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Biblical Wall Located, Archaeologist Says Biblical Wall Located, Archaeologist Says Regan E. Doherty in Jerusalem Associated Press November 30, 2007 A wall mentioned in the Bible and long sought by archaeologists apparently has been found, an Israeli archaeologist says. A team of archaeologists identified the wall in Jerusalem's ancient City of David while trying to rescue a tower that was in danger of collapse, said Eilat Mazar, head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem-based research and educational organization. Artifacts—including pottery shards and arrowheads—found under the tower suggest that both the tower and the nearby wall are from the 5th century B.C., Mazar said this week. The new findings suggest that the structure was part of the same city wall the Bible says Nehemiah rebuilt, Mazar said. The Bible's Book of Nehemiah gives a detailed description of construction of the wall, which was destroyed earlier by the Babylonians. Scholars previously thought the wall identified by Mazar dated only to the Hasmonean period from about 142 B.C. to 37 B.C. "We were amazed," she said, explaining that many contemporary scholars have argued that the wall would not be found. "This was a great surprise. It was something we didn't plan," Mazar said. Ephraim Stern, professor emeritus of archaeology at Hebrew University and chairman of the Israeli archaeological council, offered support for Mazar's claim. "The material she showed me is from the Persian period," the period of Nehemiah, he said. "I can sign on the date of the material she found." Another scholar, however, disputed the significance of the discovery. Israel Finkelstein, professor of archaeology at Tel Aviv University, called the discovery "an interesting find," but said the pottery and other artifacts do not indicate that the wall was built in the time of Nehemiah. Because the debris was not connected to a floor or any structural part of the wall, the wall could have been built later, Finkelstein said. "The wall could have been built, theoretically, in the Ottoman period," he said. The first phase of the dig, completed in 2005, uncovered what Mazar believes to be the remains of King David's palace, built by King Hiram of Tyre, and also mentioned in the Bible. The Siloam Pool: Where Jesus Healed the Blind Man A sacred Christian site identified by archaeologists Biblical Archaeology Society Staff • 09/04/2016 This Bible History Daily feature was originally published in 2011.—Ed. In 2004, the stepped remains of the ancient Siloam Pool, long thought to be located elsewhere, were uncovered near the City of David. According to the Gospel of John, it was at this sacred Christian site that Jesus healed the blind man. Photo: Todd Bolen/BiblePlaces.com. The Siloam Pool has long been considered a sacred Christian site, even if the correct identification of the site itself was uncertain. According to the Gospel of John, it was at the Siloam Pool where Jesus healed the blind man (John 9:1–11). Traditionally, the Christian site of the Siloam Pool was the pool and church that were built by the Byzantine empress Eudocia (c. 400–460 A.D.) to commemorate the miracle recounted in the New Testament. However, the exact location of the original pool as it existed during the time of Jesus remained a mystery until June 2004. During construction work to repair a large water pipe south of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, at the southern end of the ridge known as the City of David, archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron identified two ancient stone steps. Further excavation revealed that they were part of a monumental pool from the Second Temple period, the period in which Jesus lived. The structure Reich and Shukron discovered was 225 feet long, with corners that are slightly greater than 90 degrees, indicating a trapezoidal shape, with the widening end oriented toward Tyropoeon valley. The Siloam Pool is adjacent to the area in the ancient City of David known as the King’s Garden and is just southeast of the remains of the fifth-century church and pool traditionally believed to be the sacred Christian site. Artist’s rendering of the Siloam Pool, the Biblical Christian site where Jesus healed the blind man. Image: Jason Clarke. What was the function of the Siloam Pool during Jesus’ time? Because the pool is fed by waters from the Gihon Spring, located in the Kidron Valley, the naturally flowing spring water would have qualified the pool for use as a mikveh for ritual bathing. However, it could also have been an important source of fresh water for the inhabitants on that part of the