ON THE WATERS, FIT OR UNFIT FOR DRINKING, IN JERUSALEM AND ITS
NEIGHBOURHOOD.
In the seven preceding chapters I have several times mentioned the
waters, drinkable and undrinkable, and the sewers, when we have come
across them in the course of our investigations; but I have not always
entered into details, reserving them for this chapter. Therefore I now
proceed to treat the subject at length, with the view of shewing, as
clearly as is possible, the means which the former inhabitants of
Jerusalem possessed of obtaining an abundant supply of water, and
removing the sewage of the city; and I shall also notice the
carelessness exhibited by the Arabs with regard to every part of the
works of their predecessors in the country, and how they rather employ
themselves in accelerating than in arresting their destruction.
I am persuaded that there are some springs in Jerusalem and in its
neighbourhood; but these have never been sufficient to supply the wants
of the population without assistance; consequently the earlier Jewish
Kings executed important hydraulic works to introduce an abundant supply
into the city, and to preserve it there in reservoirs, to be used both
for the wants of life and for purposes of purification; and, above all,
for the requirements of the Temple-services, which were very
considerable. I have no doubt that the most extensive works were
commenced in David's reign, and carried still further in that of his son
Solomon. These are yet in existence, and might even now be in operation,
had they not fallen into the hands of an ignorant and almost barbarous
race, who are perpetually endeavouring to destroy them, without ever
thinking that they are thus aggravating the deficiency of water, and
placing the town in danger of being entirely deprived of it, if at any
time the rainfall is insufficient. The local government has several
times considered the mischief that may thus be caused, and has taken
steps accordingly to prevent it; but, weak as it is, has never been able
to make its orders respected. From this reproach, however, I except the
provident rule of Surraya Pasha, which is now over.
According to my opinion, it was Solomon that ordered and executed the
important work of bringing the water from Etham into Jerusalem by means
of a conduit; which is indeed generally attributed to him, though it is
called by a few that of Pontius Pilate. The primary design of this
undertaking was unquestionably that the Temple and its precincts might
not suffer from a lack of water. It is very remarkable that neither the
Bible nor Josephus make express mention of this; but it is probable
that all the pools, now existing at Etham, are referred to in
Ecclesiastes[860]; and Josephus[861] informs us that the summer-palace
of Solomon was at the town of Etham, in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem,
fifty stadia from Jerusalem. Perhaps he did not describe the
water-works, because he considered them well-known. However, it is
certain that history does not afford us any positive _data_ for
ascribing these constructions to Solomon; but the magnitude of the work,
and tradition, induce me to attribute them to him. As it was on these
pools of Etham that the city mainly depended for its supply, I will
describe them first of all.
Quitting the Jaffa Gate we take the direct road to Etham, passing the
Tomb of Rachel, and leaving Bethlehem on the left; it is a ride of two
hours and a half. Here is an old castle[862], called by the Arabs _Kalat
el-Burak_ (Castle of the Lightning), of which the outer walls, with
battlements, remain perfect; but the interior is all in ruins, and only
serves to harbour swarms of bees. History does not tell us when or by
whom it was built, but from its architecture and masonry it must
evidently be assigned to the twelfth or thirteenth century; the design
being, no doubt, to accommodate a small garrison in order to secure the
waters. It is not improbable that the Crusaders erected it to prevent
the hostile tribes from cutting off the water-supply from Jerusalem,
which would have been liable to this deprivation without such a
precaution. To the south are the three reservoirs, situated in the
middle of the Etham Valley, which slopes steeply down from west to east.
These are filled by the rain-water drained from the slopes of the
mountains on each side, and by an abundant supply from a spring on the
west of the castle, in a straight line along the direction of its north
side, at a distance of about 450 yards. I mention this, because its
rudely circular opening, like the mouth of a cistern, is hidden in a
field under a mass of stones thickly covered with creeping plants, and
so is sometimes not easily found without a guide. Possibly this spring
is mentioned in the Song of Solomon[863], in the words, "A garden
enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed;"
hence it is now called 'fons signatus' by the Christians, and _Ras
el-Ain_ (Head of the Fountain), and also _Ain Saleh_ by the Arabs. Let
us examine its interior by descending an inconvenient shaft, like those
in cisterns; looking well where we set our feet, lest we come to the
bottom in a single step, a depth of about 12 feet only, but a rough
fall. On arriving below, we crawl a short distance, and then find
ourselves in a rectangular chamber 18 feet long from north to south, 10
wide, and 20 high. The lower parts of the walls are formed of the great
blocks characteristic of the era of Solomon; the upper contain some with
rustic work in low relief, which diminishes towards the top of the
vault, where the stones are dressed smooth and flat. Hence I consider
that the chamber has been restored at different periods; an opinion
confirmed by the barrel-vault formed of long oblong stones, skilfully
laid with mortar. In the middle of the west wall is an opening leading
into a narrow cave, at the western extremity of which a limpid, cool,
and abundant spring issues from a natural channel in the rock, which
cannot be followed up by reason of its narrowness and the breaks in its
level. Where the water runs along the floor, we observe the remains of
an ancient canal formed of hard cement, which still exhibits some
fragments of earthenware pipes about ten inches in diameter. In the
corners of this cave are two other crevices in the rock, from which
