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Just north of the City of David (ancient Jerusalem), archaeologists believe they have found the first of its kind engraving on a precious gem of a biblical plant known to many as the Balm of Gilead. Deep underground in a 2,000-year-old drainage ditch next to Jerusalem’s Western Wall, archaeologists say a rare artifact from Second Temple times was uncovered. “It is a stone seal made of semi-precious amethyst stone with an engraving of a dove and a branch of a tree with fruit on the branch,” said Eli Shukron, former archaeologist of the Israel Antiquities Authority. What was surprising was...

After six years of extensive archaeological excavations led by the Israel Antiquities Authority, a 350-meter-long section of the Pilgrimage Road was unveiled at a festive ceremony in the City of David. The road served as the main thoroughfare for pilgrims walking from the Pool of Siloam, where they would ritually purify themselves, en route to the Holy Temple during the Second Temple Period.

Is the Bible religious myth or accurate history? Some highly educated people say the Bible’s history cannot be trusted. What do you think? Here is an important article to help you clarify your thoughts. The Bible is the only ancient, well-organized and authentic framework in which to fit all the facts of history. The Bible does not record all history. In fact, there are huge gaps in the history contained in the Bible. Yet, without the Bible and what it reveals from prehistory, ancient history and prophecy—which is history written in advance—you cannot truly understand any history. No worldly source...

RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN ISRAEL PERTAIN TO KING DAVID, JESUS Aug 17, 05 | 4:55 pm Working a short distance from each other near Jerusalem's Old City, archaeologists have made two major discoveries in recent months, one pertaining to King David and the other to Jesus.

Reich says the area of the City of David has become the most excavated area in the country. "We are the 12th expedition to work here, and in no small way it is thanks to the contributions that flow in to the project from the Elad association. They may be disagreed with politically, but without them we would not have been able to make the dramatic discoveries of recent years here, in the place where Jerusalem began, where the story began of the Jewish people in this land."

Archaeologists Identify Remains of Site Where Bible Says Jesus Restored Blind Man's Sight By Ramit Plushnick-Masti Associated Press Writer JERUSALEM (AP) - Archaeologists in Jerusalem have identified the remains of the Siloam Pool, where the Bible says Jesus miraculously cured a man's blindness, researchers said Thursday - underlining a stirring link between the works of Jesus and ancient Jewish rituals. The archaeologists are slowly digging out the pool, where water still runs, tucked away in what is now the Arab neighborhood of Silwan. It was used by Jews for ritual immersions for about 120 years until the year 70, when...

Christianity Today, October 2005 Raiders of the Lost PoolNew finds bolster the historicity of John's Gospel. by Gordon Govier | posted 10/26/2005 09:00 a.m. The Pool of Siloam, considered a metaphor in John's Gospel by some New Testament scholars, was in fact a huge basin at the lowest point in the city of Jerusalem. Recent excavations have uncovered two corners and one side of the pool that stretched for half the length of a football field. "It's very exciting," James Charlesworth, a professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, told CT. "It's very important for the study of the...

<p>Archaeologists working in the City of David have uncovered the edge of what they believe is the Pool of Siloam from the time of Jesus (cf. John 9).  The photo at left shows the city of Jerusalem with the Temple Mount and the City of David.  The excavations are on the west side of the City of David.  Letter "A" is located where the traditional "Pool of Siloam" is and Letter "B" shows the area of the present excavations.</p>

The Pool of Siloam, considered a metaphor in John's Gospel by some New Testament scholars, was in fact a huge basin at the lowest point in the city of Jerusalem. Recent excavations have uncovered two corners and one side of the pool that stretched for half the length of a football field. "It's very exciting," James Charlesworth, a professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, told CT. "It's very important for the study of the New Testament." Some Johannine experts have suggested the story in John 9 of the blind man whom Jesus healed and told to wash in...

Aug 11, 2005 By Erin Curry Baptist Press JERUSALEM (BP)--What is believed to be the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed a man blind from birth in John 9, has been unearthed in Jerusalem, and a Southern Baptist archeologist is convinced the find is authentic. “I’ve seen it. It’s a phenomenal, monumental pool,” Steven Ortiz, associate professor of biblical archaeology and director of the Center for Archaeological Research at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, told Baptist Press. Ortiz made a trip to Israel in recent weeks and walked along the site with one of the field staff working on the...

