Hezekiah’s Tunnel

Everything else Hezekiah did while he was king, including how he made the upper pool and the tunnel to bring water into Jerusalem, is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. (II Kings 20:20 CEV)

Long, long ago in the 8^th century BC, the fierce Assyrians were threatening to attack God’s people in Judah. The Assyrians were brutal warriors, and God’s people were scared!

Thankfully, Judah had a good king at that time named King Hezekiah. But King Hezekiah was worried, because the Gihon Spring that supplied water to the city of Jerusalem was located outside the city wall, and was vulnerable to Assyrian attack.

So, in preparation for the Assyrian attack, King Hezekiah ordered an underground tunnel to be chiseled out of rock starting at the spring.

He also ordered a pool to be constructed, the Pool of Siloam, so that the water could flow underground from the Gihon Spring outside the city wall, and be safely deposited into the Pool of Siloam within the city walls. That way the people of Jerusalem could have water even if the Assyrians attacked!

In 1838, an American Biblical scholar named Edward Robinson re-discovered this underground tunnel in Jerusalem and named it Hezekiah’s Tunnel. When Robinson first discovered the tunnel, it was blocked with centuries of silt and debris. Much of the time while Robinson was exploring the tunnel he had to drag himself on his elbows through the long, narrow, dark tunnel, and he did it all by candlelight!

The tunnel is 1,750 feet long and still has water flowing through it today. Hezekiah’s Tunnel is important because it gives us physical proof that what the Bible says King Hezekiah did, he really did!

Photo Credit: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File.Siloam50.jpg

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Dr. Angela Everett is a Biblical Archaeologist who regularly speaks on how archaeology confirms the Bible. She is passionate about teaching children that they can trust their Bible, and has created a workbook, “Biblical Archaeology for Kids” found on Amazon. You can follow her on Instagram at @Angela_the_Archaeologist.