issue small springs that unite with the former in the middle of the
first chamber. In this there is a basin, originally intended to act as a
filter, which is now out of repair, and receives the water on its way to
the conduit running to the east. Owing to the injuries done by the hand
of man, and the accumulation of extraneous substances, a large part of
the stream escapes into the ground, and is lost. I have repeatedly
visited this place at the various seasons of the year, and have found
the fountain flowing most copiously in winter, but there is no
deficiency in summer; so that if the reservoirs and conduits were
properly kept up, Jerusalem would never be in want of spring-water, and
the health and comfort of its inhabitants would be improved by the
decrease of fevers, and the increase of cleanliness. The eastern conduit
is mainly excavated in the solid rock, especially near its mouth; but
the upper part, which is vaulted for the first 20 feet, is then covered
with large slabs, as far as the south-west corner of the castle. At
first it is 3 feet wide and 4 high, but it gradually becomes narrower
and lower as it approaches this corner, and can therefore only be
traversed for a distance of 86 feet, when the walls, hewn out of the
rock, are replaced by others of masonry, although rock continues to form
the bottom of the conduit. This aqueduct, running in a curve from the
spring to the castle, empties part of its contents into a round basin,
near the north-west corner of the first pool, whence it flows into the
pool; so that there is usually water in this even in the height of
summer, when the other two are generally dry. Before proceeding to
describe the course of the water, both from the round basin and in
other directions, I call attention to the three large reservoirs, which
are mainly excavated in the rock, the eastern side alone of each being
formed of solid masonry, built in steps externally to resist the
pressure of the water. In these walls, and especially in their lower
parts, very ancient Jewish work is seen, which may be assigned to the
reign of Solomon; not the slightest trace of mortar is visible, and
where the wall has been wantonly injured, pieces of iron appear with the
holes in the stones for clamps. The walls are now faced with Arab cement
(the last was put on in 1857 and 1860); but in places fragments of an
ancient compost still remain, so compact and hard that it has withstood
the injuries of twenty-nine centuries. The Plan shews the arrangement
and dimensions of these reservoirs, and the Section their inclination
and respective depths, so that I need not enter into particulars on
these points, but only remark that the eastern end of each is connected
with a subterranean chamber, wherein we can observe the various channels
which have been used, according to circumstances, to augment the outflow
of the stream from the upper to the lower reservoir. In these the
original vaulting still remains, circular in form and constructed of
blocks, built together without mortar; that belonging to the last pool
on the east is the largest, from which the conduit starts which goes to
the _castellum_[864], and thence to Jerusalem. We will now return to the
first-mentioned conduit. I have already said that the aqueduct from the
'Sealed Fountain' discharges a portion of its waters into the round
basin; another portion flows along a covered canal, visible on the
surface, which runs along by the side of the three pools, supplying a
fountain near the north-east corner of the first of them, and then
emptying itself into the _castellum_ just mentioned. In case of too
great a quantity of water flowing into the round basin, and being forced
back by the first pool becoming full, the overplus is not lost, but
escapes through a third aperture into a subterranean chamber, on the
west of the basin, and almost united to it, where it joins the stream
coming from a very deep spring (not before mentioned), whence it is
conducted by a subterranean canal (whether this is artificial or natural
I have not been able to decide) to the _castellum_ on the east of the
lowest pool. This point I have proved by stopping up the supply of water
from the other quarters; an experiment which was witnessed by M. de
Barrère and M. E. Meshullam. Another spring also supplies the latter
_castellum_, the stream from which, rising at a distance of about 750
feet, comes down the valley, and runs parallel to the east end of the
lowest pool; this is called by the Arabs _Ain Atan_, and is the best
water in Palestine, but is not very abundant, from the way in which the
neighbourhood of the source has been cleared of trees. The above-named
fountains are not all of those which formerly supported the gardens of
Solomon and Jerusalem; two conduits from the south increased the
supply; one of which came from the neighbourhood of Hebron (to the south
of the village of _Halhul_), and flowed into the lowest pool: another,
from the mountains near Etham, emptied itself into the first pool. The
whole course of these conduits can be traced; but it is sad to see them
becoming more and more ruinous every year, when, with little trouble and
expense, they could be sufficiently repaired to be of immense benefit to
the places through which they run. In case the three pools became full,
and the great influx into the lower _castellum_ produced a flood, the
water escaped by a canal, following the course of the valley, and flowed
into two pools, at some distance apart, smaller than those above: there,
no doubt, it was kept to irrigate the gardens below, which may be
identified with the 'garden inclosed[865]' of Solomon. The important
remains of buildings and pools which M. Meshullam has discovered and
laid open, while bringing (most successfully) the ground under
cultivation, are proofs of this point. The shape of the lower pools and
the materials employed in them shew that they are of the same age as the
upper. It is impossible to suppose that these can be the work of any of
the conquerors of Palestine, for none of them would have undertaken a
work of such magnitude, especially as their mission has always been
rather to destroy than to build; neither can we attribute them to Herod,
on account of the silence of Josephus, who mentions all his chief works;
