Archaeology: The Siloam tunnel inscription

Two boys discovered this ancient Hebrew inscription carved in stone along the wall of a tunnel as they were wading through the southern end of the tunnel’s waters in 1880.

The inscription comes from the days of King Hezekiah (701 B.C.) who ordered the tunnel to be made so the water from Jerusalem’s Gihon Spring could be brought into the city to a man-made reservoir, the Pool of Siloam. This tunnel provided water to Jerusalem during the anticipated siege of King Sennacherib of Assyria.

The inscription celebrates the completion of this remarkable tunnel as mentioned in 2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32:30.

Kyle Campbell