The Day, Connecticut
Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Workers Find Biblical Site In Jerusalem

By LOS ANGELES TIMES

Workers repairing a sewage pipe in the old city of Jerusalem have discovered
the biblical Pool of Siloam, a freshwater reservoir that was a major
gathering place for ancient Jews making religious pilgrimages to the city
and the reputed site where Jesus cured a man blind from birth, according to
the gospel of John.

The pool was fed by the now famous Hezekiah's Tunnel and is "a much grander
affair" than archeologists previously believed, with three tiers of stone
stairs allowing easy access to the water, according to Hershel Shanks,
editor of Biblical Archeology Review, which reported the find Monday.

"Scholars have said that there wasn't a Pool of Siloam and that John was
using a religious conceit" to illustrate a point, said New Testament scholar
James H. Charles-worth of the Princeton Theological Seminary. "Now we have
found the Pool of Siloam ... exactly where John said it was."

A gospel that was thought to be "pure theology is now shown to be grounded
in history," he said.

The discovery puts a new spotlight on what is called the pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, a trip that religious law required ancient Jews to make at least
once a year, said archeologist Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, who
excava-ted the pool.

"Jesus was just another pilgrim coming to Jerusalem," he said. "It would be
natural to find him there."

The newly discovered pool is less than 200 yards from another Pool of
Siloam, this one a reconstruction built between A.D. 400 and 460 by the
empress Eudocia of Byzantium, who oversaw the rebuilding of several Biblical
sites.

The site of yet another Pool of Siloam, which predated the version visited
by Jesus, is still unknown.

That first pool was constructed in the 8th century B.C. by the Judean King
Hezekiah, who foresaw the likelihood that the Assyrians would lay siege to
Jerusalem and knew that a safe water supply would be required to survive it.

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