so that we naturally assign them to the epoch of Solomon. The ability of
the engineer who constructed these works is shewn even more in the
aqueduct than in the pools, as it falls and rises, winding through
valleys and hills on its way from the _castellum_, until, after a course
of about 40,000 feet, it empties itself into the great reservoir in the
Valley of Gihon, not far from, and on the north of, the _Birket
es-Sultan_ (the ancient Lower Pool), where its waters were allowed to
settle. Here the aqueduct was formerly divided into two branches,
whereof the one flowed into the pool below, and the other, after
crossing the valley, still rises up the side of Sion, and having skirted
the eastern slopes above the Tyropoeon valley, crosses it and enters
Moriah, as I have already described[866]. The whole course of this
aqueduct still remains, and we can observe that a large portion of it is
hewn in the rock, and covered up with large slabs, while in other parts
it is formed of earthenware pipes eight inches in diameter, which are
skilfully laid with strong cement between stones cut in a proper shape,
and protected above with solid masonry. The various Arab restorations,
at different periods, have considerably modified the form of the
aqueduct, but nevertheless enough remains to enable us to study its
construction. Josephus[867] mentions that Pilate spent the sacred
treasure upon an aqueduct, and some have understood from this that he
constructed the one of which we speak. I cannot however suppose that the
Governor of a province would have been able to carry out a work of such
magnitude; and had it been done, the memory of it would have been
preserved by tradition. Josephus, indeed, speaks of the length of the
work as 400 stadia, but this, I think, must be a mistake in the
manuscripts; 40 would be nearer to the proper amount. The Talmud[868]
states that the aqueduct bringing the water into Moriah emptied itself
into the 'sea of bronze,' and that the spring from which it was supplied
was 23 cubits higher than the pavement of the Temple. This is the actual
height of the 'fountain inclosed;' and this aqueduct does communicate,
as we have shewn, with the supposed site of the 'sea.' The aqueduct has
been restored at various times, since history informs us that Cathuba,
Sultan of Egypt, expended large sums in bringing the waters from the
vicinity of Hebron to the three pools at Etham; and in the thirteenth
century, Sultan Mohammed Ibn-Kelaoun repaired the ancient works of
Solomon to convey the water into Moriah, which had been diverted when
Saladin broke down the aqueduct, in order to cut off the supply from the
Crusaders[869]. The Mohammedan chronicles relate that Solyman the
Magnificent went to great expense in restoring it. At a later period,
under the government of Kiamil Pasha and Surraya Pasha, in 1856 and in
1860, the waters of Etham were brought into Jerusalem, on which occasion
I co-operated with the Turkish engineer, Assad Effendi; but these last
repairs have not been permanent, because the _fellahîn_ divert the water
for their private purposes, and those whose duty it is to guard the
aqueduct are bribed to blindness by a present of a lamb or some money.
Until the Governor adopts rigorous measures, the water will be used by
the herdsmen, and will not reach the city.
I will now briefly indicate the advantages that the waters of Etham must
have produced when they supplied Jerusalem. (1) They filled _Birket
es-Sultan_, or the lower pool, at the southern end of the Valley of
Gihon, then irrigated the gardens and fields in the Valley of Hinnom,
and afterwards flowed into the Kidron, augmenting its volume and aiding
in sweeping away the sewage from the Temple. I have found at certain
places in the Valley of Hinnom remains of ancient walls, which I
consider to have belonged to pools formed there to keep the water until
it was wanted for the neighbouring fields. (2) When the water arrived at
the western extremity of the bridge across the Tyropoeon, a branch
conduit, as I believe, carried a portion of it northward to supply the
different fountains, which still exist in the valley, and also to aid in
filling the Pool of Bethesda; which however was also supplied by the
conduit from the northern valley, and by others from the pool outside S.
Mary's Gate, which was filled from the ditch on the north-east outside
the city. Hence it appears that the lower city was well provided with
water. The works which I have hitherto described could still be restored
with the greatest ease, if the Government chose to expend £7200 in
repairing them in different places, and to organize an effective police
to guard the aqueduct from injury by any chance comer; a thing at
present impossible, owing to the venality of the officials of the
Government, and the barbarism of the Arabs. The former, however, is the
more insurmountable evil. In 1860 I proposed a plan to Surraya Pasha for
securing the water-supply from Etham, and shewed how the expenditure
might be repaid by a rate on Jerusalem and Bethlehem (which is on the
course of the conduit, and receives benefit from it); this rate would be
a positive gain to the inhabitants of the former place, as it would save
them from the capricious and exaggerated demands of those who bring
water into the city, when the cisterns have failed in a season of
drought. He at once perceived the advantages of my plan, but was unable
to carry it into effect, as he could not secure the necessary
co-operation. A short time since a European engineer proposed to bring
the water from Etham to Jerusalem by cast-iron pipes, which were to
start from the Tomb of Rachel, on the Bethlehem road, about four miles
from Jerusalem, and bring it up to the summit of the tower, which I call
Phasaëlus, in the Castle of David, from which the central valley was to
be supplied. I am convinced that this plan is impracticable in
Palestine, not only from the great expense, but also because the
Government could never consent to turn into water-works a place which
would be their chief stronghold in case of an insurrection of the
Bedouins or _fellahîn_; besides, the pipes themselves would be eagerly
sought after as booty. If it has not been, and is not possible to
restore that which now exists, how can anything new be done?
