Chronology

022

More Than 40,000 Years Ago

Underground water seeping through rock creates cracks, channels (tunnels) and sinkholes (shafts).

Before 1000 B.C.E.

Did Jebusites (Canaanites) enlarge the underground cavities to create the “Warren’s Shaft” water system?

c. 1000 B.C.E.

If Jebusites created “Warren’s Shaft” water system, did Joab climb through the tsinnor (Warren’s Shaft?) to enter and thereby conquer Jerusalem?

After 1000 B.C.E.

Did Israelites enlarge the underground cavities to create the “Warren’s Shaft” water system?

701 B.C.E.

Hezekiah builds his 1,750-foot-tunnel to bring the waters of the Gihon Spring into the city in anticipation of Sennacherib’s siege.

1837

American orientalist Edward Robinson explores Hezekiah’s tunnel for the first time in the modern period.

1867

British Captain Charles Warren and Sergeant Birtles discover and explore “Warren’s Shaft.”

1880

Boys at play discover the Siloam Inscription in the wall of Hezekiah’s tunnel, 20 feet in from Siloam Pool.

1909–1912

Dominican father Louis-Hugues Vincent measures and draws plans of Warren’s Shaft and Hezekiah’s tunnel systems while accompanying the Parker Mission.

1978–1982

Israeli archaeologist Yigal Shiloh directs archaeological work on Warren’s Shaft and Hezekiah’s tunnel systems, assisted by geologist Dan Gill.