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75-479: The idea of dating the tunnel to Hezekiah's period was derived from the Biblical text that describes construction of a water tunnel in his time. Scientific support for this, however, came from radiocarbon dates of organic matter contained in the original plastering as well as radiometry ( uranium-thorium dating of speleothems ). The dates were challenged in 2011 by new excavations that suggested an earlier origin in

150-546: A 20 feet deep ditch in the ground, covered over by large rock slabs, which were then hidden in the foliage. It is narrower than the tunnel, but can still be walked by a human for most of its length. In addition to the (3 ft high) exit near the Siloam pool, the channel has several small outlets that watered the gardens facing the Kidron Valley. Similar to the qanats of ancient Persia, the canal or culvert, carved into

225-409: A bulla that bears an inscription in ancient Hebrew script that translates as: "Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz king of Judah." This is the first seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king to come to light in a scientific archaeological excavation. While another, unprovenanced bulla of King Hezekiah was known, this was the first time a seal impression of Hezekiah had been discovered in situ in

300-570: A capitulation to end the siege. However, inscriptions have been discovered describing Sennacherib's defeat of the Ethiopian forces. These say: "As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to my yoke, I laid siege to 46 of his strong cities ... and conquered (them). ... Himself I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage." He does not claim to have captured the city. This

375-499: A large influx of Israelites fleeing from the Assyrian destruction of the northern state . It is "[t]he only reasonable way to explain this unprecedented demographic development" (154). This, according to Finkelstein, set the stage for motivations to compile and reconcile Hebrew history into a text at that time (157). Mazar questions this explanation, since, she argues, it is "no more than an educated guess" (167). The Siloam Tunnel

450-605: A mountain, is naturally defensible from almost all sides, but suffers from the drawback that its major source of fresh water, the Gihon Spring , is on the side of the cliff overlooking the Kidron Valley . This presented a major military weakness, as the city walls, if high enough to be defensible, must necessarily leave the Gihon spring outside, leaving the city without a fresh water supply in case of siege. This weakness

525-448: A plot with wavelength horizontal axis equals to the total radiant flux. Spectral flux by frequency, whose unit is W/ Hz : Φ e , ν = d Φ e d ν , {\displaystyle \Phi _{\mathrm {e} ,\nu }={d\Phi _{\mathrm {e} } \over d\nu },} where d Φ e {\displaystyle d\Phi _{\mathrm {e} }}

600-436: A ramp and Judahites pierced through on mounted stakes. "The reliefs on these slabs" discovered in the Assyrian palace at Nineveh "originally formed a single, continuous work, measuring 8 feet ... tall by 80 feet ... long, which wrapped around the room" (559). Visitors "would have been impressed not only by the magnitude of the artwork itself but also by the magnificent strength of the Assyrian war machine." Sennacherib's Prism

675-425: A royal Judean fortress, was deliberately and carefully dismantled, "with the altars and massebot" concealed "beneath a Str. 8 plaster floor". This stratum correlates with the late 8th century; Dever concludes that "the deliberate dismantling of the temple and its replacement by another structure in the days of Hezekiah is an archeological fact. I see no reason for skepticism here." Under Rehoboam , Lachish became

750-963: A strict mandate for the sole worship of Yahweh and a prohibition on venerating other deities within the First Temple . He is considered a very righteous king in both the Second Book of Kings and the Second Book of Chronicles . He is also one of the more prominent kings of Judah mentioned in the Bible and is one of the kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew . "No king of Judah, among either his predecessors or his successors, could [...] be compared to him", according to 2 Kings 18:5 . Isaiah and Micah prophesied during his reign. The name Hezekiah means "Yahweh strengthens" in Hebrew. Alternately it may be translated as "Yahweh

825-661: Is W/ m : Φ e , λ = d Φ e d λ , {\displaystyle \Phi _{\mathrm {e} ,\lambda }={d\Phi _{\mathrm {e} } \over d\lambda },} where d Φ e {\displaystyle d\Phi _{\mathrm {e} }} is the radiant flux of the radiation in a small wavelength interval [ λ − d λ 2 , λ + d λ 2 ] {\displaystyle [\lambda -{d\lambda \over 2},\lambda +{d\lambda \over 2}]} . The area under