Circumstances will alter, and then we may hope that Palestine will
advance as Europe is doing; but the good time has not yet come, and
still seems to be far distant.
Etham was not the only place that supplied Jerusalem with water; for
some came from the west, from the Upper Pool of Gihon (the present
_Birket Mamillah_[870]). From the words of the Bible[871] we should
expect that a fountain was in its neighbourhood; but as the ground near
is now converted into a Mohammedan cemetery, it is impossible to make
any excavations, and I must therefore content myself with explaining
what can be seen above ground. The Pool _Mamillah_ has been excavated in
the rock; by whom history does not tell us, but it is certainly older
than the time of Hezekiah, for Isaiah met Ahaz 'at the end of the
conduit of the upper pool[872],' on the occasion of the prophecy,
'Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.' This pool occupies a
favourable position for collecting the water that drains from the slopes
of the neighbouring hills in a rainy season. It formerly supplied not
only the Pool Amygdalon in the city (as it still does), but also the
lower pool in the valley or _Birket es-Sultan_. Finding the Pool
_Mamillah_ dry in the summer-season, I made a careful examination of it,
especially on the western side, to see if I could find any mouths of
conduits, but could not discover the slightest trace; so that if there
ever were any, they have entirely disappeared under the various
restorations that the place has undergone. At the present time its
waters are unfit to drink owing to the surrounding cemeteries; but this
would not render them less useful to the city, if the pool were put in
order so as to prevent the waters from being absorbed by the rubbish
which thickly covers the bottom, and from escaping through the crevices
in the sides, now unstopped with cement, and if the conduit were
properly repaired and protected. Were all these works in good condition,
the pool would be filled at the time of the rains, and would supply the
Pool Amygdalon[873]; and in that case the two would annually furnish the
water required by the bath in the Christian bazaar, and its proprietors
be able to make money by selling what they did not require to the
builders. It is surprising that the Arabs do not see the advantages that
they would gain, especially as the cost of the repairs would not be more
than £600.
In my opinion these two pools and their conduit answer to the
descriptions given us in various passages of the Bible. We read[874]
that when the officers of the king of Assyria arrived with a great host
from Lachish, "they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool,
which is in the highway of the fuller's field." Their army must have
encamped on the west, and extended as far as the present site of the
Latin Convent of S. Saviour, as the position was commanding and well
suited for marshalling troops before an attack, and the walls were
unprotected by any natural defences. Again, we find[875] that during the
conference between the general of Sennacherib and the chief men in
Jerusalem, they were within hearing of the men on the wall. So when
Sennacherib menaced Jerusalem, Hezekiah[876] "stopped the waters of the
fountains which were without the city; repaired Millo in the city of
David (the present Amygdalon), and stopped the upper watercourse of
Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of
David." This I understand to mean that Hezekiah wished to deprive the
enemy of water, and so enclosed Amygdalon with a wall on the west and
north, thus bringing it inside the city, and at the same time
constructed the existing conduit to divert the waters from the upper
pool and leave it dry. These works must have been executed in haste, and
I cannot conceive it possible that they could have been carried into
effect in any other part of the environs of Jerusalem, as it would have
been a colossal labour to bring a conduit to the western side of the
City of David in any other direction, for the hills must have been
pierced. It would also have been unnecessary, as the only purpose was
to conduct the water from the upper pool to that within the city.
Josephus[877] in speaking of the gate by which the water came into the
tower Hippicus, indicates the existence of another conduit. This I
suppose to have been a branch of that of Hezekiah. When the foundations
of the English church were dug, the remains of a conduit were
discovered, which seems to shew that this was the site of one of Herod's
palaces, probably that called the Cæsareum. It has been thought that
this conduit went as far as Moriah, but I believe that I have found its
mouth in the street of David, 'in the going down to Silla[878],' close
to the Greek convent of S. John on the south, and that it was a sewer.
At the end of the Valley of Siloam is another means of providing for the
wants of the city in the matter of water; that is the well _Bir Eyub_,
the ancient En-rogel, the boundary between the tribes of Judah and
Benjamin[879]. It is situated in a deep narrow cleft of the valley, with
precipitous mountains on every side; and formerly furnished water to
Jerusalem, as it still continues to do, the inhabitants of Siloam
driving a brisk trade during the summer droughts. I have already
mentioned this well[880], and now proceed to give a more detailed
account of it. In the month of October, 1858, _Bir Eyub_ was perfectly
dry, and I availed myself of this event, unfortunate for Jerusalem, to
descend into it. I reached the bottom, covered with fine sand, and there
was able to examine a small cavity in the rock on the west, mentioned by
Mejir ed-Din, from which the water flows in the rainy season. It was
then completely dry, but I think that a spring formerly issued from it.