city. One scholar has even suggested that it was a Roman-style swimming pool. Whatever its original purpose, the Siloam Pool where Jesus healed the blind man is an important Christian site, and its discovery represents a watershed moment in the field of Biblical archaeology. As with many sites in the Holy Land, the origins of the Siloam Pool reach back even further in history—at least seven centuries before the time of Jesus. Judah’s King Hezekiah (late eighth century B.C.) correctly anticipated a siege against Jerusalem by the Assyrian monarch Sennacherib. To protect the city’s water supply during the siege, Hezekiah undertook a strategic engineering project that would be an impressive feat in any age: He ordered the digging of a 1,750-foot tunnel under the City of David to bring water from the Gihon Spring, which lay outside the city wall, inside the city to a pool on the opposite side of the ridge. In the years that followed, “Hezekiah’s Tunnel” continued to carry fresh water to this section of Jerusalem, and different pools were built here over the centuries, including the Second Temple pool that Jesus knew. —————— Based on “Issue 200: Ten Top Discoveries,” Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August September/October 2009. The Water Gate of Nehemiah’s Wall Artist's reconstruction of the Spring Tower and Water Gate. The impressive Spring Tower protected not only the entrance to the city (the Water Gate), but the Rock-Cut Pool, and the Gihon Spring as well. The Mid-Slope Wall ran from north to south along the eastern ridge in the City of David, and at the time of its construction, a Large-Stone Structure (palace?) existed above, and to the north of the gate. The "mind of the Spirit" would dictate that this is the location of the Water Gate mentioned in Nehemiah 3:26, situated between the Fountain Gate (Nehemiah 3:15,) and the Horse Gate (Nehemiah 3:28). But "man's wisdom" has led archaeologists to a different conclusion. Entrance to Bronze Age passageway leading to the gate in the mid-slope wall, higher up the slope. Rock-cut Pool is on the left, below the balcony. When it comes to the science of archaeology, things often get turned upside down. Benjamin and Eilat Mazar discovered the Horse Gate, but labeled it "the Water Gate." Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron discovered a large section of the Water Gate, but they decided to call it, "the Pool Tower." The names and locations of the ancient gates should not be difficult to figure out because the name and location of each gate is precisely identified by Nehemiah as he describes the rebuilding of the wall and gates. Nehemiah 3:13 mentions the Valley Gate. The location of this gate is well known at the southwestern corner of the city. By moving counter-clockwise, we then find the Dung Gate at the southeastern corner of the city (verse 14). Next comes the Fountain Gate (verse 15) near the Siloam Pool. There are no gates mentioned as we move northward, between the "sepulchres of David," and the "tower which lieth out from the king's high house, that was by the court of the prison." But the Water Gate does finally appear in verse 26. The Horse Gate comes next (verse 28) with its four-chambered gate, and associated tower, which is constructed with Phoenician ashlars in the header-and-stretcher style. We then come to the East Gate. Its location is also well known in the eastern wall of the Temple Mount. This same order of the gates is given in chapter 12 of Nehemiah (verses 31-37) where he describes the route (Valley Gate, Dung Gate, Fountain Gate, Water Gate) taken by the celebrants on top of the wall. It was at the Water Gate (chapter 8:1-3) where the people of Jerusalem experienced a great revival (Nehemiah 8:1-3). After Ezra read the Law to the people, the Bible says: “And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them" (Nehemiah 8:12). Eilat Mazar calls the Horse Gate the Water Gate, but her grandfather, Benjamin Mazar, identified the gate above the Gihon Spring as the Water Gate: “In any case, there are traces in the Gihon spring area of the line of wall belonging to various periods in the second millennium and the first half of the first millennium B.C. It is in this area, too, that we should locate the Water Gate, an important gate in the eastern wall since earliest times. The name shows that it must have led to the Gihon spring in the Kidron valley" (The Mountain of the Lord, Benjamin Mazar, p. 175). Having made the case that this gate, by the Gihon spring, is the Water Gate, we must now return to the gate discovered by Eilat and Benjamin Mazar, and find its correct name.
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