THE WATER SUPPLY OF JERUSALEM. 21 



maintained by building an aqnediict across the valley, and 

 not by a laborionsly constructed syphon. A more probable 

 view seems to be that the high-level aqueduct was the work 

 of Herod and that it was restored in the reign of Severus. 

 Both high- and low-level aqueducts must have been seriously 

 damaged during the Jewish revolt in Hadrian's reign ; and 

 the low-level aqueduct alone may have been restored on the 

 foundation of ^lia. The great tunnel in Wady Biar was 

 perhaps constructed at an earlier date to feed the low-level 

 aqueduct, and afterwards utilized by Herod. 



It has been conjectured that the low-level aqueduct was 

 popularly called "Tannin" from its serpentine course, and 

 . that the " Dragon's J^'ountain " of Nehemiah ii, 13, was a 

 fountain which it supplied in the Valley of Hinnom. 

 Similarly the '• Serpent's Pool " of Josephus (Birket 

 Mamilla) may have received its name from the fact that it 

 was filled by the high-level aqueduct. 



Within and near the city several portions of conduits 

 have been found. The oldest are : — (i) The rock-hewn 

 conduit on the eastern hill, which delivered water to the 

 Temple enclosure, and is broken by the ditch that separated 

 Bezetha from the Castle Antonica, and by the ^^eriio/os wall 

 of the Temple precincts. This was perhaps fed by the 

 "lake" of Legeriiis, and may have been "the conduit of 

 the upper pool" {2 Kings xviii, 17 ; Isaiah vii, 3 ; xxxvi, 2). 

 After the cionstruction of the Antonia, it could only have 

 served the two pools in the ditch of that fortress, (ii) A 

 conduit at a low level in the Tyropoeon valley, beneath 

 Robinson's Arch, which was destroyed when the western 

 Avail of the Temple enclosure was built, (iii) The tunnel 

 already mentioned as conveying the water of the fountain 

 of the Virgin to Siloam. (iv) The remains of a conduit at 

 a very high level have been found on the western spur, but 

 no clue has yet been obtained to the source of its supply. 

 Bireh has been suggested, but the remains of a conduit of 

 such length could hardly have escaped notice. 



The method adopted for distiibuting water in the ancient 

 city is unknown ; but it seems probable that there were 

 public fountains and small pipes to the palaces and larger 

 houses. The beautiful fountains built by the Arabs are well 

 known to those who have visited Jerusalem. 



The steps that should be taken to ensure a water supply 

 which would in some measure meet modern requirements 

 can be only briefly noticed. The question, a simple one 



