The stairs that descend into the Hezekiah’s Tunnel

Here, below the modern street level in the Jewish Quarter of the city of Jerusalem, one may see

Hezekiah's Broad Wall constructed around 700 BC.

One may see the homes that were used it its hasty construction. Hezekiah was protecting the newer residents from the approaching Assyrian army.

Hezekiah's TunnelVideo

http://goo.gl/9ZWxMB

It’s in Hebrew, but one may see the details of what was done to prepare for

the Assyrian army in Hezekiah’s day.

The stairs that descend into the

Hezekiah’s Tunnel

The first step into the diversion tunnel dug by Hezekiah in the 8th Century BC to divert the Gihon Spring to a pool in the southern part of Jerusalem to starve the Assyrian army of water.

The tunnel’s height varies. It is believed that the higher points were needed to hear the tapping sounds of workers above. These sounds directed the workers digging the tunnels.

The tunnel’s height is very low in places.

This is a mounted replica of the inscription that was located at the tunnel’s exit.

This is the inscription that was located at the tunnel’s exit (located in a museum in Istanbul, Turkey).

What is left from the tunnel’s inscription reads:

“…the tunnel ... and this is the story of the tunnel while ...the axes were against each other and while three cubits were left to cut? ... the voice of a man ...called to his counterpart, (for) there was ZADA in the rock, on the right ... and on the day of the tunnel (being finished) the stonecutters struck each man towards his counterpart, ax against ax and flowed water from the source to the pool for 1200 cubits. and 100?cubits was the height over the head of the stonecutters ...”

The tunnel feeds the Pool of Siloam.

The pool was much bigger than it is now.