Israeli construction workers were fixing a large water pipe near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount when they noticed mysterious ancient steps. They called on some archaeologists for help, namely Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron. The two proceeded to excavate the site and found one of the most significant archaeological affirmations of the Bible. The steps led down to a 225 feet long pool, the Pool of Siloam. What they discovered matched the exact location of the Bible’s description of the pool. It was next to Hezekiah’s tunnel and near the Temple of the Mount. According to The Bible, King Hezekiah first constructed...

CNA Newsroom, Jan 7, 2023 / 09:00 am The excavation site of the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem, the place where Jesus restored sight to a blind man, will be open to the public for the first time. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the Israel National Parks Authority, and the City of David Foundation announced the start of excavations that will allow the complete exposure of the Pool of Siloam. Visitors will be able to see the stage of the excavation of the pool that in the coming months will form part of the tourist route from the City of...

Since at least the fifth century, Christians had identified a spot in Jerusalem as the Pool of Siloam and the site of the miracle. But it was not until a decade ago that archaeologists found what they are certain is the ancient pool of Siloam. Like so many such finds, it was almost by accident. During construction work to repair a water pipe near the Temple Mount, Israeli archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron found "two ancient stone steps." According to Biblical Archaeology Review, "Further excavation revealed that they were part of a monumental pool from the Second Temple period,...

Archaeologists in Israel have unearthed a sacred Christian site in Jerusalem, where Jesus performed a miracle by healing a blind man. The steps to the ancient Pool of Siloam haven't been seen for more than 2,000 years. The discovery of the steps is a bit of a miracle as well. Construction was being conducted in 2004 to repair a large sewage pipe south of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount in the City of David. During the repair procedure, a strange scrapping noise was heard. Archaeologists identified ancient stone steps in the vicinity. Since the discovery, major excavations have been taking place in...

Professor Gershon Galil at Haifa University’s Institute for Biblical Studies and Ancient History, along with Eli Shukron from the Bible and Ancient History research institute, found that the 8th Century BC inscriptions – on a stone no bigger than the palm of a hand – not only include Hezekiah’s name, but also list his achievements from the first 17 years of his reign. Those include his commission to carve out the pool at Siloam and the tunnel to access the waters underneath the Gihon Spring. The action is believed to have helped saved the city by denying sources of water...

About 700 years before Christ, Hezekiah built a 2,000-foot-long tunnel through solid rock to secretly carry water from the Gihon Spring in Jerusalem to the Pool of Siloam (also called the Pool of Siloah) just outside the wall around ancient Jerusalem and at the base of the Temple Mount (II Kings 20:20). Hezekiah built the tunnel and Pool of Siloam (a water reservoir like a swimming pool that was about 53 ft long, 18 ft wide, and 19 ft deep) to ensure that Jerusalem had water if the Assyrians surrounded Jerusalem and tried to capture the city. The pool was...

Workers repairing a sewage pipe in the old city of Jerusalem have discovered the biblical Pool of Siloam, a freshwater reservoir that was a major gathering place for ancient Jews making religious pilgrimages to the city and the reputed site where Jesus cured a man blind from birth, according to the Gospel of John. The pool was fed by the now-famous Hezekiah's Tunnel and is "a much grander affair" than archaeologists previously believed, with three tiers of stone stairs allowing easy access to the water, according to Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archeology Review, which reported the find yesterday. "Scholars...

Workers repairing a sewage pipe in the Old City of Jerusalem have discovered the biblical Pool of Siloam, a freshwater reservoir that was a major gathering place [a mikvah, where Jews do a ritual cleansing] for ancient Jews making religious pilgrimages to the city and the reputed site where Jesus cured a man blind from birth, according to the Gospel of John. "Scholars have said that there wasn't a Pool of Siloam and that John was using a religious conceit" to illustrate a point, said New Testament scholar James H. Charlesworth of the Princeton Theological Seminary. "Now we have found...