The Siloam Tunnel Inscription: For the Living or the Dead?

Jerusalem’s Siloam Tunnel Inscription is traditionally interpreted as a commemorative text celebrating the completion of the project.a However, placing an inscription inside a dark tunnel, where nobody could read it, just makes no sense! Let me propose a better interpretation. The City of David’s main water source was the Gihon Spring, located outside the eastern city wall near the floor of the Kidron Valley. To bring its water to the Siloam Pool at the other side of the city, the king of Judah (most likely Hezekiah) had a 1,750-foot-long tunnel dug through the rocky hill in the late eighth century […]