Gihon spring
The Gihon spring is the only year-round spring in Jerusalem and is already mentioned in the Bible. The intermittent spring rises underground in a grotto at the foot of Mount Ophel , between the City of David and the Kidron Valley .
The water from the Gihon Spring leads to the Pool of Siloam , which is at the southern end of the city of David, and was supposed to ensure the water supply of Jerusalem from the Gihon Spring at the eastern foot of the mountain. Today the ancient tunnel system and the pond are part of a unique archaeological park.
According to the testimony of the Bible, King David already had the city of the Jebusites Jerusalem by sieging the Gideon spring around 1000 BC. Captured. The Bible also reports that the Assyrians conquered Syria and Palestine in the second half of the 8th century, only to eventually conquer Egypt. Jerusalem was also threatened and actually besieged by Sennacherib in 701 (after he had conquered Lachish with great effort on the way to Jerusalem ). Looking ahead, Hezekiah had extended the city walls of Jerusalem ( 2 Chr 33.14 EU ) to include the city, which had been greatly enlarged by refugees from the northern Reich of Israel, and built the 500 m long canal. This Hezekiah tunnel , which diverted the Gihon spring in front of the city into the Siloah pond within the city, ensured the fresh water supply of Jerusalem in the event of a siege. The construction of this tunnel was a great engineering achievement for the time.
Others
- Gihon is also the name in Gen 2.13 EU of one of the four rivers of paradise. It is unclear whether this is identical to the watercourse that rises from the Gihon source or whether only a traditional name was prominently used here.
- The Gihon spring is now also called "Mary's spring" by the Christians and "the spring of the mother of the degrees" by the Muslims. All three religions consider the water of the spring to be medicinal.
Web links
- photos
- Photographs of the pool of Siloam
- News from science - map of the pond Siloah (via archive.org, as the original link leads to the spam page)
- items
- Siloam Inscriptions (May 15, 2002)
- Archaeologists Confirm Biblical Information About Siloam Tunnels (September 15, 2003)
- Is Everything in the Bible (November 2nd, 2003)
- Where Jesus Healed a Blind Man - Israeli Archaeologists Discover the Biblical Pool of Siloam (June 20, 2004)
- A pond changes location - new findings on the Siloam pond (from August 6, 2005)
Coordinates: 31 ° 46 ′ 23 " N , 35 ° 14 ′ 11" E