TUNNEL TREK and HOLOCAUST MUSEUM - JERUSALEM

CITY OF DAVID - WET TUNNEL - JERUSALEM

Last Sunday, we all went with our new friend, Etienne, to the tunnels under the City of David. 3000 years ago, King David, conquered the Jebusite city of Jerusalem and made it his capital.  This is where Jerusalem was born.  

The boys checking the water level of the tunnel.

Heading down into the tunnel

Going deep below the street level.

It wasn’t until the end of the 19^th century that much of this site was found, with the remains of David’s palace (c. 10^th centre BC) not being discovered until 2005 beneath the ruins from the Byzantine and Second Temple periods. 

The Gihon Spring, which is close to the Eastern slope of the City of David, has always been Jerusalem’s main water source.  We waded through the 533 metre tunnel made under the orders of King Hezekiah of Judah.  He feared that the abundant water flowing outside the city could be used by the Assyrian army and therefore diverted the water of the Gihon to a tunnel cut through the belly of the rock.  Many of these references are found throughout the Old Testament: “So there was gathered much people together, and they stopped all the fountains, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying “Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?” (2 Chronicles 32:4).

Brigid in the tunnel.  This photo is
a good indication of how low the ceiling often
was, so you can imagine how difficult it was for Alex.

Alex and Erica in the tunnel

Looking into the little inlets, with my phone torch,
 made for oil lamps thousands of years ago.

The boys with their new friend, Etienne.

Brigid wading through the tunnel.

When you walk through this tunnel, which dramatically varies in height along the way, you cannot imagine how horrific it must have been to work on such a project.  Chipping away at the rock and then having to carry all the rubble out would have been horrendous work.   In 1880, an inscription in ancient Hebrew script was discovered about six meters from the end of the tunnel.  It describes the last moments of the complex tunnelling operation and the dramatic meeting between the two groups of diggers, as they worked from both ends.

It’s pitch black in the tunnel, which the kids loved of course, so we had to use our phone torches to work our way through.  The fresh water flowing over your legs makes the walk very pleasant, although maybe not as much for Alex as he often had to bend down so as not to hit his head.  It’s a lot of fun making your way through the tunnel and you just wonder at such an impressive engineering feat.  The height differential between the source of the spring and the end of the tunnel is only 30cms!

When we came out at the other end we arrived at the Shiloah Pool, which was discovered in 2004.   So recent! This city has been invaded and ransacked so many times with invaders just demolishing whatever they find and building on top of it.  You often wonder, when walking through the streets of the Old City, what lies beneath the current alleys and buildings. 

The Shiloah Pool was used as a ritual bath for pilgrims to purify themselves before ascending to the Temple.  This was also supposedly the pool where Christ cured the blind man.

Out the other side after a 1/2 km walk through the wet tunnel.

After the tunnel walk we drove to Yad Vashem, which is the Holocaust Museum.  It is an unbelievable site.  It stands as a tribute to the six million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis and is both beautiful and disturbing.  I have never been to a museum quite like this one but it left all of us in a very sombre mood.

Saying goodbye to our new French friend, Etienne, was very difficult... the kids have been skyping him ever since we left Jerusalem.

Farewell dear Etienne.

New bridge being built in Jerusalem

The amount of construction and development in Israel is unbelievable.  Since 2008 Alex and I have noticed a big difference in the increased number of houses and new infrastructure.  This is a new bridge which is being built in Jerusalem.  The Palestinians are unhappy with the new bridge because they believe it deliberate attempt by the Israelis to undermine the foundations to the Al Aqsa Mosque, although the beginnings of the bridge are 30 metres away.