Ancient steps leading to the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed a blind man and told him to bathe, have been uncovered by an excavation project.
Under the direction of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel National Parks Authority, and City of David Foundation, excavations are now being conducted to expand upon key finds made in 2004.
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“The ongoing excavations within the City of David — the historic site of Biblical Jerusalem — particularly of the Pool of Siloam and the Pilgrimage Road, serve as one of the greatest affirmations of that heritage and the millennia-old bond Jews and Christians have with Jerusalem,” Ze’ev Orenstein, director of International Affairs for the City of David Foundation said, noting the excavations allow the Bible to be embraced “not simply as a matter of faith, but as a matter of fact.”
“The half-mile running through the City of David, from the Pool of Siloam in the south, continuing along the Pilgrimage Road, up to the footsteps of the Western Wall, Southern Steps and Temple Mount, represents the most significant half-mile on the planet,” Orenstein said.
“There is no half-mile anywhere on Earth which means more to more people — not to millions, but to billions — than the half-mile that is the City of David,” he said.
According to Fox News, renowned American pastor John Hagee, the founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, highlights the pool’s crucial significance.
“The Pool of Siloam’s excavation is highly significant to Christians around the world. It was at this site that Jesus healed the blind man (John:9), and it is at this site that, 2,000 years ago, Jewish pilgrims cleansed themselves prior to entering the Second Temple. The Pool of Siloam and the Pilgrimage Road, both located within the City of David, are among the most inspiring archeological affirmations of the Bible,” he said.
The pool was built during King Hezekiah’s reign, some 2,700 years ago, and served as a repository for water from the Gihon Spring, according to CBN. It served as a sacred washing area for people traveling to the temple during the time of the Second Temple.
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The site was first excavated in 1880 after a Hezekiah-related inscription was found in the water tunnel. The site was considerably extended by subsequent excavations. During an infrastructure improvement project in 2004, steps leading to the pool were discovered.
The public has previously had limited access to the pool area. With this new project, we want to open the entire area.
“In the Pool of Siloam, we find evidence of history preserved for us, revealed at just the right time,” as the current part of the project was getting underway, Rev. Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, spoke to Fox News earlier this year.
“Theologically, it affirms Scripture, geographically it affirms Scripture, and politically it affirms Israel’s unquestionable and unrivaled link to Jerusalem. Some discoveries are theoretical. This one is an undeniable. It is proof of the story of the Bible and of its people, Israel,” he said.
“The Pool of Siloam in the City of David National Park in Jerusalem is a site of historic, national and international significance. After many years of anticipation, we will soon merit being able to uncover this important site and make it accessible to the millions of visitors visiting Jerusalem each year,” according to the Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem’s mayor, Moshe Lion, said.
