Cistern

A tank for the collection and storage of rain-water, or, occasionall3', of spring-water brought from a dis- tance by a Conduit. It was always covered, and 80 distinguished from the Pool (•"i?''3, Ko\vp.p-q8pa., piscina), which was a reservoir open to the air. Cisterns must always have been necessary in Pal., where there are large areas ill supplied with natural springs, a long dry summer, and a small annual ramfall.

They were required not only for domestic purposes, but for ceremonial ablutions, irrigation, the watering of animals, and the con- venience of travellers. The cisterns in Pal. vary in •ize and character, and may be classified as follows : 1. Cisterns wholly excavated in the rock. These are the most ancient, and the oldest form is probably the bottle-shaped tank, with a long neck or shaft, which is common in Jems., the Hauran, and else- where.

Small rectangular tanks, with draw-holes, are found by the wayside and in vineyards. At Jerus. there are some very large cisterns, and in these the roofs are supported by rude rock-pillars. The finest example is the ' Great Sea ' in the Haram esh-Sherif, which has .several rock-pillars, and is estimated to hold 3,000,000 gallons. It derived its supply partly from surface drainage and partly from water brought by a conduit from Solomon's Pools, near Bethlehem. 2.

Rock-hewn tanks with vaulted roofs are found in many localities. A few of these may po.ssibly be as old as the 3rd cent. B.C. S. Cisterns or masonry built in the soil are found everywhere. Some of them are of large size, and have vaulted roofs, supported by pillars arranged in parallel rows. They are of all ages, from the Rom. occupation to the present day. Mo.st of the cisterns have their sides and floors coated witli cement, ■which is often very hard and durable.

All have one or more openings in their roofs, through which water is drawn to the surface ; and many have a flight of steps leading to the floor, partly to facili- tate cleansing operations. The rain-water, which falls OD the flat roofs of the houses and the paved court-yards, is conveyed to the cisterns by surface gutters and pipes, and carries with it many im- purities.

This renders periodical cleaning neces- sary, as the water would othenvise become foul, full of animal life, and dangerous to health. Much of the fever and sickness so prevalent in Pal. is due to the neglected state of the cisterns. Jer 2" alludes to the rock-hewn cisterns of Jerus., and it would appear from 2 K 18' that every house in the city had its own cistern for the collection of rain-water (cf. Pr 5">, Is 36').

One of the great works of Simon, son of Onias, was to cover the Targe cistern of the temple with plates of brass .Sir 50*). When a cistern was empty it formed a convenient prison. It was into one of the roadside cisterns (A V ' pit '), which had become dry, that Joseph was cast by his brethren (Gn ST""- '"■ ") ; and it was into a cistern in the court of the guard, near the temple, in which the muddy deposit was still soft, that Jeremiah was let down with cords (Jer 38'"'-).

The custom of confinin" prisoners in an empty cistern is alluded to in Zee 9'' ; and it may be noted that the word iia ' cistern ' is used for the dungeon in which Joseph was confined in Egypt (Gn 40" 41'-'). In Ec 12" there is an allusion to the wheel used in drawing water from a cistern. Jos. mentions the rock-hewn cisterns at Masada {Ant. XIV. xiv. 6 ; BJ VII. viii. 3) and at Machierus {BJ VII. vi. 2), and describes those constructed in the towers of the walls of Jerus.

for the collection of rain-water. In the smaller towers the cisterns were above the apartments, but in the tower Hippicus the cistern was on the solid masonry, and the apartments were built above it {B.I v. iv. 3, 4) C. W. Wilson.