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The Bible in stone
Siloam Inscription
Hebrew carved in rock · c. 700 BC · found 1880 in Hezekiah’s tunnel
Under the City of David in Jerusalem runs a winding tunnel, about 540 meters long, cut through solid rock to carry water from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam. The Bible says King Hezekiah made it, at the time of the Assyrian threat about 700 BC (2 Kings 20:20). In 1880 a short inscription was found carved into the tunnel wall near its southern end. It was later cut out of the rock and taken to Istanbul, where it is kept in the archaeological museum.
Its six lines of ancient Hebrew do not name a king. They describe the moment the tunnel was finished: two teams of stonecutters dug toward each other from opposite ends, and when three cubits of rock were left, each could hear the other calling. Then they cut through, axe against axe, and the water flowed 1,200 cubits from the spring to the pool, with 100 cubits of rock above their heads. Most scholars date the letters to about 700 BC and link the tunnel with Hezekiah, as the Bible does; a few have argued for another date. It is one of the oldest long inscriptions in Hebrew.
Key verses
As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, along with all his might and how he constructed the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?he consulted with his leaders and commanders about stopping up the waters of the springs outside the city, and they helped him carry it out. Many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said.It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Spring of Gihon and channeled it down to the west side of the City of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.You built a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the ancient pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or consider Him who planned it long ago.Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.Sources
Adapted and shortened from the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers · CC BY-SA 4.0 — Siloam, Pool of; Siloam Inscription*; Hezekiah; Inscriptions: Dedications
Adapted from Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary: articles chosen, shortened and retold in our own words (history, nature and daily life only) and, in languages other than English, machine-translated. The original work by Tyndale House Publishers is available for free at tyndaleopenresources.com.
