Hezekiah's Tunnel!

At the 3-d movie they showed before we went to David's City

Today I went to King David's City. It was so fun! I got to see archaeologists at work and walk through Hezekiah's Tunnel. The story behind Hezekiah's Tunnel is really interesting, so I think I'll tell you all about it. Orginally, Jerusalem got its water from a spring outside the city walls called Gihon Spring. However, since it was outside the city, if Jerusalem were ever under siege they would be without a water source, so when Hezekiah was king, he had a tunnel dug to move it inside the city. He followed the prophet's council when he did this, and as a result was promised that Jerusalem would not be taken by the Assyrians, who were rumored to be coming to overtake Jerusalem. He said that not a single arrow would enter the city, which was a miraculous promise since that was one of the main ways the Assyrians usually took cities. Well, the Assyrians came and camped out. The next morning, they "woke up dead" according to the Bible. Bible scholars think that the black plague was sent upon the Assyrians, so many people died and the rest left.
Today, I walked down Hezekiah's Tunnel. It was definitely one of my favorite things I've done since I've been here! Basically, Hezekiah's Tunnel is a little bit wider than my shoulders and has water that goes up to my calves. It takes about 20 minutes to walk through, and it's so fun! It requires a headlamp which makes it more of an adventure. If you ever go to the Holy Land, I would totally recommend doing this.

Walking through the tunnel. This was at one of the deeper spots in the tunnel.

This was an "after" picture. Our pants are pretty wet!

The Pool of Siloam. This is where Jesus healed the blind man by putting the clay on his eyes. It's also where Hezekiah's Tunnel ends. The Pool used to be full, but since they started regulating the water it's been empty.