Hezekiah's Pool
{{Short description|Reservoir in the Old City of Jerusalem}}
File:Hizkiyahoo Pool winter 2010.jpg
{{Coord|31|46|37.83|N|35|13|44.79|E|display=title}}
Hezekiah's Pool ({{langx|he|בריכת חזקיהו}}, Brikhat Hizkiyahu), or the Patriarch's Pool, located in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, was once a reservoir forming part of the city's ancient water system.
History
File:The pool of Hezekiah--Jerusalem. Francis Frith (A).jpg]]
Flavius Josephus referred to the pool as Amygdalon, meaning 'almond tree' in Greek, but it is very likely that he derived the name phonetically from the Hebrew word {{Script/Hebrew|מגדל}} migdal, meaning 'tower', thus it is believed that the original name was Pool of the Tower or Towers.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} The pool is also known as the Pool of Pillars, or the Pool of the Patriarch's Bath (Arabic: {{lang|ar|بركة حمّام البطرك}} Birkat Hammam el-Batrak).
The pool is believed to be the upper pool referred to in the Books of Kings ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|18:17|HE}}), built by King Hezekiah {{nowrap|(f. 700 BC)}},{{cite book|last1=Warren|first1=E.K.|last2=Hartshorn|first2=W.N.|last3=McCrillis|first3=A.B.|title=Glimpses of Bible Lands: The Cruise of the Eight Hundred to Jerusalem|year=1905|publisher=The Central Committee|location=Boston, MA|page=176}} who met messengers from the king of Assyria there. At a later time it was fed from the Mamilla Pool, one of the three reservoirs constructed by Herod the Great during the first century BCE{{cite web|url=http://www.02net.co.il/Site/Templates/inPage.asp?catID=5&subID=453&docID=13100 |title=The Total Experience from Dismantling and Rebuilding Teaches that This is a Highly Dubious Way of Preservation |author=Schwiki, Itzik |publisher=02net |date=February 8, 2005 |accessdate=2007-07-20 |language=he |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050326005705/http://www.02net.co.il/Site/Templates/inPage.asp?catID=5&subID=453&docID=13100 |archivedate=March 26, 2005 }} by an underground conduit which still partially exists.
The pool is {{convert|240|ft}} by {{convert|140|ft}} in size, with an estimated capacity of nearly {{convert|3000000|gal}}. The bottom of the pool is cemented and leveled natural rock.The Land of Israel; A Text-Book on the Physical and Historical Geography of the Holy Land Embodying the Results of Recent Research, Robert Laird Stewart, 2008. Page 178 {{asof|2010}} the pool is dry and surrounded by buildings on all sides.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Pool of Hezekiah}}
- {{cite web|title=Pools of Jerusalem - Hezekiah's Pool|url=http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/jerusalempools/index.html#hezekiah|website=romanaqueducts.info|accessdate=16 April 2017}}
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Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 8th century BC
Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 7th century BC
Category:Reservoirs in Jerusalem
Category:Classical sites in Jerusalem