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900-468: Is 583 yards (533 m; about 1 ⁄ 3 mile) long and by using the 12 inch (30 cm) altitude difference between its two ends, which corresponds to a 0.06 percent gradient, the engineers managed to convey the water from the spring to the pool. According to the Siloam inscription , the tunnel was carved out of the living rock by two teams, one starting at each end of the tunnel and then meeting in

975-404: Is consistent with the Bible account of Hezekiah's revolt against Assyria in the sense that neither account seems to indicate that Sennacherib ever entered or formally captured the city. Sennacherib in this inscription claims that Hezekiah paid for tribute 800 talents of silver, in contrast with the Bible's 300, however this could be due to boastful exaggeration which was not uncommon amongst kings of

1050-558: Is dated by Albright as 715–687 BCE, and by Thiele as 716–687 BCE (the last ten years being a co-regency with his son Manasseh). According to the Bible, Hezekiah purified and repaired the Temple , purged its idols, and reformed the priesthood . In an effort to abolish idolatry from his kingdom, he destroyed the high places (or bamot ) and the "bronze serpent" (or Nehushtan ), recorded as being made by Moses , which had become objects of idolatrous worship. In place of this, he centralized

1125-499: Is important in astronomy , especially radio astronomy , and plays a significant role in Earth remote sensing . The measurement techniques categorized as radiometry in optics are called photometry in some astronomical applications, contrary to the optics usage of the term. Spectroradiometry is the measurement of absolute radiometric quantities in narrow bands of wavelength. Integral quantities (like radiant flux ) describe

1200-512: Is my strength". The main biblical accounts of Hezekiah's reign are found in 2 Kings, Isaiah, and 2 Chronicles. Proverbs 25:1 commences a collection of Solomon 's proverbs which were "copied by the officials of King Hezekiah of Judah". His reign is also referred to in the books of the prophets Jeremiah , Hosea , Micah , and Isaiah . The books of Hosea and Micah record that their prophecies were made during Hezekiah's reign. The book of Isaiah records when Hezekiah sought Isaiah's help when Judah

1275-417: Is not known elsewhere. Assyriologists posit the murder was motivated because Esarhaddon was chosen as heir to the throne instead of Arda-Mulissu, the next eldest son. Assyrian and Hebrew biblical history corroborate that Esarhaddon ultimately succeeded the throne. Other Assyriologists assert that Sennacherib was murdered in revenge for his destruction of Babylon, a city sacred to all Mesopotamians, including

1350-538: Is noteworthy for the convergence of a variety of biblical sources and diverse extrabiblical evidence often bearing on the same events. Significant data concerning Hezekiah appear in the Deuteronomistic History, the Chronicler, Isaiah, Assyrian annals and reliefs, Israelite epigraphy, and, increasingly, stratigraphy". Archaeologist Amihai Mazar calls the tensions between Assyria and Judah "one of

1425-410: Is quite close to the Biblical account. Of Sennacherib's death, 2 Kings records: "It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him [Sennacherib] with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place." According to Assyrian records, Sennacherib was assassinated in 681 BCE, twenty years after

1500-467: Is supported by De Groot and Fadida on the basis of pottery analysis. Radiometry Radiometry is a set of techniques for measuring electromagnetic radiation , including visible light . Radiometric techniques in optics characterize the distribution of the radiation's power in space, as opposed to photometric techniques, which characterize the light's interaction with the human eye. The fundamental difference between radiometry and photometry

1575-409: Is that radiometry gives the entire optical radiation spectrum, while photometry is limited to the visible spectrum. Radiometry is distinct from quantum techniques such as photon counting. The use of radiometers to determine the temperature of objects and gasses by measuring radiation flux is called pyrometry . Handheld pyrometer devices are often marketed as infrared thermometers . Radiometry

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1650-461: Is the radiant flux of the radiation in a small frequency interval [ ν − d ν 2 , ν + d ν 2 ] {\displaystyle [\nu -{d\nu \over 2},\nu +{d\nu \over 2}]} . The area under a plot with frequency horizontal axis equals to the total radiant flux. The spectral quantities by wavelength λ and frequency ν are related to each other, since

