DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0129
io4 PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
hundred feet long, about two feet wide, and from one foot ten inches to sixteen feet in
height. The lower portion is not easy to pass through, especially if the spring commences
to flow whilst the explorer is engaged in making the attempt. In connection with the
passage Captain Warren opened out a rock-hewn canal, which ran for some distance due
west, with a slight fall, so that the water from the spring could flow down to the western
end, where a shallow basin had been excavated to receive it. From this point a circular
shaft, more than forty feet high, led upwards to a great corridor excavated in the rock,
whence a flight of steps gave access to the surface at a point, on that portion of Mount
Moriah known as Ophel, which must have been well within the ancient walls of the city.
It was thus possible for the Jews on the approach of an enemy to close or "seal " the well
with blocks of stone, and at the same time procure a supply of water for their own use by
means of the shaft or well within the walls. In the corridor three glass lamps of curious
construction were found placed at intervals, as if to light up the passage to the shaft. A
little pile of charcoal, as if for cooking, a dish glazed inside, jars of red pottery, and other
lamps, were also found, as well as an iron ring overhanging the shaft, to which a rope might
have been attached for drawing- water. The Virgin's Fountain derives its name from the
tradition that the Virgin drew water from the well and washed the swaddling clothes there.
The only real well at Jerusalem is Bir Eyub, Job's Well (see page 120), situated a little
below the junction of the Kedron and Hinnom Valleys. It has a depth of one hundred and
twenty-five feet, and the water, which is collected in a large rock-hewn chamber at the bottom,
is derived from the drainage of the two valleys and their offshoots. The supply is directly
dependent on the rainfall, and in winter the water occasionally rises above the shaft and flows
down the valley in a stream. This generally occurs in January, after from three to five
consecutive days' rain. At a depth of one hundred and thirteen feet there is a large chamber,
from the bottom of which a shaft leads downwards to the present collector. This seems to
indicate that the well was deepened at some period. There is much rubbish in this part of
the valley, and the plan in constructing the well seems to have been to try and stop out the
surface drainage, which might be charged with impurities from the city, and to depend entirely
on the water which runs in freely between the lower beds of the limestone. The well, which
is one of the principal sources of supply to the poorer classes, is inconveniently situated at
the foot of a steep hill, and the water has to be carried to Jerusalem in goat skins. This
traffic is almost entirely in the hands of the villagers of Silwan (Siloam), who charge from
one penny to sixpence per skin for water delivered in the city, and are much given to cheating
by partly filling the skins with air. The water of Bir Eyub has, though in a much less
degree, the peculiar taste of that of Siloam. This probably arises from the fact that the
surface drainage from the city is imperfectly stopped out.
In the Tyropceon Valley there is a well that supplies water to the Turkish bath in the
old Cotton Market. The shaft of the well, eighty feet deep, passes entirely through rubbish,
and at its foot there is a rock-hewn conduit stretching in a southerly direction, in which the
hundred feet long, about two feet wide, and from one foot ten inches to sixteen feet in
height. The lower portion is not easy to pass through, especially if the spring commences
to flow whilst the explorer is engaged in making the attempt. In connection with the
passage Captain Warren opened out a rock-hewn canal, which ran for some distance due
west, with a slight fall, so that the water from the spring could flow down to the western
end, where a shallow basin had been excavated to receive it. From this point a circular
shaft, more than forty feet high, led upwards to a great corridor excavated in the rock,
whence a flight of steps gave access to the surface at a point, on that portion of Mount
Moriah known as Ophel, which must have been well within the ancient walls of the city.
It was thus possible for the Jews on the approach of an enemy to close or "seal " the well
with blocks of stone, and at the same time procure a supply of water for their own use by
means of the shaft or well within the walls. In the corridor three glass lamps of curious
construction were found placed at intervals, as if to light up the passage to the shaft. A
little pile of charcoal, as if for cooking, a dish glazed inside, jars of red pottery, and other
lamps, were also found, as well as an iron ring overhanging the shaft, to which a rope might
have been attached for drawing- water. The Virgin's Fountain derives its name from the
tradition that the Virgin drew water from the well and washed the swaddling clothes there.
The only real well at Jerusalem is Bir Eyub, Job's Well (see page 120), situated a little
below the junction of the Kedron and Hinnom Valleys. It has a depth of one hundred and
twenty-five feet, and the water, which is collected in a large rock-hewn chamber at the bottom,
is derived from the drainage of the two valleys and their offshoots. The supply is directly
dependent on the rainfall, and in winter the water occasionally rises above the shaft and flows
down the valley in a stream. This generally occurs in January, after from three to five
consecutive days' rain. At a depth of one hundred and thirteen feet there is a large chamber,
from the bottom of which a shaft leads downwards to the present collector. This seems to
indicate that the well was deepened at some period. There is much rubbish in this part of
the valley, and the plan in constructing the well seems to have been to try and stop out the
surface drainage, which might be charged with impurities from the city, and to depend entirely
on the water which runs in freely between the lower beds of the limestone. The well, which
is one of the principal sources of supply to the poorer classes, is inconveniently situated at
the foot of a steep hill, and the water has to be carried to Jerusalem in goat skins. This
traffic is almost entirely in the hands of the villagers of Silwan (Siloam), who charge from
one penny to sixpence per skin for water delivered in the city, and are much given to cheating
by partly filling the skins with air. The water of Bir Eyub has, though in a much less
degree, the peculiar taste of that of Siloam. This probably arises from the fact that the
surface drainage from the city is imperfectly stopped out.
In the Tyropceon Valley there is a well that supplies water to the Turkish bath in the
old Cotton Market. The shaft of the well, eighty feet deep, passes entirely through rubbish,
and at its foot there is a rock-hewn conduit stretching in a southerly direction, in which the