I believe that the well (108 feet deep) is a cavity naturally worn by
the constant flow of the water, but that it has afterwards been dressed
with a chisel. It is now rectangular in plan, and gradually diminishes
from the top to the bottom; the side walls are formed of large blocks in
the lower part; as we ascend their size decreases; small holes occur
among these at intervals, through which the rock can be seen, and the
water runs into the well[881]. The stones recede, one behind the other,
as we ascend, and they are perfectly united without any apparent trace
of mortar, and must be bolted together with iron clamps or stone tenons
to have enabled them to stand firm during so many centuries, and yet to
seem likely to stand for many more. I have no doubt that the masonry is
of the highest antiquity. The well is supplied by the rains which,
sinking into the surrounding mountainous country, descend naturally to
this vault at the lowest level. I have convinced myself of this by
careful observation at the rainy seasons, and have ascertained that the
well did not begin to fill until the rain had fallen for several days,
and that the level of the water was not affected, unless the rain was
heavy and continuous. I also found that the well did not overflow into
the Kidron, unless this rain lasted for several days, and that it ceased
when the fine weather returned, and a dry wind sprang up. In 1861 the
rain was so heavy that the overflow lasted for fifteen days, but during
this time there was very little sunshine in the neighbourhood of
Jerusalem. The above explanation will, I trust, be satisfactory to all,
except the Arabs, who account for the wonder in the following
manner[882]: "We all know that the _Haram es-Sherîf_ is constantly
guarded by sixty thousand angels. Now, by a decree of Heaven, while the
heavenly host watch in prayer around the sacred rock (_es-Sakharah_), an
equal number of evil spirits groan in the depths of the mountain,
condemned to support upon their accursed foreheads the weight of the
holy edifice, and of the vast plateau that encircles it. The weight is
terrible, but the following circumstance is marvellous. Every time that
a faithful Mohammedan, after due purification, places his foot upon the
ground of the _Haram_, the weight of his body increases the burden borne
by the demons seventy-fold. If the devotees are numerous, if they
frequently go to implore the divine mercy in that favoured spot, the
sufferings of the fiends are proportionately increased; they burst into
tears of grief and rage. The more ardent is the zeal of the believers,
the fuller is the reservoir, wherein, drop by drop, the tears of the
enemies of God are collected. Hence the abundance or the deficiency of
the water in _Bir Eyub_ measures the bounty of the Creator to His
creatures. It only depends then on our own prayers to have good
harvests, and when drought comes, we ought to accuse ourselves of a lack
of devotion." M. Saintine thinks that this account, when stripped of its
marvels, denotes that all the water-courses in the city flow into the
lower part of the _Haram es-Sherîf_, and thence are conducted by a
conduit into this well. This I cannot admit, because the waters running
down the western bank of the Tyropoeon follow the course of that
valley, and those which fall on the eastern are caught by the reservoirs
constructed for that purpose, and the small quantity that escapes,
falls, as I have already stated[883], into the Kidron Valley, opposite
to the Tomb of Absalom.
Let us now pass on to consider the Fountain of the Virgin, the only
useful spring in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, of which I have already
given an account[884], as well as of the upper pool of Siloam, which is
supplied by the Fountain; but I have not yet described the phenomenon of
its intermittence, the quality of its water, and the conduit connecting
the two places. S. Jerome, as I have already observed, and the
historians of the Crusades, noticed that the flow of the water was not
regular, so that the occurrence is by no means novel. Dr Robinson[885]
gives the following account of it: "As we were preparing to measure the
basin of the upper fountain and explore the passage leading from it, my
companion was standing on the lower step near the water, with one foot
on the step and the other on a loose stone lying in the basin. All at
once he perceived the water coming into his shoe; and supposing the
stone had rolled, he withdrew his foot to the step; which however was
also now covered with water. This instantly excited our curiosity; and
we now perceived the water rapidly bubbling up from under the lower
step. In less than five minutes it had risen in the basin nearly or
quite a foot; and we could hear it gurgling off through the interior
passage. In ten minutes more it had ceased to flow; and the water in the
basin was again reduced to its former level." I have repeatedly observed
the same thing, and for some time was unable to explain it, and
therefore questioned the villagers of Siloam, and so learnt, from the
more ignorant, the story of the dragon, and from the wiser, that the
spring had a flux and reflux like the sea; and they were prepared to
instruct me on its periodicity. How I at last discovered the true cause
I will relate in speaking of the _Hammam es-Shefa_. Meanwhile I only
mention, as an unquestionable fact, that the phenomenon undoubtedly
occurs both in the rainy and dry seasons, but that the supply is greater
in the former than in the latter.
The water from the fountain flows into the upper pool of Siloam by means
of a subterranean conduit, which follows a winding course in the rock,
instead of going directly from north to south. In some places it is not
more than 2-1/4 feet high; in others 4 or even 5 feet; and in some parts
it is still higher, especially towards the Pool of Siloam. Its width in
general is about three feet, but near the southern mouth it increases up
to four. It has been hewn out of the rock in a very rude manner, so that
I am disposed to attribute it to the age of Solomon; especially as it
has been made to convey the water of the Fountain to a place where it
was more accessible to the inhabitants of the city, and could be
collected in the large reservoirs from which the gardens below, the
King's Gardens, were irrigated. In the 17th century a monk, by name
Julius, explored the whole of the dark damp passage. After him the Abbé
Desmazures, then an Englishman named Hyde, and Drs Robinson and Smith,
and also Tobler. I have traversed it several times, the last occasion
being in the month of February 1861; but I cannot advise any one to
follow my example, as the constant ruin continually increases the
difficulty of the undertaking, and there is always danger of the earth
falling in at any moment. This conduit explains why the intermittence is
observed in Siloam. The general belief in the country is that the source
springs from the lower cavities in Mount Moriah (as the river of
Ezekiel's vision[886]). I am of the same opinion, but must reserve this
point also for my description of the _Hammam es-Shefa_. The water of the
Fountain is limpid and slightly brackish; it contains lime, magnesia,
and sulphuric acid: its specific gravity is 1.0035: its temperature is
usually from 61.25° to 65.75° Fahrenheit. It is only drunk by the
inhabitants of Jerusalem when the supplies in their cisterns fail;
however, the peasants of Siloam use it for all purposes. Still it is
always a boon to the citizens, as it irrigates the gardens of Siloam,
which are rendered wonderfully fruitful, besides supplying the tanners
and washerwomen, and cattle of all kinds.