1725-565: Is used to distribute the water. The Bible verses relating to a tunnel in Hezekiah's time are these: "As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?" ( 2 Kings 20:20 ) "When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to wage war against Jerusalem, he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off

1800-503: The 26th regnal year. Hezekiah was the son of king Ahaz and Abijah (also called Abi), daughter of the high priest Zechariah. Hezekiah married Hephzibah and died from natural causes at the age of 54 around 687 BCE and was succeeded by his son Manasseh . According to the biblical narrative, Hezekiah assumed the throne of Judah at the age of 25 and reigned for 29 years. Some writers have proposed that Hezekiah served as coregent with his father Ahaz for about 14 years. His sole reign

1875-479: The 701 BCE invasion of Judah. A Neo-Babylonian letter corroborates with the biblical account, a sentiment from Sennacherib's sons to assassinate him, an event Assyriologists have reconstructed as historical. The son Arda-Mulissu , who is mentioned in the letter as killing anyone who would reveal his conspiracy, murdered his father in c. 681 BCE, and was most likely the Adrammelech in 2 Kings , though Sharezer

1950-548: The Assyrians. Later in his life, Hezekiah was ill with a boil or an inflammation. Isaiah told him that the Lord said he should put his house in order because he would die. But Hezekiah prayed, and Isaiah returned saying that the Lord had heard his prayer and he would recover. Hezekiah asked for a sign, and Isaiah asked him whether the shadow should go forward ten degrees or go back ten degrees. Hezekiah said it should go back, and

2025-551: The Bible state that Sennacherib's army besieged Jerusalem . According to the biblical record, Sennacherib sent threatening letters warning Hezekiah that he had not desisted from his determination to take the Judean capital. Although they besieged Jerusalem, the biblical accounts state that the Assyrians did not so much as "shoot an arrow there, ... nor cast up a siege rampart against it", and that God sent out an angel who, in one night, struck down "a hundred and eighty-five thousand in

2100-623: The City of David, that it was great; And you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to its Maker, Nor did you have respect for him who fashioned it long ago." ( Isaiah 22:11 ) Excavation work in the tunnel by Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa and Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiquities Authority has cast doubt over

2175-602: The Gihon Spring halfway to the Siloam Pool area, but by a more direct route, was found. This channel is now known as the Middle Bronze Age channel , on account of its estimated age. Ronny Reich determined that it was constructed around 1800 BC, in the Middle Bronze Age , and thus that the spring's water had already been diverted many centuries before Hezekiah. As originally constructed, it is understood as

2250-493: The Megalim Institute, the tunnel can be interpreted as an additional aqueduct designed for keeping the entire outflow of the spring inside the walled area, which included the downstream Pool of Siloam, with the specific purpose of withholding water from any besieging forces. Both the spring itself, and the pool at the end of the tunnel, would have been used by the inhabitants as water sources. Troops positioned outside

2325-524: The account states, "Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz ." The narrative of his sickness and miraculous recovery is found in 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles and Isaiah. Various ambassadors came to congratulate him on his recovery, among them from Merodach-baladan , son of the king of Babylon , "for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick". Hezekiah, his vanity flattered by

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2400-461: The attribution of the tunnel to the reign of Hezekiah. They believe the evidence points to a date several decades earlier, in the last part of the 9th century or early part of the 8th century BC. They note that the biblical passage connecting Hezekiah to the construction of waterworks doesn't specify a place in the city, and suggest it might refer to waterworks in the Mamilla area. The revised dating

2475-907: The best-documented events of the Iron Age" (172). Hezekiah's story is one of the best to cross-reference with the rest of the Mid Eastern world's historical documents. A lintel inscription , found over the doorway of a tomb, has been ascribed to his secretary, Shebnah. Storage jars with the so-called " LMLK seal " may "demonstrate careful preparations to counter Sennacherib's likely route of invasion" and show "a notable degree of royal control of towns and cities which would facilitate Hezekiah's destruction of rural sacrificial sites and his centralization of worship in Jerusalem". Evidence suggests they were used throughout his 29-year reign. There are some bullae from sealed documents that may have belonged to Hezekiah himself. In 2015, Eilat Mazar discovered

