Siloam

Related Category: Biblical Proper Names

(sīlō´əm), pool, SW corner of Jerusalem in the Kidron valley, mentioned in the Bible. A nearby 1,700-foot-long (518 m) tunnel, dating from the time of Hezekiah, diverted water underneath Jerusalem to the pool inside the city wall; it deprived the invading Assyrians of water during their siege of Jeruslaem. An inscription discovered in 1880 describes the cutting of the tunnel. It appears as Shiloah in Isaiah, and as Shelah in Nehemiah. Jesus directed the healed blind man to go and wash in the pool.