Hezekiah’s Tunnel

In 711 BC Sargon II of Assyria captured Ashdod. Hezekiah foresaw a time when the Assyrian army might besiege Jerusalem. He fortified Jerusalem and organized an army. Knowing that a source of water was crucial within the city walls, Hezekiah constructed a 1,750-foot tunnel through solid rock from the spring of Gihon to the Siloam pool. On the east wall of the tunnel conduit, about 20 feet from the Pool of Siloam, an inscription was found that represents one of the oldest Hebrew inscriptions of significant length. Although the inscription was broken in an attempt to steal it, the fragments are now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.