Chizkiyahu's Tunnel
Historical Background
During the reign of Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) King of Yehudah (eighth century
BCE) a tunnel was excavated linking the Gichon spring to the Pool of
Shiloach (Siloam) thus bringing water into the besieged city of Jerusalem.
This was a considerable engineering feat as the tunnel was dug from both
ends simultaneously and met in the middle with amazing accuracy. It was
constructed in such a way that it was hidden from the enemy.
The building of the tunnel is mentioned in the Tanach:
"And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he wanted to
fight against Jerusalem, he took counsel with his princes and his mighty
men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city; and
they helped him. So there was gathered much people together and they
stopped all the fountains, and the brook that flowed through the midst of
the land saying: "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much
water?" This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of
Gihon and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David"
(II Chronicles ch. 32 vv 2-4)
The tunnel is 535 metres long (335 metres as the crow flies) and about 60
cm wide. The height of the tunnel varies from 1.45 metres to 5.08 metres.
The waters of Gichon flow through the tunnel from a height of 650 metres to
the Pool of Shiloach which is 20 metres lower, passing under the hill of
the City of David.
A Hebrew inscription was engraved in the rock wall near the outlet of the
tunnel. It recounts the excavation of the tunnel, an outstanding work of
engineering for 2700 years ago. This ancient inscription, the longest one
known from the biblical period in Israel, was discovered in 1880 and was
taken to the Museum of the Ancient Orient in Istanbul.
Translated, the inscription reads:
". . . . . when (the tunnel) was driven through. And this was the way in
which it was cut through: While . . . . (were) still . . . .axe(s), each
man toward his fellow, and while there were still three cubits to be cut
through, (there was heard) the voice of a man calling to his fellow, for
there was an overlap in the rock on the right (and on the left). And when
the tunnel was driven through, the quarrymen hewed (the rock) each man
toward his fellow, axe against axe; and the water flowed from the spring
toward the reservoir for 1200 cubits, and the height of the rock above the
head(s) of the quarrymen was one hundred cubits".
Chizkiyahu's tunnel exists to this very day and the waters of the Gichon
spring still flow into the Pool of Shiloach.
Location
The entrance to the tunnel is now outside the Old City wall a short
distance to the south. The tunnel links the Gichon spring to the Pool of
Shiloach (Siloam).
