Places Confirmed
The Pool of Siloam
30-second summary
In 2004, sewer-repair work in Jerusalem's City of David uncovered a monumental Second Temple-period stepped pool fed by the Siloam Tunnel and dated by embedded coins to no later than the first century BC. It is identified as the 'pool of Siloe' of John 9:6-7, where Jesus sent the man born blind to wash and receive his sight.
Scripture
When he had said these things, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and spread the clay on his eyes, And said to him: Go, wash in the pool of Siloe, which is interpreted, Sent. He went therefore, and washed, and he came seeing.
haec cum dixisset expuit in terram et fecit lutum ex sputo et linuit lutum super oculos eius et dixit ei vade lava in natatoria Siloae quod interpretatur Missus abiit ergo et lavit et venit videns
The Claim
In 2004, sewer-line repair work south of the Temple Mount exposed monumental rock-cut steps of a vast Second Temple-period stepped pool fed by the Siloam Tunnel. It is identified as the public pool John's Gospel calls 'the pool of Siloe,' where Jesus sent the man born blind to wash and receive his sight (John 9:6-7).
- Corroboration
- Rediscovered in 2004 by Eli Shukron and Ori Orbach (Israel Nature and Parks Authority) during sewer repairs, with subsequent excavation led by Shukron and Ronny Reich (Israel Antiquities Authority), the pool is a monumental trapezoidal stepped basin roughly 225 feet across (sources give varying width/length pairings) fed by a channel from the Gihon Spring via Hezekiah's Tunnel. Coins from the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BC) embedded in its plaster place construction in the century before Jesus's ministry, second century BC at the latest, with first-century pottery confirming continued use into the Gospel era. It is distinguished from the smaller fifth-century Byzantine 'Pool of Siloam' built under Empress Eudocia further upstream. A court-cleared excavation launched by the Israel Antiquities Authority in 2023 is exposing the pool's full footprint and an underlying dam dated to roughly 800 BC; as of the most recent reporting this excavation is ongoing, and the site is not yet fully open to the public.
- Discovered
- Monumental stepped pool with stone landings uncovered in 2004 during sewer repair work in the City of David, Jerusalem; coins embedded in its plaster date construction to the second/first century BC. A full excavation of the pool's footprint began in 2023 and is ongoing.
- Current location
- In situ within the City of David Archaeological Park / Jerusalem Walls National Park, Jerusalem. A full excavation began in 2023 under the Israel Antiquities Authority and is ongoing; visitors can observe the excavation, with fuller public access planned as the work continues.
Why this level?
Level 2: a solid physical and textual anchor plus an interpretive step the entry itself takes. The physical anchor is strong and multiply attested -- monumental rock-cut steps, a trapezoidal basin roughly 225 feet across, coins from the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BC) embedded in the plaster, first-century pottery, and a channel connection to the Gihon Spring via Hezekiah's Tunnel, all documented across the excavation record (Reich, Shukron, and Orbach), BAS Daily, Wikipedia's synthesis, and the City of David Foundation. That establishes, independent of Scripture, that a monumental public pool fed by the Gihon Spring stood in Jerusalem's City of David during the century before and after Jesus's birth. The interpretive step is the entry's own: identifying this excavated basin as the 'pool of Siloe' of John 9:6-7. That identification is the Church's and the excavators' own, resting on location and continuity with the Gospel's description rather than an inscription naming the pool, so it stays at level 2 rather than 3.
Dig deeper
A Buried Landmark Rediscovered
In 2004, a city crew repairing a sewer line south of the Temple Mount, in the area known as the City of David, broke into monumental ancient stonework: the corner of a huge trapezoidal pool, roughly 225 feet across, with flights of wide stone steps descending into what had once been open water. Eli Shukron and Ori Orbach of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority made the initial discovery; Shukron and Ronny Reich of the Israel Antiquities Authority led the subsequent excavation. The basin is identified as the public pool John's Gospel calls 'the pool of Siloe,' where Jesus sent the man born blind to wash and receive his sight (John 9:6-7). The identification rests on the pool's location at the outflow of the Siloam Tunnel -- exactly where John situates it -- and on continuity with the site's name since antiquity; archaeologists have also used Josephus's term for a pool in this area, 'Solomon's Pool,' reflecting the same site's layered history.
Dated to the Century Before Jesus
Coins from the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BC), embedded in the pool's plaster lining, place its construction in the century before Jesus's ministry -- second century BC at the latest -- squarely within the Second Temple period. First-century pottery recovered at the site confirms the pool remained in active use into the Gospel era.
Fed by Hezekiah's Tunnel
The pool sat at the outflow of the Siloam Tunnel, the channel King Hezekiah's engineers cut through bedrock in the eighth century BC to bring Gihon Spring water inside Jerusalem's walls (2 Chronicles 32:30). It is distinct from the smaller pool shown to visitors for centuries, a fifth-century Byzantine basin built under Empress Eudocia further upstream.
Excavation Continues
A 2022 court ruling cleared the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and the City of David Foundation to excavate the pool's full footprint for the first time; that work, begun in 2023, is ongoing and has already exposed a massive stone dam beneath the pool, radiocarbon-dated to roughly 800 BC.
What the Passage Says
John notes that 'Siloe' is 'interpreted, Sent' (9:7) -- an etymology the Church has long read as pointing to Jesus himself as the one sent by the Father, a title woven throughout John's Gospel.
Keep digging
Citations
- Scripture
John 9:6-7 (Douay-Rheims)
Supports: Biblical text of Jesus sending the man born blind to wash in the pool of Siloe
- Scripture
Vulgate.org, Clementine Vulgate John 9
Ioannem 9:6-7 (Vulgata Clementina)
Supports: Latin Vulgate wording of the healing account, 'natatoria Siloae'
- Source
BibleHub, John 9:7 parallel translations
John 9:7 (multiple modern versions)
Supports: Modern English naming of the site as 'Pool of Siloam'
- Source
Pool of Siloam
Supports: 2004 rediscovery credited to Eli Shukron and Ori Orbach (INPA), with Reich (IAA) leading subsequent excavation; coin dating; Hezekiah's Tunnel connection; distinction from the Byzantine pool; and confirmation that the 2023-launched full excavation is still ongoing
- Academic
Biblical Archaeology Society, 'Rethinking the Pool of Siloam'
Rethinking the Pool of Siloam (BAS Daily)
Supports: Background on the site's layered history, including Josephus's name for a pool in this area, 'Solomon's Pool'
- Archeological
BiblePlaces.com, The Pool of Siloam
The Pool of Siloam
Supports: Stepped-pool dimensions (noting differing estimates across sources), first-century dating, and connection to John 9
- Archeological
City of David Foundation, Siloam Pool Excavation and Opening
Siloam Pool Excavation and Opening
Supports: Announcement of the 2023 full-excavation launch and the pool's roughly five-dunam footprint