Pool of Siloam: Encyclopedia II - Pool of Siloam - The Pool Through Time

Pool of Siloam - The Pool Through Time

There would seem to have been at least three pools built, with various reconstructions over time:

Pool of Siloam - Hezekiah's Pool

The first pool would have been built at the same time as King Hezekiah's tunnel from the Gihon Spring. The Siloam inscription was discovered in this tunnel in 1880, and is among the oldest extant Hebrew records. It is an accounting of the manner in which the water tunnel was constructed during the reign of Hezekiah. This pool would have been at least rehabilitated after the return from the Exile, in the early Second Temple period.

Pool of Siloam - Later Second Temple Period Pool

The second pool, which has been recently discovered, dates from the later Second Temple period. What portion of it might be Herodian is not yet understood. Any relationship to the earlier original pool is not presently known.

Pool of Siloam - Byzantine Pool

The third pool, a version of which represents the present-day pool, dates from 5th century Byzantine times, and is said to have been built at the behest of the Empress Aelia Eudocia.

Pool of Siloam - Present Day Pool

The present pool is part of the pilgrim trail. It's just a stone pool, smaller than you might think with a modest mosque hard by it (and actually over part of it). Hezekiah's tunnel is barred off, but apparently tours are possible.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Pool Through Time", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki