Shiloah is Hebrew for Siloam, the famed water source of ancient Jerusalem. In John’s gospel, Jesus healed a man born blind at Siloam (Shiloah). But what about the tunnel? That story goes back much further.

The rebellion of the king of Judah against the Assyrian Empire in 701 BCE placed Jerusalem in great danger. This video depicts Jerusalem’s ordeal under the threat of the Assyrian siege and Hezekiah’s creative solution to the city’s resulting water problem. Hezekiah’s water system was an engineering wonder that included the hewing of a 533-meter-long tunnel in the depths of the rock. By means of Hezekiah’s tunnel, which is mentioned in the Bible and in the Shiloah (Siloam) Inscription, the water of the Gihon Spring was diverted into the city, out of reach of the Assyrians.