NELC 150 |
Introduction to the Bible |
Slide 7 |
Siloam water tunnel, where the Siloam inscription was found (see
next slide). The Bible mentions excavation of the tunnel under Hezekiah,
King of Judah (727-697 BCE) to divert water into Jerusalem in preparation
for attack by Assyrian King Sennacherib in 2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles
32:3-4. According to an article in the journal Nature in September,
2003, geologists from the Cave Research Center at the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem, using radiocarbon testing to analyze the age of stalactite
samples from the ceiling of this tunnel and plant material recovered from
its plaster floor, have confirmed that the tunnel was indeed excavated at
the time of the King Hezekiah and is therefore the one built by him.