13. Hezekiah's Tunnel (probable)

In the biblical passage found in 2 Kings 20:20 there is a reference to a "tunnel" built by King Hezekiah in Jerusalem to bring water into the city c. 700 BC.  A tunnel in Jerusalem, likely built by Hezekiah, is still open and visitors can walk through it. It is about one-third of a mile long, and the water is roughly knee deep. Some scholars question if this is the exact tunnel built by Hezekiah; but, in any case, an ancient Hebrew inscription was found in the tunnel showing Jewish presence in Jerusalem in antiquity. Click "Read more" below to see a picture of the ancient inscription.


PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION: © Greg Gulbrandsen
                       
        

                       Hezekiah's Tunnel Inscription

                                                                                                   

The inscription is now located in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum and is translated as follows:

“[...when] (the tunnel) was driven through.  And this was the way in which it was cut through:  While [...] (were) still [...] axe(s), each man toward his fellow, and while there were still three cubits to be cut through, [there was heard] the voice of a man calling to his fellows, for there was an overlap in the rock on the right [and on the left].  And when the tunnel was driven through, the quarrymen hewed (the rock), each man toward his fellow, axe against axe; and the water flowed from the spring toward the reservoir for 1200 cubits, and the height of the rock above the head(s) of the quarrymen was 100 cubits.”                            

                                                                                                                                                                    TRANSLATION FROM: © BiblePlaces.com