Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 70:1 (NA 2019)
Article: The Pools Of Siloam Biblical And Post-Biblical Traces
Author: Elaine A. Phillips

TynBull 70:1 (2019) p. 41

The Pools Of Siloam
Biblical And Post-Biblical Traces

Elaine A. Phillips

([email protected])

Summary

Scholars celebrated the 2004 discovery of a large first-century pool at the southern end of Jerusalem’s City of David. That pool and the related complex of underground conduits are archaeological echoes of biblical texts from both First and Second Temple periods. Potential identifications of and connections among these vital water sources are already evident in language employed in biblical and post-biblical texts, are reflected in centuries of travellers’ reports, and appear in nineteenth- and twentieth-century maps. Data from each of these categories contribute to our comprehensive understanding of the water systems that served Jerusalem through the millennia.

1. Introduction

The pool of Siloam and the related network of water conduits underlying the City of David have received renewed attention in the last two decades as the result of significant archaeological work, capped by the ‘new’ discovery in 2004 of a first-century pool at the south end of the City of David.1 The latter has been especially noteworthy as it adds to the understanding of the geographical context

TynBull 70:1 (2019) p. 42

of John 9. Simply making that New Testament connection, however, misses additional rich layers of textual and geographical exploration.2

It turns out that knowledge of the pool and its connection to the spring located on the eastern flank of the City of David has been embedded in the memory of the local populations for centuries – this was not a new discovery. Even prior to post-biblical indications, however, we find ambiguity in the biblical text itself regarding the identification and nature of the developing water systems. Thus, as a prelude to investigating the post-biblical references to the pool, it is important to review the geographical and literary contexts that, though they are familiar, do introduce certain complexities.

2. A Brief Review: Geographical And Biblical Data

2.1 Geography Of Jerusalem3

Biblical Jerusalem has always been defined by its primary water source, the Gihon,4 located on the eastern flank of the City of David, the lower spur that extends south of the hill of Moriah (2 Chron. 3:1) where the massive temple platform stood in Jesus’ day. Long before David and the ...