page_title: Pool of Siloam
section_title: Association with Jesus
hierarchical_section_title: Pool of Siloam / History / Association with Jesus
caption_attribution_description: City of David
context_page_description: The Pool of Siloam refers to a number of rock-cut pools on the southern slope of the City of David / Wadi Hilweh, considered by some archaeologists to be the original site of Jerusalem, located outside the walls of the Old City to the southeast. The pools were fed by the waters of the Gihon Spring, carried there by two aqueducts.
  The Lower Pool or "Old Pool" was historically known as Birket el Hamra, literally "the red pool".
context_section_description: The pool was reconstructed no earlier than the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BCE), although it is not clear whether this pool was in the same location as the earlier pool built by Hezekiah — if so, all traces of the earlier construction have been destroyed. The pool remained in use during the time of Jesus. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus sent "a man blind from birth" to the pool in order to complete his healing. The pool has a symbolic meaning in the Gospel of John. Jesus is the one sent by the Father (cf. John 5:38; 8:42; 9:4; 13:20) who, in turn, sends the man blind from birth to the pool that means “Sent” (see narrative aside in John 9:7) to receive sight/insight. As a freshwater reservoir, the pool would have been a major gathering place for ancient Jews making religious pilgrimages to the city. Some scholars, influenced by Jesus commanding the blind man to wash in the pool, suggest that it was probably used as a mikvah (ritual bath). However, mikvahs are usually much smaller in size, and if the pool were a mikvah, it would be the largest ever found by a substantial margin. Yoel Elitzur has proposed that the pool was used for swimming rather than ritual immersion.
caption: Artist's reconstruction of the Hasmonean pool
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