2550-476: The biblical record and shows that Sennacherib made no claim that he captured Jerusalem. However, Sennacherib presents the matter of Hezekiah's paying tribute as having come after the Assyrian threat of a siege against Jerusalem, whereas the Bible states it was paid before. Herodotus mentions the Assyrian army of Sennacherib being overrun by mice when attacking Egypt. Josephus gives a quote of Berossus that

2625-486: The biblical view posits that a defeat was caused by "possibly an outbreak of the bubonic plague". Another that this is a composite text which makes use of a 'legendary motif' analogous to that of the Exodus story. The Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484 BCE – c. 425 BCE) wrote of the invasion and acknowledges many Assyrian deaths, which he claims were the result of a plague of mice. The Jewish historian Josephus followed

2700-409: The camp of the Assyrians," sending Sennacherib back "with shame of face to his own land". Sennacherib's inscriptions make no mention of the disaster suffered by his forces. But, as Professor Jack Finegan comments: "In view of the general note of boasting which pervades the inscriptions of the Assyrian kings, ... it is hardly to be expected that Sennacherib would record such a defeat." The version of

2775-512: The celebration of the Passover. The messengers were scorned, although a few men of the tribes of Asher , Manasseh and Zebulun "were humble enough to come" to the city. According to the biblical account, the Passover was celebrated with great solemnity and such rejoicing as had not been seen in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon . The celebration took place during the second month, Iyar , because not enough priests had consecrated themselves in

2850-647: The city from a spring outside its walls. He made at least two major preparations that would help Jerusalem to resist conquest: the construction of the Siloam Tunnel , and construction of the Broad Wall . Sennacherib was intent on making war against Jerusalem. Therefore, Hezekiah consulted with his officers about stopping the flow of the springs outside the city. Otherwise, they thought, the King of Assyria would come and find water in abundance. The narratives of

2925-581: The city walls. The Bible says that King Hezekiah (c. 8th century BC), fearful that the Assyrians would lay siege to the city, blocked the spring's water outside the city and diverted it through a channel into the then Pool of Siloam. Since 1997, it is now known that the earlier Warren's shaft system had already heavily fortified the Gihon Spring. Warren's shaft is not an aqueduct, and requires those desiring water to travel up and down it themselves—an arrangement that Hezekiah seemingly must have considered inadequate. In 1899, an ancient channel, also leading from

3000-477: The course of actual excavations. Archaeological findings like the Hezekiah seal led scholars to surmise that the ancient Judahite kingdom had a highly developed administrative system. In 2018 Mazar published a report discussing the discovery of a bulla which she says may have to have belonged to Isaiah. She believes the fragment to have been part of a seal whose complete text might have read "Belonging to Isaiah

3075-579: The difficult feat of making two teams digging from opposite ends meet far underground is still not fully understood, but some suggest that the two teams were directed from above by sound signals generated by hammering on the solid rock through which the tunnelers were digging. The tunnel was first described in modern times by Franciscus Quaresmius in 1625. It was later explored in 1838 by the American biblical scholar Edward Robinson , and in 1865 by Charles Warren . Neither Quaresmius nor Robinson identified

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3150-452: The doors of the Temple in Jerusalem to produce the promised amount, but, even after the payment was made, Sennacherib renewed his assault on Jerusalem. Sennacherib surrounded the city and sent his Rabshakeh to the walls as a messenger. The Rabshakeh addressed the soldiers manning the city wall, asking them to distrust Yahweh and Hezekiah, claiming that Hezekiah's righteous reforms (destroying

3225-472: The fall of Samaria happened in Hezekiah's 6th year of reign, implying that he would have become king in ca. 727 BCE. Nadav Na'aman argues that several late 8th century BCE seal impressions from the Kaufman collection, which mention some places later detroyed during Sennacherib's invasion and thus predate this event, corroborate this date as the inscriptions in the seal impressions include dates that go up to

3300-425: The first month. Biblical writer H. P. Mathys suggests that Hezekiah, being unable to restore the union of Judah and Israel by political means, used the invitation to the northern tribes as a final religious "attempt to restore the unity of the cult". He notes that this account "is often considered to contain historically reliable elements, especially since negative aspects are also reported on", although he questions

