred to in the New Testament was at the end of
the man’s eyes, 7saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool We also know from coins how long the pool was in Hezekiah’s Tunnel, so they built their pool and a com-
of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and use. Near one corner of the pool they excavated part memorative church where the tunnel comes out of
washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and of a plaza or terrace and found nothing but late Sec- the rock. This pool figures in numerous 19th-century
those who had seen him before as a beggar began to
ond Temple pottery (which ended with the Roman engravings. As late as the 1970s, Arab women still
ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”
9Some were saying “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.). Most significantly, washed clothes in this pool. It is well worth a visit.
but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the they found a dozen coins from the period of the First What function the Pool of Siloam served in Jesus’
ARALDO DE LUCA/CORBIS

man.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your Jewish Revolt against Rome. The revolt lasted from 66 time is not entirely clear. Undoubtedly, thousands of
eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus to 70 A.D. The excavated coins date from years 2, 3 pilgrims would come to Jerusalem on the three Bibli-
made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go and 4 of the revolt. The pool was therefore used until cally ordained pilgrim festivals—Passover, Weeks (Pen-
to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and the end of the revolt, after which it was abandoned. tacost, or Shavuoth) and Tabernacles (Succoth). They
received my sight.” This area, the lowest spot in all Jerusalem, was not may well have camped in the adjacent Kidron Valley
inhabited again until the Byzantine period. Every year and been supplied with drinking and cooking water from

20 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY REVIEW SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005 21

 how historical is the gospel of john?
the pool. The water in the pool would also qualify as
a miqveh, for ritual bathing, points out Reich, who is
a leading expert on miqvaot. Indeed its naturally flow-
ing spring water was of the highest level of sanctity. The THE GOSPELS, THE FIRST four books of by someone who knew about the other meal—held that year on a Thursday
water in a miqveh is usually standing water, even though the New Testament, tell the story of the life three Gospels but who wished to write a evening (Jewish holidays begin at sunset)—
it is required to flow into the pool naturally. But here of Jesus. Yet only one—the Gospel of spiritual gospel instead of an historical one. and they would have us believe that the
the spring flowed continuously, refreshing the water. How- John—claims to be an eyewitness account, There is also the possibility that the author Sanhedrin, the high court, gathered at the
ever, ritual bathing in a miqveh must be in the nude. the testimony of the unnamed “disciple of John did not know of Mark and hence beginning of a major holiday to interrogate
whom Jesus loved.” (“This is the disciple did not have the same information. Jesus and hand him over to the Romans.
Perhaps there was some means of providing privacy.
who is testifying to these things and wrote One of the facts in dispute among the John, in contrast, has Jesus handed over
Whether the Pool of Siloam in Hezekiah and Isaiah’s these things, and we know that his testi- four Gospels is the length of Jesus’ ministry. for crucifixion on “the day of Preparation of
time was located in the same place as in Jesus’ time remains mony is true” [John 21:24]). Matthew, Mark According to the Synoptics, it lasted only Passover week, about the sixth hour.”
and Luke are so alike in their telling that about a year, while John has Jesus minis- According to John, the Last Supper is not a
A WOMAN KNEELS to do her laundry (photo at left) in they are called the Synoptic Gospels, mean- tering between two and three years. The Passover meal (because the holiday that
what had long been known as the Pool of Siloam. Byzantine- ing, “seen together”—the parallels are clear Jesus of John’s telling also knew Jerusalem year did not start until Friday evening), and
era Christians assumed this pool was the Biblical Siloam and
HERSHEL SHANKS

when they are looked at side by side. well and had traveled there three or four Jesus is crucified and buried before
built a church here; this pool was a popular destination for pil-
grims and was the subject of a 19th-century illustration by W.H.
Matthew and Luke follow the version of times. The Synoptics, however, have Jesus Passover begins. In John’s account Jesus
Bartlett (below). Thanks to the recent discovery, we now know events in Mark, which is thought by scholars visit Jerusalem only once. In John, Jesus becomes the Passover sacrificial lamb,
that the Biblical Pool of Siloam was just southeast of this site. to be the earliest and most historically accu- had friends near Jerusalem, including Mary, which was offered the afternoon before the
rate Gospel. John, however, does not Martha and Lazarus of the town of Bethany, Passover holiday. Some scholars suggest
include the same incidents or chronology which is just outside of the city on the east that John may be more historical regarding
found in the other three Gospels, and the slope of the Mount of Olives. the crucifixion than the other three Gospels.
fact that it is so different has spurred a The author of John also knew Jerusalem Given John’s familiarity with Jerusalem
debate over whether John’s Gospel is histor- well, as is evident from the geographic and and its environs, it is very possible that he
ical or not. place name information throughout the book. had visited the Pool of Siloam, which he
Several hypotheses have attempted to He mentions, among others, the Sheep Gate mentions in connection with the story of
explain why so much of Jesus’ life not por- Pool (Bethesda), the Siloam Pool and Jacob’s the curing of the blind man (a story that
trayed in the Synoptics is present in John Well. The geographic specificity lends cre- appears only in John’s Gospel). It is that
and vice versa. One hypothesis claims that dence to the John’s account. pool that has only recently been uncovered,
John recorded many of the events that Another aspect of John that may be as described in the accompanying article.
occurred before the arrest of John the Bap- more historically accurate than the Synop- For more on the question of John’s his-
tist, while the Synoptics all have Jesus’ tics is the account of the crucifixion and the torical reliability, see D. Moody Smith,
ministry beginning only after the arrest. events that led up to it. The Synoptics say John: Historian or Theologian?, Bible
Another holds that John was written last, that Jesus’ Last Supper was the Passover Review, October 2004.

TWO GROUPS OF COINS helped date the newly discov-

ered Pool of Siloam. Four coins, embedded in the pool’s plas-
tered steps, date to the rule of the Hasmonean king Alexan-
der Jannaeus (103-76 B.C.), while a dozen coins (including
the one shown here) found in one corner of the pool date to
the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (66-70 A.D.).

(tenth-sixth century B.C.), they can conclude that the

ASSOCIATED PRESS/WORLD WIDE PHOTOS

Pool of Siloam from Hezekiah’s and Isaiah’s time was in
this same location. However, Ronny and Eli do not want
to dig into the verdant orchard that now fills the unex-
cavated portion of the New Testament-era Pool of
Siloam. Besides, it belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church,
which, like Ronny and Eli, would not want the orchard
destroyed. But they would like to make a very small cut
through the trees to see how deep the pool is and to
a question. Even if it was in the same spot, it may have learn whether there are Iron Age remains beneath. Per-
been a different size. Ronny and Eli would like to make haps the church, appreciating the significance of this place,
a cut under the steps, which would give some indica- will permit this. The church’s orchard suddenly has great
tion of an earlier pool. If they find Iron Age pottery significance for the history of its faith. a

22 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY REVIEW SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005 23