Hanan Shafir

Siloam Tunnel: Probably built by King Solomon in the tenth century B.C., this tunnel carried the water from the Spring Gihon to a pool or pools at the southern end of the hill. For a part of its course the channel was an open aqueduct; in other sections such as the one shown here it entered the rocky hill and became a covered tunnel. At several points along its eastern wall the tunnel was perforated by man-made windows and natural fissures which allowed water to flow out to irrigate agricultural plots in the Kidron valley.