3375-414: The full extent to which it may be considered historically reliable. After the death of Assyrian king Sargon II in 705 BCE, Sargon's son Sennacherib became king of Assyria. In 703 BCE, Sennacherib began a series of major campaigns to quash opposition to Assyrian rule, starting with cities in the eastern part of the realm. In 701 BCE, Sennacherib turned toward cities in the west. Hezekiah then had to face

3450-400: The idols and high places ) were a sign that the people should not trust their god to be favorably disposed. 2 Kings records that Hezekiah went to the Temple and there he prayed to God. Knowing that Jerusalem would eventually be subject to siege, Hezekiah had been preparing for some time by fortifying the walls of the capital, building towers, and constructing a tunnel to bring fresh water to

3525-406: The invasion of Judah. According to the Bible, Hezekiah did not rely on Egypt for support, but relied on God and prayed to Him for deliverance of his capital city Jerusalem. The Assyrians recorded that Sennacherib lifted his siege of Jerusalem after Hezekiah paid Sennacherib tribute. The Bible records that Hezekiah paid him three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold as tribute, even sending

3600-557: The late 9th or early 8th century BC. The tunnel leads from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam . If indeed built under Hezekiah, it dates to a time when Jerusalem was preparing for an impending siege by the Assyrians, led by Sennacherib . Since the Gihon Spring was already protected by a massive tower and was included in the city's defensive wall system, Jerusalem seems to have been supplied with enough water in case of siege even without this tunnel. According to Aharon Horovitz, director of

3675-412: The life of her son Hezekiah, whom her godless husband, Ahaz, had designed as an offering to Moloch . By anointing him with the blood of the salamander , she enabled him to pass through the fire of Moloch unscathed (Sanh. 63b). Hezekiah is considered as the model of those who put their trust in the Lord. Only during his sickness did he waver in his hitherto unshaken trust and require a sign, for which he

3750-596: The matter that Sennacherib presents, as found inscribed on what is known as the Sennacherib Prism preserved in the University of Chicago Oriental Institute , in part says: "As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to my yoke ... Hezekiah himself ... did send me, later, to Nineveh, my lordly city, together with 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, ..." This version inflates the number of silver talents sent from 300 to 800. In other regards, it confirms

3825-458: The middle. The inscription is partly unreadable at present, and may originally have conveyed more information than this. It is clear from the tunnel itself that several directional errors were made during its construction. Recent scholarship has discredited the idea that the tunnel may have been formed by substantially widening a pre-existing natural karst . How the Israelite engineers dealt with

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3900-399: The night, the angel of YHWH (Hebrew: יהוה) brought death to 185,000 Assyrians troops, forcing the army to abandon the siege, yet it also records a tribute paid to Sennacherib of 300 silver talents following the siege. There is no account of the supernatural event in the prism. Sennacherib's account records his levying of a tribute from Hezekiah, a payment of 800 silver talents, which suggests

3975-430: The period. The annals record a list of booty sent from Jerusalem to Nineveh. In the inscription, Sennacherib claims that Hezekiah accepted servitude, and some theorize that Hezekiah remained on his throne as a vassal ruler. The campaign is recorded with differences in the Assyrian records and in the biblical Books of Kings ; there is agreement that the Assyrian have a propensity for exaggeration. One theory that takes

4050-1361: The product of the two variables is the speed of light ( λ ⋅ ν = c {\displaystyle \lambda \cdot \nu =c} ): The integral quantity can be obtained by the spectral quantity's integration: Φ e = ∫ 0 ∞ Φ e , λ d λ = ∫ 0 ∞ Φ e , ν d ν = ∫ 0 ∞ λ Φ e , λ d ln ⁡ λ = ∫ 0 ∞ ν Φ e , ν d ln ⁡ ν . {\displaystyle \Phi _{\mathrm {e} }=\int _{0}^{\infty }\Phi _{\mathrm {e} ,\lambda }\,d\lambda =\int _{0}^{\infty }\Phi _{\mathrm {e} ,\nu }\,d\nu =\int _{0}^{\infty }\lambda \Phi _{\mathrm {e} ,\lambda }\,d\ln \lambda =\int _{0}^{\infty }\nu \Phi _{\mathrm {e} ,\nu }\,d\ln \nu .} Hezekiah Hezekiah ( / ˌ h ɛ z ɪ ˈ k aɪ . ə / ; Biblical Hebrew : חִזְקִיָּהוּ ‎ , romanized:  Ḥizqiyyāhu ), or Ezekias (born c.  741 BCE , sole ruler c.  716/15–687/86 ),

