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The Assyrians from
northern Iraq were on the warpath in 701 BC and
Hezekiah, king of Judah, ordered his engineers to
guarantee a steady supply of drinking water to the
western quarters of his capital city, Jerusalem.
Two crews, one starting from the east and the second
from the west, chiseled a tunnel under the city
which diverted water from the Gihon spring into a
pool later called the Pool of Siloam.
Splashing through Hezekiah's Tunnel in shorts and
crocs can be one of your most thrilling adventures
during your pilgrimage to Jerusalem, D.C. (that is
David's City!)
Today access to Hezekiah's Tunnel is via an
underground shaft and tunnel complex where you pass
by huge "cycloptic" towers (named after the Cyclops,
a race of giants in Greek mythology). These
towers are dated from the Canaanite period, 800
years even before David conquered Jerusalem.
It was actually David's nephew, Joab or Yoav in
Hebrew, who darted up the tsinnor (which
probably means water shaft), surprising the
over-confident Jebusites who had taunted the men of
Judah that Jerusalem was so impregnable that even
the lame and the blind could defend the city.
Today, we're not sure where the tsinnor
actually was – the latest theory is perhaps between
the two Cycloptic towers. But there's
no doubt about the location of Hezekiah's Tunnel. |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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White arrow marks the beginning of
Hezekiah's Tunnel in the Kidron Valley |
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| Here are the most
Frequently Asked Questions about Hezekiah's Tunnel: |
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Q. How high is the water
and how cold? |
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| A. The water
level averages 70 centimeters which is 2 feet 3
inches. At the beginning of the tunnel the
water is knee-high, (I'm 5 foot 7) but near the exit
of the tunnel, the water is nearly waist-high.
The water seems cold, especially in summer when it
is super-refreshing. I've heard that the water
is the same temperature all year round at 17 degrees
centigrade (63 degrees Fahrenheit), for its source
is an underground spring. |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Note the water level on Dr. Steve
McConnell who is about 5 ft 10 |
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Q. How was the tunnel dug out? |
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| A. With hammers, chisels, pick-axes and a bucket
brigade. A crew of engineers started at each end
and, whoops, almost missed each other. |
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Q. How did the tunnelers meet? |
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A. Divine guidance
B. They followed a crack in the rock.
C. They followed the lines of an underground stream
D. They followed a soft strata of rock
E. Each team dug a concentric circle
F. Pure luck
G. Be an archeologist or geologist: make up your own
theory! |
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Q. Who was the first to
tell us about wading through Hezekiah's
tunnel and how long did it take? |
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A. Captain Charles Warren, the "Indiana Jones" of
his day, explored the tunnel in 1867 with his
intrepid assistant, Sergeant Birtles.
Warren recorded in his journal that in the beginning
it was very plain sailing until they reached 600
feet into the tunnel and then they began crawling on
all fours. Suddenly, as they saw bits of cabbage
stalks floating by, they realized that the waters
had started to rise. Warren had a pencil, compass
and field book in his hands, with the candle in his
mouth. He and Birtles had just four inches breathing
space. While he was making observations, Warren's
mouth was under water.
At 900 feet into the tunnel they discovered false
turns and began to go in a zigzag direction. It was
here that Warren nearly choked when he accidentally
swallowed part of his lead pencil. When they came
out shivering, it was dark. The pair of explorers
had been nearly four hours in the water.
Today the 1750-foot wade is a lot more fun and takes
only about 40 minutes. The potholes on the floor of
the tunnel have been recently smoothed out which
unfortunately lowers the ceiling for us tall people. I tend to forget to duck and bump my head! |
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Q. Did Hezekiah's Tunnel keep the Assyrians from
conquering Jerusalem? |
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A. Yes. The Bible offers two versions of why the
Assyrians gave up their siege and returned to
Assyria. Second Chronicles tells us that the king of
Assyria left suddenly because he heard rumors of a
revolt in his palace. Second Kings 19 says that
185,000 Assyrians died in one night.
The older King James translation gives us an
unusually vivid description of what happened: "and
when they arose early in the morning, behold they
were all dead corpses." (Second Kings 19:35) |
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Q. What's at the end of Hezekiah's Tunnel? |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Exit of Hezekiah's Tunnel which
leads past ruins of a Byzantine church |
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| A. As we emerge from the tunnel we pass by some
ruins of a fifth century church and then as we exit,
we walk along the authentic steps leading down into
the second temple period
Pool of Siloam where the
healing of a blind man took place as per John
chapter 9. |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Herodian steps leading down to the
Pool of Siloam of Jesus' day |
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Q. What do we need to explore Hezekiah's Tunnel?
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| A. Wear rafting sandals, crocs or old sneakers and
bring a flashlight. (Barefoot is not permitted, nor
are candles.) And don't forget your spirit of
adventure! |
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| I look forward to splashing through Hezekiah's
Tunnel with you and your group during your next
visit to Jerusalem D.C. (David's City). For a group
of more than 10 people we need to make reservations.
Just let me know in advance! |
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Copyright 2011 Gila Yudkin. Permission
needed for any reuse. |
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