Hezekiah Basin
The Hezekiah Basin is a pool of water in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Old City of Jerusalem that was a significant part of the city's historic water supply system . It is a rectangle, 44 m wide (in east-west direction) and 72 m long with an area of 3,168 m² and a capacity of 11,000,000 liters. The depth is between 6.5 and 7 meters.
Surname
The name Hezekiah's pool was first used in the 17th century. It is derived from the Bible passage from 2 Kings 18.17 EU about the Judean king Hezekiah . Some archaeologists, however, refer to this passage from the Bible to the sheep pond near the Bethesda pond.
In Arabic is the name بركة البطرك, DMG birkat al-Baṭraq 'Pool of the Patriarch', in Hebrew בריכת חזקיהו brikat hiskijahu , German 'Hezekiah pond' in common.
The historian Flavius Josephus mentions the Hezekiah Basin in his work History of the Jewish War under the name Amygdalon Basin. The translation from ancient Greek αμύγδαλον amýgdalon would be 'almond (tree)'. Amygdalon is phonetic in Hebrew מגדל migdal , German 'tower' ajar . Since this pond was outside the first city wall of Jerusalem on its northwest corner, where there were several strong fortification towers, the designation towers basin probably reflects the original name.
geography
The Hezekiah Basin is located in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem . It is surrounded by houses north of David Street about 150 m east of Jaffa Gate . The Christian Quarter Street runs west of the Hezekiah Basin. In the north it is bounded by the Coptic Khan and the Ha-Koptim Strait. To the east are the street of the Greek Catholic Patriarchate and St. Georg Street. The entrance to the Wujoud Museum is on the north side of David Street, roughly halfway between its beginning at Omar Ibn Al-Khatab Square and the street of the Christian Quarter . The museum is located in a 650-year-old building owned by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. From the terrace of the Wujoud Museum it is possible to take a look at the Hezekiah Basin. Another way to look at the Hezekiah Basin is the roof terrace of the Petra hostel for a small entrance fee
history
So far there has been no precise archaeological investigation of the Hezekiah Basin. It probably comes from a quarry from the time of Herod (73 BC to 4 BC) or even earlier.
The first Jerusalem city wall (from the Middle Bronze Age to the 8th century BC and Persian period : 538 BC to 333 BC) ran through the Quertal, where David Street is today.
The second Jerusalem city wall ( Herodian times or earlier) branched off to the west of the citadel from the first wall to the north. Until the construction of the third city wall (from 41, Herodes Agrippa I ), the Hezekiah Basin lay outside the city, north of the first wall and in the corner between the first and second walls. Archaeological remains of water pipes to the Mamilla basin have been found.
During the time of the Crusaders (1099 to 1187) the Hezekiah Basin was referred to as the "Lake of the Baths of the Patriarch's Palace". The Arabic name birkat al-Batraq comes from this period .
The Hezekiah Basin was still used as a water reservoir until the 19th century . Due to the interrupted connection to the Mamilla basin, it later dried out. Since then, some water has been collecting in the pool in winter and it is dry in summer. The residents of the surrounding houses of the Hezekiah Basin used it as a garbage dump in recent decades. Sometimes sewage was even led into it.
Cleaning and renovation
Located in the middle of the city, the contaminated pool developed into a hygienic burden and health hazard in the densely populated district. Therefore, the Jerusalem city council developed plans to clean the Hezekiah Basin. The situation was made more difficult by the fact that the Muslim Waqf , the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Greek Orthodox Church all claim the Hezekiah Basin for themselves.
The Coptic Church derives its claim from its khan to the north. It is under Egyptian patronage, so that here the Egyptian government acts as a lobbyist.
The Greek Patriarchate owns land bordering the Hezekiah Basin in the south and derives its claim from this.
After the withdrawal of the Crusaders, Saladin gave the Hezekiah Basin the status of a protected religious property under the authority of the Waqf in 1187, which is valid until today (2019). The Waqf represents the interests of the Jordanian government in Jerusalem.
Talks between the Jerusalem City Council and the Waqf initially led to an agreement that the Waqf would clean the Hezekiah Basin. When the Waqf was about to begin, however, it was prevented from doing so because the police feared a clash with the other interested parties.
In 2011 the Jerusalem City Council cleared the Hezekiah Basin of all garbage and closed all connections to the sewage system. This cleaning operation cost three million shekels . The Jerusalem city council sent the invoice for the costs equally to Waqf, the Coptic Church and the Greek Patriarchate.
In 2019, negotiations between the Jerusalem City Council, al-Quds University and the Waqf were successful. On April 23, 2019, it was decided that the Jerusalem City Council, al-Quds University and Waqf, in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, would jointly clean and restore the Hezekiah Basin. After the end of these measures, it is to be made into a historical tourist attraction in coordination with the residents of the district. The negotiations were conducted in secret because all sides feared protests from both the Palestinian and Israeli public, who could see their respective sovereignty threatened by this joint action.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Max Küchler : Jerusalem: A manual and study travel guide to the Holy City. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-525-50170-2 , pp. 490-491.
- ↑ Hezekiah's Basin in OSM. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- ↑ About the Museum at Wujoud Museum. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
- ^ Daniel Jacobs: The Rough Guide to Jerusalem , Rough Guides, October 1, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84836-193-5 , Chapter: Omar Ibn al-Khattab Square
- ↑ Max Küchler: Jerusalem: A manual and study travel guide to the Holy City. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-525-50170-2 , pp. 95-99.
- ↑ a b c King Hezekiah's Inheritance - a Cesspool of Political Garbage in Haaretz, June 16, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
- ↑ Down in the Patriarch's Pool in israelpalestineguide. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
- ↑ הבריכה ההיסטורית שעלולה לגרום למשבר דיפלומטי עם מצרים וירדן. In: Haaretz. June 16, 2011, Retrieved July 4, 2019 (Hebrew).
- ↑ לטובת פרויקט היסטורי בי-ם: שיתוף פעולה חשאי בין ישראל לרש"פ in 13news. Accessed July 24, 2019.
Coordinates: 31 ° 46 ′ 37.7 " N , 35 ° 13 ′ 44.4" E