Siloam

Siloam is an ancient Greek name derived from the more ancient Hebrew Shiloah. The Arabic, Silwan, was derived form the Greek, Siloam. It is an ancient site in Jerusalem, south of the Old City.

Contents

Antiquity

According to the Hebrew Bible, the ancient community of Siloam was built around the "serpent-stone", Zoheleth, where Adonijah gave his feast in the time of Solomon. Siloam is the site of the Pool of Siloam, the outlet of the waters of the Gihon Spring. According to the Christian New Testament, this is the site where Jesus healed a man blind from birth as described in the Gospel of John, and the legendary Tower of Siloam, whose collapse is an omen in the Gospel of Luke.

Inscription

The Siloam inscription was discovered in the water tunnel built during the reign of Hezekiah, in the early 7th Century BC. The Siloam inscription is now preserved in the Archeological Museum of Istanbul, Turkey. Another important inscription found at Siloam is the lintel of Shebna-yahu's tomb, which is in the collections of the British Museum.

Commemoration

Biblical Siloam has been honored, for its healing pool, in the names of many Baptist churches and is commemorated by the US towns of:

See also

References