Siloam Inscription

Provides direct archaeological confirmation of Hezekiah's water tunnel project described in 2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32:30.

The Siloam Inscription is a six-line Hebrew text carved into the wall of a water tunnel running beneath the ancient City of David in Jerusalem. The tunnel connects the Gihon Spring, the city's main freshwater source, to the Pool of Siloam at the southern end of the hill. The tunnel itself is approximately 533 meters long and was cut entirely through solid limestone bedrock. It was dug from both ends simultaneously, with two teams of workers starting at opposite ends and eventually meeting in the middle.

The inscription was discovered in 1880 by a young boy who was wading in the tunnel's water channel and noticed the carved text near the southern opening, about six meters from the Pool of Siloam. The boy reported his find to a teacher at a local school, who informed Conrad Schick, a German architect and amateur archaeologist living in Jerusalem. Schick examined the inscription, made copies, and published a description of it. The text was subsequently studied and translated by several scholars, including Archibald Sayce and Adolph Neubauer.

The inscription is carved in ancient Hebrew script, using the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet that predates the square script used in modern Hebrew. The writing style and letter forms match other eighth-century BCE Hebrew inscriptions, helping confirm the date. The language is described by scholars as classical Biblical Hebrew prose of high literary quality.

The text itself describes the moment the two tunneling crews broke through to meet each other. The full inscription, though the beginning is missing or was never carved, reads roughly as follows: 'the tunneling was completed. And this was the account of the tunneling through: while the workers were still lifting the pick toward each other, and while there were still three cubits to be broken through, the voice of each was heard calling to the other, because there was a crack (or split) in the rock on the right side. And on the day of the tunnel's completion, the diggers struck each toward the other, pick against pick. And the water flowed from the spring toward the reservoir, a distance of one thousand two hundred cubits. And the height of the rock above the heads of the diggers was one hundred cubits.'

In 1890 the inscription was cut out of the tunnel wall. The Ottoman government, which controlled Palestine at the time, took the stone to Istanbul. Today it is displayed at the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, where it remains one of the most visited ancient Hebrew artifacts in the world. Efforts by Israel to have the inscription returned have not succeeded.

The tunnel itself can still be walked by visitors to Jerusalem's City of David archaeological park. Tourists wade through shallow water for the full length of the tunnel to reach the Pool of Siloam. The carving location is now empty, but markers show where the inscription was found. The engineering achievement represented by the tunnel is remarkable regardless of the inscription. The workers had to maintain a generally consistent downward slope over more than 500 meters while cutting through rock in darkness, and the two teams had to converge accurately enough to meet, which they did with a slight S-curve correction visible in the tunnel's path.

The tunnel is dated archaeologically to the late eighth century BCE. This date, along with the inscription's script and language, fits the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah (r. ca. 715–686 BCE), who ruled during the period when the Assyrian king Sennacherib threatened Jerusalem in 701 BCE.

• A six-line Paleo-Hebrew inscription describing the meeting of two tunnel crews cutting from opposite ends, one of the most complete and literary ancient Hebrew texts ever found
• The inscription records specific engineering measurements: 1,200 cubits in length and 100 cubits of rock above the workers' heads, which match the actual tunnel dimensions
• The letter forms and writing style confirm an eighth-century BCE date, consistent with the reign of Hezekiah
• The tunnel itself demonstrates advanced engineering, including a deliberate S-curve correction that allowed the two crews to meet accurately underground
• The find location, approximately six meters from the Pool of Siloam's southern end, indicates the inscription was placed to be seen by those exiting the tunnel
• The inscription is one of the longest continuous ancient Hebrew prose texts found outside the biblical manuscripts
• The physical removal of the stone in 1890 left a gap in the tunnel wall that is still visible today at the City of David site

The Siloam Inscription connects directly and specifically to several biblical passages about Hezekiah's preparations for the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem. Second Kings 20:20 states plainly: 'The rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?' This verse is an explicit reference to the construction project that the inscription commemorates. Second Chronicles 32:30 provides more detail: 'This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David.' The Gihon Spring is exactly where Hezekiah's Tunnel begins, and the inscription confirms that the work was carried out by tunneling through the bedrock rather than by channeling water on the surface. Isaiah 22:11 refers to the same event in a slightly critical tone, noting that the people 'made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool, but you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.' This verse suggests the water project was well known to Isaiah's audience. The Pool of Siloam, where the tunnel empties, also appears in the New Testament. In John 9:7, Jesus tells a blind man to 'go, wash in the Pool of Siloam,' and the man returns able to see. The same pool fed by Hezekiah's tunnel thus becomes the setting for one of Jesus's healing miracles seven hundred years after the tunnel was built.