4125-404: The prophet." Several other biblical archaeologists, including George Washington University's Christopher Rollston have pointed to the bulla being incomplete, and the present inscription not enough to necessarily refer to the biblical figure. According to the work of archaeologists and philologists, the reign of Hezekiah saw a notable increase in the power of the Judean state. At this time Judah

4200-408: The rock, led from a main water source, and was meant to channel the current to a lower place where water was needed for agricultural purposes. The well-like vertical shaft ( Warren's Shaft ), connected by a gently sloping tunnel, is thought to have provided ventilation, light and access to the underground water channel for construction and maintenance. At its outlet, a network of dams, gates and channels

4275-469: The second-most important city of the kingdom of Judah . During the revolt of king Hezekiah against Assyria , it was captured by Sennacherib despite determined resistance (see Siege of Lachish ). As the Lachish relief attests, Sennacherib began his siege of the city of Lachish in 701 BCE. The Lachish Relief graphically depicts the battle, and the defeat of the city, including Assyrian archers marching up

4350-482: The spectral power Φ e, λ and Φ e, ν . Getting an integral quantity's spectral counterpart requires a limit transition . This comes from the idea that the precisely requested wavelength photon existence probability is zero. Let us show the relation between them using the radiant flux as an example: Integral flux, whose unit is W : Φ e . {\displaystyle \Phi _{\mathrm {e} }.} Spectral flux by wavelength, whose unit

4425-429: The total effect of radiation of all wavelengths or frequencies , while spectral quantities (like spectral power ) describe the effect of radiation of a single wavelength λ or frequency ν . To each integral quantity there are corresponding spectral quantities , defined as the quotient of the integrated quantity by the range of frequency or wavelength considered. For example, the radiant flux Φ e corresponds to

4500-441: The tunnel with Hezekiah, but in 1871 Warren suggested that the Pool of Siloam may have been "dug by King Hezekiah" and in 1884 following the discovery of the Siloam inscription wrote that: "The inscription thus appears to belong to the later period of the Hebrew monarchy, and may very well be considered to agree with the Biblical account of Hezekiah's preparations for Sennacherib's siege." The ancient city of Jerusalem , being on

4575-416: The tunnel, met each other" (564). It is "[o]ne of the most important ancient Hebrew inscriptions ever discovered." Finkelstein and Mazar cite this tunnel as an example of Jerusalem's impressive state-level power at the time. Archaeologists like William G. Dever have pointed at archaeological evidence for the iconoclasm during the period of Hezekiah's reign. The central cult room of the temple at Arad ,

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4650-569: The visit, showed the Babylonian embassy all the wealth, arms and stores of Jerusalem, revealing too much information to Baladan , king of Babylon, or perhaps boasting about his wealth. He was then confronted by Isaiah, who foretold that a future generation of the people of Judah would be taken as captives to Babylon . Hezekiah was reassured that his own lifetime would see peace and security. According to Isaiah, Hezekiah lived another 15 years after praying to God. His son and successor, Manasseh,

4725-488: The walls wouldn't have reached any of it, because even the overflow water released from the Pool of Siloam would have fully disappeared into a karstic system located right outside the southern tip of the city walls. In contrast to that, the previous water system did release all the water not used by the city population into the Kidron Valley to the east, where besieging troops could have taken advantage of it. The curving tunnel

4800-492: The water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him. They gathered a large group of people who blocked all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. 'Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?' they said." ( 2 Chronicles 32:2–4 ) "It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and channeled the water down to the west side of the City of David. He succeeded in everything he undertook." ( 2 Chronicles 32:30 ) "You also saw

