St. Paul daily globe., 1896-02-07
THE POOL OF SLOAN
RECENT EXCAVATIONS HAVE
THROWN SOME DOUBT UPON
~. ITS LOCATION.
THE SCENE OF A MIRACLE.
DISCUSSION OF THE MYSTERIOUS
EBB AND THE FLOW OF
IT'S WATERS.
THE FOUNTAIN OF THE VIRGIN.
Its Waters Also Act Like Those Of
the Famous Pool Of
Sloan.
THE SCENE OF A MIRACLE.
THE FOUNTAIN OF THE v1RGI,

The excavations which are being
made in Jerusalem have disclosed much
that was hitherto unknown about the
Pool Of Sloan. The Identification of
the site Of this pool is important be-
cause of its bearing on the situation Of
the city walls.
1t has hitherto been considered that
the Pool Of Sloan, shown to every Wis
itor to Jerusalem, was one Of the few
undisputed localities in the topography
Of the sacred city. Now, however, as
investigation progresses, doubts have
been raised on this point. Among
archeologists q contest has arisen as
complicated as that concerning the site
of Calvary, the sepulchre and other
sacred places in Jerusalem.
The Pool Of Sloan is in size the least
Of all the Jerusalem pools, which from
the most ancient times have been re-
lied upon by the Inhabitants to store
up water from the springs. 1t had,
however, the singular characteristic of
suddenly increasing in depth as the
water poured in from some unknown
source.
The Pool of Sloan, although small
in size, played an important part in
the sacred history Of Jerusalem. 1t
was to Sloan that the Levite was sent
with the golden pitcher on the last
and great day of the feast of Taber-
nacles; it was from Sloan that he
brought the water which was then
poured over the sacrifice, in memory os
the water from the rock of Rephidim.
1t was to this Sloan water that the
Lord pointed when he stood in the
Temple and cried, IF any man thirst
let him come unto me and drink" The
Lord sen. the blind man to wash at
the Pool of Sloan, the sacredness and
efficacy Of whose waters are still be-
lieved in at Jerusalem.
The Pool of Sloan, which has now
been almost wholly uncovered and
which is the one formerly shown to vfs-
itors, is eighteen and one-half feet in
depth, fourteen feet wide at one end
and seventeen at the other The
water in it is maintained at depth of
three to four feet, but is likely to rise
a foot or more at any moment.
1t is faced with a wall of stone, now
greatly out Of repair. Several columns
stand out of the side walls extending
from the top downward into the cis-
tern.
through channel cut in the rock
which is covered for a short distance.
This subsequently opens and discloses
a lively, copious stream which empties
into a garden planted with fig trees.
Jerome, who lived only six miles from
the Pool of Sloan, refers to the inter-
mittent character of it's waters which
has led some historians to identify it
with Bethesda. Josephus, speaks of it's
waters as having been very abundant
but recent Investigations do not bear
this out
There are a large number of some
what similar pools in Jerusalem, which
has thirty or forty natural springs
within a radius of eight miles If it
could be shown that one Of these was
in reality the Pool of Siloam whose
location has not hitherto been uues-
toned, it would add a still further con-
fusing element to the discussion of his
torical sites in Jerusalem. Many of the
most important places depend for their
remoteness from the Pool of Sloan.
The mysterious ebb and flow of the
waters of the present pool has been
largely relied upon as sufficiently prov
ing its identity with that referred to in
the Scriptures 1t has now however
been found that a similar phenomenon
takes place in the Fountain of the Vir-
gin, which is close by.
There the water rose a foot in five
minutes and within five minutes more
it sank to it's former level. It is be-
lieved that the excavations which are
being made in Jerusalem may explain
this apparent mystery, which nobody
has yet been able to account for.