I have already identified the Lower Pool of Siloam with the Pool of
Solomon, and stated that it now receives the sewage of the city; but it
must have been filled from the Upper Pool, and used to regulate the
supplies to the gardens, and increase the volume of the stream of the
Kidron.
In the neighbourhood of the city, on the north and north-west, remains
of conduits are found, by which perhaps water was brought into the city,
but I have not been able to discover whence the supply came; and there
are, besides, some reservoirs and cisterns, none of which date from a
remote period. The most important work, as regards its size, is the pool
at the head of the Kidron valley, which I believe to have been
constructed solely to collect and preserve the waters for the wants of
those who dwelt in the neighbourhood, and to prevent the streams,
flowing from the adjoining hill-sides, from being absorbed in the
ground. At one time I thought that a subterranean conduit took the water
from the pool into the city; but after the most careful examination of
the ground in the vicinity, I am able to declare that no such conduit
exists. The reasons which have led me to this conclusion will appear in
the following account of my investigations. The people of the country
had informed me that at night, when the city was perfectly quiet, the
noise of flowing water could be heard beneath the Damascus Gate by any
one who placed his ear on the ground. I made the experiment several
times, and found it to be the case. When I excavated the ancient North
Gate (in the foundations of the present Damascus Gate), as I have
already described in the second chapter[887], I descended into the
cisterns just on the north of the gate, and repeated the experiment at
the bottom of them, and here I perceived more distinctly the gurgling of
water, which was still more audible after Said Pasha, Commandant of the
garrison of Jerusalem, had emptied these two cisterns of the rubbish
that encumbered them. It must also be observed that the noise is heard
louder after rain than at other times. This, therefore, led me to
believe that there was a conduit which transported the water into the
city, and consequently I many times made careful investigations in the
tract of land between the Kidron Pool and the Damascus Gate; but these
all failed in producing the desired result; and after levelling the
ground, penetrating into cisterns, and removing ruins, I came to the
conclusion that its existence was impossible; for, if it had been
constructed, it must have run at a great depth underground, and been
wholly excavated in the rock. A work of this kind, especially for such a
distance, would have been too much for Jewish science; for all the other
conduits in Palestine which can be assigned to an early period, if not
covered with long slabs, as is common, are not much below the level of
the ground, so that there are apertures at intervals to give them light.
Nor is this the only reason against the existence of a conduit; for in
examining the sewer in the Tyropoeon valley inside the city, near the
Damascus Gate, I obtained permission from the Pasha, when it was
repaired, to deepen the excavation, and found no trace of a water-course
in the place where it would naturally have run; unless indeed we suppose
it to have been made at a greater depth in the rock itself, or to have
crossed Bezetha, and come to an end either in Moriah or close to it on
the north-west. Consequently I conclude that the gurgling heard at the
Damascus Gate proceeds from the sewers in its neighbourhood, which
descend from Gareb and Bezetha and unite in the Tyropoeon valley.
I terminate the examination of the waters outside the city by observing
that the Pilgrim's Pool[888], on the north (which I have already
noticed), is insufficiently supplied from the little valley above it,
and anciently discharged its waters into the Pool of Bethesda. I also
mention again the water dropping from the rock inside the Royal Caverns,
which some, who have only seen it in the rainy season and not in the
summer when it is dried up, consider to be a spring. I do not think that
these two sources contributed greatly in former time to augment the
supply of water to the city.
Before the 12th of June, 1860, no other spring was known in Jerusalem
than that which rises at the bottom of the well of the _Hammam
es-Shefa_. With regard to this there have been many enquiries as to
whence its waters come, by what way they enter Moriah, and whither they
go. At the time just mentioned, I discovered the spring on the property
of the Daughters of Sion, as I have already described[889]; but about
two years previously, in the month of July, I had been called in to
examine some water which appeared near Herod's Gate, when the
foundations were dug for a large building belonging to Mustafa Bey,
which now bears his name. Having premised this, I will state the
conclusions at which I have arrived from my investigations at the three
places just mentioned, and also give my explanation of the phenomenon of
the intermittence of the water in the Fountain of the Virgin.
