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ERICH LESSING / ART RESOURCE, NY

REFUGEE WORKFORCE. As part of Hezekiah’s preparations for the siege of Jerusalem, workers dug a tunnel that would allow the waters of the Gihon Spring—the city’s primary water source—to flow into a pool within the city’s walls. The 1,750-foot-long Siloam Tunnel is a remarkable feat of engineering for its time, and the Old Hebrew inscription discovered a few yards inside its western end tells the story of its construction (pictured). Key features of the inscription suggest northern refugees were essential to this monumental effort. The inscription’s hidden location indicates it was not for royal display but for commemorating the workers’ achievement, while the text’s peculiar linguistic features are more characteristic of the refugees’ northern Hebrew dialect.