4875-534: The worship of God at the Temple in Jerusalem. Hezekiah also defeated the Philistines , "as far as Gaza and its territory", and resumed the Passover pilgrimage and the tradition of inviting the scattered tribes of Israel to take part in a Passover festival. 2 Chronicles 30, but not the parallel account in 2 Kings, records that Hezekiah sent messengers to Ephraim and Manasseh inviting them to Jerusalem for

4950-428: The writings of Herodotus. These historians record Sennacherib's failure to take Jerusalem as "uncontested". The Talmud (Bava Batra 15a) credits Hezekiah with overseeing the compilation of the biblical books of Isaiah, Proverbs, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. According to Jewish tradition, the victory over the Assyrians and Hezekiah's return to health happened at the same time, the first night of Passover. Abi saved

5025-424: Was a virtual city-state where the majority of the state's population was concentrated," in comparison to the rest of Judah's cities (167). Archaeologist Israel Finkelstein says, "The key phenomenon—which cannot be explained solely against the background of economic prosperity—was the sudden growth of the population of Jerusalem in particular, and of Judah in general" (153). He says the cause of this growth must be

5100-672: Was blamed by Isaiah (Lam. R. i.). The Hebrew name "Ḥizḳiyyah" is considered by the Talmudists to be a surname, meaning either "strengthened by Yhwh" or "he who made a firm alliance between the Israelites and Yhwh"; his eight other names are enumerated in Isa. ix. 5 (Sanh. 94a). He is called the restorer of the study of the Law in the schools, and is said to have planted a sword at the door of the bet ha-midrash , declaring that he who would not study

5175-644: Was born during this time: he was 12 years of age when he succeeded Hezekiah. According to the Talmud , the disease came about because of a dispute between him and Isaiah over who should pay whom a visit and over Hezekiah's refusal to marry and have children, although in the end he married Isaiah's daughter. Some Talmudists also considered that it might have come about as a way for Hezekiah to purge his sins or due to his arrogance in assuming his righteousness. Extra-biblical sources specify Hezekiah by name, along with his reign and influence. "Historiographically, his reign

5250-548: Was chiseled through 533 meters (1,750 feet) of solid rock in order to provide Jerusalem underground access to the waters of the Gihon Spring or Siloam Pool , which lay outside the city. The Siloam Inscription from the Siloam Tunnel is now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum . It "commemorates the dramatic moment when the two original teams of tunnelers, digging with picks from opposite ends of

5325-530: Was found buried in the foundations of the Nineveh palace. It was written in cuneiform , the Mesopotamian form of writing of the day. The prism records the conquest of 46 strong towns and "uncountable smaller places," along with the siege of Jerusalem where Sennacherib says he just "shut him up ... like a bird in a cage," subsequently enforcing a larger tribute upon him. The Hebrew Bible states that during

5400-602: Was removed by the Canaanites, who built a very strongly fortified tower around the spring and connected it to the city walls on the slope by an additional wall, which carried a well-protected corridor. A Canaanite tunnel already collected the spring water since ca. 1800 BC and led it southwards through the bedrock. It released the water onto the fields in the Kidron Valley through several openings, and ended in an open reservoir. While allowing for important farming, this arrangement also made water available to besieging troops outside

5475-543: Was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Judah according to the Hebrew Bible . In the Biblical narrative, Hezekiah witnessed the destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel by the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Sargon II in c.  722 BCE . He was king of Judah during the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib in 701 BCE. Hezekiah enacted sweeping religious reforms, including

5550-522: Was the strongest nation on the Assyrian–Egyptian frontier. There were increases in literacy and in the production of literary works. The massive construction of the Broad Wall was made during his reign, the city was enlarged to accommodate a large influx, and population increased in Jerusalem up to 25,000, "five times the population under Solomon." Archaeologist Amihai Mazar explains, "Jerusalem

5625-488: Was under siege by Sennacherib of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Based on Edwin R. Thiele 's dating, Hezekiah was born in c. 741 BCE and died in c. 687 BCE at age 54. Thiele and William F. Albright calculated his regnal years arriving at figures very close to each other, c. 715/16 and 686/87 BCE . However, Robb Andrew Young dates his reign to 725–696 BCE and Gershon Galil to 726–697/6. The Bible states that

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