In the foundation, on the south side of Mustafa Bey's house, at a depth
of 22 feet, a quantity of water had appeared during the night and filled
the hole. The master-mason and the owner, the sole architects, believed
that it had filtered through from some cistern in the neighbourhood,
and therefore set to work to bale it out. When this was done they were
very much surprised to see that a thin stream of water, coming from the
north-west, continued to fill the place; they therefore deepened the
excavation a little, and widened the opening, but they were unable to
account for the abundance of the water, which hindered their work. On
arriving at the spot I suggested excavating, but the fear of the
increased expenditure kept them from agreeing to this; so that, under
the circumstances, I had no other means of ascertaining anything, than
examining a number of cisterns which were in the neighbourhood; and
after tasting the water in them, and comparing it with that in the hole,
I found that the latter was of the same quality as that in the _Hammam
es-Shefa_ and the Fountain of the Virgin; and then I began to believe
that it came from a spring. The owner of the place consented to suspend
the works in this part for eight days, but I could not prevail on him to
permit me to make any excavation near the place on the north-west; and
during this time the water flowed through a canal which I had
constructed for it. After building two massive piers on each side of the
stream and turning a strong arch over it, the works proceeded; so that
the stream ran away to the south, without our having found a solution of
the problem; but I have no doubt that careful investigation would have
revealed the spring-head close by on the north-west.
The discovery of June 12th, and the identity in taste and colour between
the water then found and that of which I have spoken, caused me to
examine the part of the city between the two points; and though the Arab
houses in this district caused many difficulties, I succeeded in
ascertaining that in this direction there were cisterns, into which
water found its way, similar to that at the spring, and consequently not
fit for all the purposes of life. From this I concluded that the two
springs must be connected, and the upper supply the lower. But still
there was the question, what became of all the water which issued from
the spring at the Convent of the Daughters of Sion? At the first moment
I was disposed to think that it flowed into the subterranean gallery, in
the direction of the north-west corner of the _Haram es-Sherîf_; but my
observations have brought me to the conclusion that it goes into the
well of the _Hammam es-Shefa_, as I will now shew.
The stream flowed naturally to the south, therefore I carefully probed
all the western wall on the inside of the gallery to see if the water
passed along by it; but I found no signs, and so perceived that the
conduit from the spring had turned away in another direction. Though the
gallery was almost free from water in August, and quite dry in September
and October, the stream still flowed abundantly; so that had it run
along the gallery, it could not have escaped my observation. Still it
might have been objected, that possibly the stream was absorbed and its
course concealed by the earth at the bottom of the gallery, so I dammed
up the waters until a kind of pool was formed, and then set them free
on a sudden; but not a drop appeared in the gallery; so that I thought
that they must go into the _Hammam es-Shefa_. I consider the water in
this well to be the same as that which supplies the Fountain of the
Virgin, for the following reasons. The quality of the water is the same;
and though that in the well is rather turbid and that in the Fountain is
clear, I attribute this solely to the presence of rubbish in the well,
the waters of which are afterwards filtered during their course. The
water in the well has for a long time supplied a bath built over it, as
it still does. Traditions point it out as ancient, and the Talmud[890]
appears to confirm them, saying, that "the well was excavated by the
children of the captivity, and the priests drew water from it by means
of a pulley." We may therefore suppose that the Jews used to purify
themselves here, before entering the Temple, as the Mohammedans still do
on their festival days, before they go into the _Haram es-Sherîf_. This
bath is the cause of the intermittence of the stream in the Fountain of
the Virgin, for at certain periods of the day its keepers use the water
for the purposes of the establishment, and consequently not only prevent
it from rising high enough to reach the level of the conduit carrying it
off to the Kidron Valley, but also empty the well, so that it requires
some time to fill again. As this is done twice in every twenty-four
hours, the phenomenon of intermittence occurs just as often. This I have
proved by repeated observations and trials, and I recommend any one who
seeks for a more marvellous cause to follow my example. The quantity of
water in the well is hardly affected by the rains. The dirty water from
the bath is carried by a conduit into the sewer in the Tyropoeon
valley, and aids in transporting the filth therein outside the city.
Let us now devote a few lines to the pools inside the city, which I have
already mentioned. Near the Jaffa Gate, on the north, is a small pool,
which many have supposed to be the one in which Bathsheba was bathing
when she was seen by David[891]; but I believe the desire of assigning a
legend to every spot to be the sole authority for the tradition. I have
not been able to examine this reservoir, but the Greeks, to whom it
belongs, and who have filled it with earth to prevent its becoming a
receptacle of filth, have, with many other of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, assured me that it was very narrow, and that the workmanship
in it did not correspond with that of the Jewish era, but with that of
Saladin or Solyman; also that it had no connexion with the other ancient
water-works.
With regard to the Pool Amygdalon, so often mentioned, I have to remark
that many of the cisterns, excavated in the upper city, are filled from
it, among which I may especially denote that which commonly bears S.
Helena's name, near the north-east corner of the Church of the
Resurrection. On this point there cannot be any doubt, since before the
Coptic hospice was erected on the northern side of Amygdalon, a large
conduit was visible near its north-east corner, which had been observed
by several of the older masons. Besides this, the waters of the pool
were certainly directed into the different sewers in the upper city in
order to cleanse them; as we may still see in part, for the water which
has been used for the bath, is conveyed by a conduit into the sewer in
the street of David.
