Gihon Spring
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Gihon Spring () or Fountain of the Virgin, also known as Saint Mary's Pool, A.H. Sayce, "The Inscription at the Pool of Siloam", ''Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement'' 13.2 (April 1881): (
editio princeps In Textual scholarship, textual and classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts. These had to be copied by han ...
), p
72
/ref> is a spring in the Kidron Valley. It was the main source of water for the Pool of Siloam in Jebus and the later City of David, the original site of
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. One of the world's major intermittent springs – and a reliable water source that made human settlement possible in ancient Jerusalem – the spring was not only used for drinking water, but also initially for irrigation of gardens in the adjacent Kidron Valley, which provided a food source for the ancient settlement. The spring rises in a cave 20 feet by 7, and is located 586 yards (535 m) northwards of the Pool of Siloam. Being intermittent, it required the excavation of the Pool of Siloam, which stored the large amount of water needed for the town when the spring was not flowing. Before the sinking of the water table due to overpumping in modern times, the spring used to flow three to five times daily in winter, twice daily in summer, and only once daily in autumn. This peculiarity is accounted for by the supposition that the outlet from the reservoir is by a passage in the form of a
siphon A siphon (; also spelled syphon) is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in an inverted "U" shape, which causes a liquid to flow upward, abo ...
.''
Easton's Bible Dictionary The ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', better known as ''Easton's Bible Dictionary'', is a reference work on topics related to the Christian Bible, compiled by Matthew George Easton. The first edition was published in 1893, and a revised editio ...
'' 1897
It has the largest output of water in the area – 600,000 cubic meters of water a year (compared to 125,000 cubic meters for the Lifta spring in West Jerusalem. The spring is under the control of the Israeli organization
Ir David Foundation Ir David Foundation or City of David Foundation, commonly known as Elad l'ad(, an acronym for "אל עיר דוד", meaning "to the City of David"), is a Jerusalem-based Israeli settler association which aims to strengthen the Jewish connec ...
("El'ad"); it is sometimes used by Jewish men as a sort of ritual bath (
mikvah A mikveh or mikvah (,  ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or ( Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. In Orthodox Judaism, these regulations are steadfastly adhered t ...
).


Etymology

''Gihon'' is the name of one of the four rivers coming from Eden (Genesis 2:13). The name ''Gihon'' is thought to derive from the Hebrew ''Giha'' which means "gushing forth". The city of Jerusalem's modern waterworks corporation, Hagihon, is named after the spring. The name ''Fountain of the Virgin'' derives from legend that here Mary washed the
swaddling clothes Swaddling is an ancient practice of wrapping infants in blankets or similar cloths so that movement of the Limb (anatomy), limbs is tightly restricted. Swaddling bands were often used to further restrict the infant. Swaddling fell out of favour i ...
of
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
.


History

Three main water systems allowed water to be brought from the spring under cover, including natural, masonry-built, and rock-cut structures: * The Middle Bronze Age Siloam Channel – a fairly straight channel dating from the
Middle Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
, cut 20 feet into the ground, and then covered with slabs (which themselves were then hidden by foliage). This led from the spring to the oldest, or Upper Pool of Siloam, and can be defined as an aqueduct. * The Bronze Age Warren's Shaft system – a system of tunnels, dating from slightly later than the Middle Bronze Age channel, leading from the Well Gate at the top of Ophel above Gihon, down to the spring. This passage was for people to collect water from the spring. The actual, natural vertical "Warren's Shaft", played no role in the water system. * The Iron Age Siloam Tunnel – a winding tunnel carved into the rock, leading from the spring to the Pool of Siloam. Dating from the time of
Hezekiah Hezekiah (; ), or Ezekias (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Kingdom of Judah, Judah according to the Hebrew Bible.Stephen L Harris, Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "G ...
or earlier, it was an aqueduct that effectively replaced the Middle Bronze Age channel. The Siloam inscription was found carved into its wall.


Archaeology

In the mid-19th century, James Turner Barclay attempted to explore a subterranean passageway leading from the "Virgin's Fount" (Gihon Spring) and which channel led, in his view, "to a point within a short distance from the Mugrabin Gate, where it turned abruptly to the west," and where he could proceed no further because of it being blocked by stones and by fallen debris. (reprint: ) According to his hypothesis, the channel was made "to discharge surplus water into the Ophel channel, in order that it might be reservoired in the Pool of Siloam." In 1997, while a
visitor centre A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic c ...
was being constructed, the spring was discovered to have been heavily fortified at dates then thought to be Middle Bronze Age, when archaeologists unexpectedly uncovered two monumental towers, one protecting the base of Warren's Shaft, and the other protecting the spring itself.


Inscription

During an archaeological dig in 2009, a fragment of a monumental stone inscription securely dated to the 8th century BCE was discovered. Although only fragments of Hebrew lettering survive, the fragment proves that the city had monumental public inscriptions and the corresponding large public buildings in the eighth century.


Dating

A 2017 study by the
Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...
has redated the constructions, reporting that "Scenarios for the construction of the tower during Middle Bronze Age (MB) and Iron Age II are considered, based on the new 14C data, yielding a series of dates, the latest of which falls in the terminal phases of the 9th century BCE, alongside previous excavation data."
Israel Finkelstein Israel Finkelstein (; born March 29, 1949) is an Israelis, Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Finkelstein is active in the a ...
has suggested that the tower could still be Bronze Age but restored in the Iron Age adding that "In any event, a late 9th century date should come as no surprise, as there are other indications for the growth of the city at that time – from the Temple Mount (in my opinion the original location of the mound of Jerusalem) to the south, in the direction of the Gihon spring".


1948

A day after the
Israeli Declaration of Independence The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 (5 Iyar 5708), at the end of the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war phase and ...
, on 15 May 1948, as part of a
biological warfare Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or Pathogen, infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and Fungus, fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an ...
strategy developed for the
1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...
, Israeli forces under Yigael Yadin poisoned either the spring or the neighbouring Pool of Siloam with typhus and diphtheria bacteria. The precise point is unknown, the operation's code name speaks only of dosing waters in the ''Shelomo ha-Melekh'' area of Jerusalem. A second such poisoning occurred sometime before 26 May.
Benny Morris Benny Morris (; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. Morris was initially associated with the ...
, Benjamin Z. Kedar,
‘Cast thy bread’: Israeli biological warfare during the 1948 War
''Middle Eastern Studies'' 19 September 2022, pages 1–25, p.7.


References


External links

{{Coord, 31, 46, 23, N, 35, 14, 11, E, display=title, region:IL-JM_type:waterbody_source:dewiki Ancient sites in Jerusalem Hebrew Bible places Silwan Geography of Jerusalem Springs of Palestine City of David (archaeological site) Classical sites in Jerusalem Landforms of Jerusalem District