| 18- Gihon Springs |
The main water source of the original City of David was the Gihon Springs located at the base of the eastern slope of the city in the Kidron Valley. The Gihon Springs provided water year round by gushing forth several times a day. This water then naturally flowed into the Kidron Valley. In the earliest days of Jerusalem’s occupation, reservoirs where built to collect the water from the Gihon Springs. Three systems were eventually designed to use this water:
- Warren's Shaft
- Siloam Channel (Tunnel)
- Hezekiah's Tunnel
These three water systems continued to bring water to the city of Jerusalem until the days of the Hasmoneans and Herod. During the last century BC and the first century AD, aqueducts were built to transfer water into Jerusalem from the southern hill country of Judea from around Hebron and Bethlehem. |
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Jerusalem, the City of David, as it appeared around 1000 BC. Notice the location of the Gihon Springs.
The City of David, formerly called Salem and Jebus,sits on the southern part of the Eastern Hill or the eastern ridge with Mount Moriah further up on this
same ridge to the north. |
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| An artist's visualization in 2010 of the guard towers that protected the Gihon Springs during the days of the kings of Judah in the Old Testament. |
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| An artists drawing (in 2007) of the recreated Gihon Towers as they appeared during the days of the kings of Judah. |
Warren’s Shaft was discovered in 1867 by Charles Warren. The shaft has a rock-hewn opening with steps descending into a horizontal tunnel that runs for about
135 feet to a depth of about 42 feet. The tunnel ends at the top of a vertical shaft that goes straight down into the Gihon Springs about 40 feet below. This 40
foot vertical shaft was used to draw or pump water up the shaft where it could be collected by people who had descended down the stairs and though the 135
foot horizontal tunnel. A hydrogeological survey of this water system revealed that both the vertical shaft and the horizontal tunnel were natural openings that were
adapted and cut wider by ancient city planners. This is the water shaft used by David and his men to enter and attack Jerusalem when it was occupied by the
Jebusites in 2 Samuel 5:8:
“And David said on that day, ‘Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack.’"
The water from the Gihon Springs followed a natural tunnel to the base of the shaft discovered by Warren. This shaft was developed from a natural sinkhole that
extended down to the natural tunnel of water from the Gihon Springs. City planners widened the sinkhole and developed a tunnel to reach it from the upper ground
level of the city from within the city’s walls. Warren’s Shaft functioned like a well. A person at the top of the shaft in the inclined tunnel could lower a bucket on
a rope to the bottom of the 40 foot shaft to get fresh water from the reservoir below. A person could reach this inclined tunnel by entering a vaulted chamber from the ground level, walking down a steep, stepped tunnel, then using a ladder to descend a nine-foot scarp drop to arrive in the inclined tunnel. The entrance
to this water system was within the city walls, while the Gihon Springs were outside the walls. Joab could have entered the city through Warren's
Shaft, or he may have used the natural tunnel before it was blocked (see diagram and photo above), to access the inclined plane and ascend into the city. |
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Details of the natural water supply from the Gihon Springs and the water system developed by the Jebusites, David, Hezekiah and others.
This Gihon Spring still fills the water system today. The Siloam Channel is also known as the Canaanite Tunnel. |
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| Overview of the Gihon Springs Water System with diagram and photos |
(Click on photos to open a larger image of the photo.) |
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| Blocked natural entrance to the Gihon Springs |
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| Another view of the Natural Tunnel (seen in diagram above) is blocked. Here the blocked entrance is seen from the inside. |
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| Guard Towers at Gihon Springs. |
(Click on photos to open a larger image of the photo.) |
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Photo of the excavated guard towers before the addition of the artistic rendering.
The archaeological remains of the guard towers at the source of the Gihon Spings. |
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| Looking down at the Gihon Springs and the remains of the outer guard towers |
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(Click on photos to open a larger image of the photo.) |
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| This is the ancient passage way cut through the rock to access the waters of the Gihon Spring. |
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This is an ancient tunnel that descends past the dry Canaanite Tunnel on the left and into Hezekiah's Tunnel at the bottom where the water from
the Gihon Spring still flow. |
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. The wedged stones can stil be seen in the ceiling above the dry channel floor.
This was cut around 1900 BC while Melchizedek was the King of this city then called Salem. |
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The Canaanite Tunnel, or the Siloam Channel was cut from the top down during the days of Abraham. The "V" shaped tunnel was covered up by dropping large stones
from the top that wedge in the "V" shaped shaft forming a ceiling and leaving a buried tunnel for the water to flow. The wedged stones can stil be seen in the
ceiling above the dry channel floor. The water stopped flowing here in 701 BC when the water was diverted to the lower Hezekiah's Tunnel. |
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| A dry tunnel deep in the Gihon Springs that was used before the cutting of Hezekiah's Tunnel in 701 BC |
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| Water of the Gihon Springs and the entrance into Hezekiah's Tunnel |
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| Water from Gihon Springs still flowing into Hezekiah's Tunnel |
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| Gihon Springss, Canaanite Tunnel and walking through Hezekiah's Tunnel |
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Warren's Shaft that Joab used to enter the Jebusite city through the Gihon Springs...2 Samuel 5:8:
“And David said on that day, ‘Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack.”
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| Looking down into Warren's Shaft |