The Cistern of S. Helena has, as I believe, been sometimes called the
Cistern of Golgotha, and it has been said that anything light cast into
it appeared again in Siloam. I do not believe that this was the case,
but if the identification be correct, it might occur in the following
manner; that if the water in the cistern rose above a certain height it
might escape by a waste pipe, on the south-east of the cistern, into the
central sewer in the Tyropoeon, and thus, when there was a large
surplus of water, might easily descend to Siloam, bearing any floating
substance along with it. There are many other cisterns in the
neighbourhood of the Holy Sepulchre which I have examined, but these do
not help me to an explanation of the matter, as their waste pipes are
but small.
I return to the Pool of Bethesda[892], to direct attention to the
Herodian masonry, which was certainly either built or repaired at the
erection of the Antonia. The stones which rest on the levelled rock are
perfectly united together in the following way: on the outer surface of
one stone is a rectangular mortise, into which fits a corresponding
tenon, left projecting from a stone with all its faces regularly
squared, and of somewhat smaller size than the first mentioned. Thus,
when a row[893] was finished the outer stones were about two inches
apart, and so the whole wall resembled a chess-board, all the squares
being separated by channels running horizontally and vertically. These
intervals were filled with very strong masonry; and in order that the
water might not possibly find its way through the joinings of the inner
stones, after the surface was thus made level, the whole was covered
with a strong cement. The position of the pool shews that it was not
only formed for the service of the Temple, but also for its defence.
This work, which could so easily be made again fit for use, is, on the
contrary, rapidly falling to ruin, being utterly neglected, like all the
other works of antiquity.
There were some other pools inside the city--for example one, where the
barrack of the _Haram_[894] now stands; another, on the south of the
property of the Armenian Convent, which I myself have examined; but of
these every trace has now disappeared; and I only mention them to shew
how much better the city was supplied with water in former times by
means of proper contrivances.
I have already explained[895] how the inhabitants now provide themselves
with water, and will only add that, of the 992 cisterns in Jerusalem
and its vicinity, the greater number are ancient, and are excavated in
the rock. In them the water would keep excellently, if proper attention
were paid to them, so that the city would never fall short; but they too
are neglected; and consequently there is in many years a want of water,
a great quantity of which is either absorbed by the ground and lost, or
runs into the sewers, which are in even worse repair, and, or lastly,
floods the streets, to the inconvenience of passengers, and the injury
of the public health.
I conclude by remarking that, although Jerusalem is situated in a
position where limestone rocks abound, and where springs of drinkable
water are not to be found, (there being but one which could be used,
even in extremity,) the city has never suffered from thirst in all the
numerous sieges which it has undergone. The besiegers, however, have
almost always been reduced to great straits from this cause; for
example, the armies of Pompeius, of Antiochus Eupator, and of the
Crusaders. Josephus, indeed, says that the Roman troops under Titus did
not want water, but this is in a speech addressed to his
fellow-citizens, when he is exhorting them to submit in order to avoid a
more miserable fate; and he brings forward this unwonted circumstance as
a sign that heaven had abandoned them, just as had happened when the
city was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar. Still great distress, according to
Dio Cassius[896], did prevail among the Roman army. The inhabitants,
however, never felt any such want; their miseries always arose from
hunger; and William of Tyre[897] expressly states that when the army of
Godfrey of Bouillon entered Jerusalem they found plenty of water. From
the earliest period the supply appears to have been well maintained; and
it is to be hoped that some person or other will before long restore the
city to its former condition; and by repairing the ancient water-works
render it no longer dependent on the rains. Woe betide Jerusalem if
showers should fail during two years in succession!
FOOTNOTES:
[860] Eccl. ii. 4, 6.
[861] Ant. VIII. 7, § 3.
[862] Plate X.
[863] Cant. iv. 12.
[864] The reservoirs constructed at certain points along the course of
an aqueduct to regulate the supply of water.
[865] Cant. iv. 12.
[866] Page 100.
[867] Ant. XVIII. 3, § 2; Jewish War, II. 9, § 4.
[868] Joma, fol. 31. 1.
[869] Greg. Abulpharagii seu Barhebræi Chronicum Syriacum, ed. G. G.
Kirsch. Lips. 1789. 2 Vols. 4to.
[870] Plate LXII.
[871] 2 Chron. xxxii. 30.
[872] Isai. vii. 3.
[873] Plate XXXI.
[874] 2 Kings xviii. 17.
[875] 2 Kings xviii. 18, 26, 28.
[876] 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, 4, 5, 30.
[877] Jewish War, V. 7, § 3.
[878] 2 Kings xii. 20.
[879] Josh. xv. 7; Plate XLVIII.
[880] Page 188.
[881] Plate X.
[882] I avail myself of the words of M. Saintine (Trois ans en Judée, p.
132), as I was in his company when an old Sheikh told us the story.
[883] Page 92.
[884] Page 184.
[885] Biblical Researches, Vol. I. p. 506 (1st ed.).
[886] Ezek. xlvii.
[887] Page 36.
[888] Page 14.
[889] Page 63.
[890] Gloss. in Mishnajoth in Octav. in Midd. Perek. 5.
[891] 2 Sam. xi. 2-4.
[892] Plate XVI.
[893] See Plate X. fig. 6.
[894] Jewish War, V. 11, § 4.
[895] Page 14.
[896] Dio Cassius, LXIV. 4.
[897] Lib. VIII. c. 24, G. D. p. 761.