DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0133
io8
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
class are entirely dependent on the rain which falls during the winter; those which have been
constructed by Europeans in convents and dwelling-houses are good, and, being carefully
cleaned out every year, furnish water that is always clean and sweet. Such, however, is not
the case with those in the native houses ; when the rain commences, as much as possible
is collected, even from the streets, which, being the common latrine of the city, are by the
end of the rainy season in a very filthy state. Every duct is opened, and all the summer's
accumulation of rubbish and refuse is carried from roof and courtyard to the cistern below.
During the early part of summer little evil arises, but towards autumn the water gets low,
the buckets in descending stir up the deposit, and the mixture which thousands then have to
use as their daily beverage is almost too horrible to think of. At this time, too, a sort of
miasma seems to rise up from the refuse and the fever season commences. The most
remarkable cisterns are those in the Haram esh Sherif, and the cistern of Helena near the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre ; there are, however, a vast number both within and without
the city, and some of them are of great size.
The pools or reservoirs of which remains exist at present are—the Birket Mamilla, the
Birket es Sultan, the Birket Sitti Mariam, the two Pools of Siloam, and a pool near the Tombs
of the Kines, without the walls ; and the so-called Pools of Hezekiah and Bethesda within the
city. There is also undoubted tradition of pools near the Jaffa Gate, the Gate of the Chain,
and the Church of St. Anne ; these are now concealed by rubbish. The Birket Mamilla collects
the surface drainage of the upper part of the Valley of Hinnom, and transmits its water to
the Pool of Hezekiah by a conduit which passes under the city wall a little to the north of the
Jaffa Gate, and has a branch running down to the cisterns in the Citadel (see page 102). The
average depth of the pool is nineteen feet; it is three hundred and fifteen feet long, and two
hundred and eight feet wide; the estimated capacity is eight million gallons, but there is a large
accumulation of rubbish at the bottom, and it now holds water imperfectly. The pool has not been
well placed for collecting the drainage, as that from the western slope is lost, but the position
was necessary to obtain a level high enough to supply the Pool of Hezekiah and the Citadel.
A hole in the ground below the lower end of the pool gives access to a flight of steps leading
down to a small chamber, where the conduit, which on leaving the pool is twenty-one inches
square, narrows to nine inches, so as to allow of an arrangement for regulating the flow of
water into the city. The Birket Mamilla has sometimes been identified with the Upper Pool
of Gihon, but it is more probably the Serpent Pool mentioned by Josephus, a name which
may have had its origin in the Dragon's Well of Nehemiah, which seems to have been
situated to the west of Jerusalem. The Birket es Sultan (see page 102) lies in the Valley of
Hinnom, but at so low a level that its only use could have been the irrigation of gardens
lower down the valley. The pool does not now hold water; it is, however, of considerable
extent, and would contain about nineteen million gallons. The reservoir has been formed by
building a solid dam or causeway across the valley, and closing the upper end by a slight
embankment; at the sides the rock is left for the most part in its natural state. Immediately
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
class are entirely dependent on the rain which falls during the winter; those which have been
constructed by Europeans in convents and dwelling-houses are good, and, being carefully
cleaned out every year, furnish water that is always clean and sweet. Such, however, is not
the case with those in the native houses ; when the rain commences, as much as possible
is collected, even from the streets, which, being the common latrine of the city, are by the
end of the rainy season in a very filthy state. Every duct is opened, and all the summer's
accumulation of rubbish and refuse is carried from roof and courtyard to the cistern below.
During the early part of summer little evil arises, but towards autumn the water gets low,
the buckets in descending stir up the deposit, and the mixture which thousands then have to
use as their daily beverage is almost too horrible to think of. At this time, too, a sort of
miasma seems to rise up from the refuse and the fever season commences. The most
remarkable cisterns are those in the Haram esh Sherif, and the cistern of Helena near the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre ; there are, however, a vast number both within and without
the city, and some of them are of great size.
The pools or reservoirs of which remains exist at present are—the Birket Mamilla, the
Birket es Sultan, the Birket Sitti Mariam, the two Pools of Siloam, and a pool near the Tombs
of the Kines, without the walls ; and the so-called Pools of Hezekiah and Bethesda within the
city. There is also undoubted tradition of pools near the Jaffa Gate, the Gate of the Chain,
and the Church of St. Anne ; these are now concealed by rubbish. The Birket Mamilla collects
the surface drainage of the upper part of the Valley of Hinnom, and transmits its water to
the Pool of Hezekiah by a conduit which passes under the city wall a little to the north of the
Jaffa Gate, and has a branch running down to the cisterns in the Citadel (see page 102). The
average depth of the pool is nineteen feet; it is three hundred and fifteen feet long, and two
hundred and eight feet wide; the estimated capacity is eight million gallons, but there is a large
accumulation of rubbish at the bottom, and it now holds water imperfectly. The pool has not been
well placed for collecting the drainage, as that from the western slope is lost, but the position
was necessary to obtain a level high enough to supply the Pool of Hezekiah and the Citadel.
A hole in the ground below the lower end of the pool gives access to a flight of steps leading
down to a small chamber, where the conduit, which on leaving the pool is twenty-one inches
square, narrows to nine inches, so as to allow of an arrangement for regulating the flow of
water into the city. The Birket Mamilla has sometimes been identified with the Upper Pool
of Gihon, but it is more probably the Serpent Pool mentioned by Josephus, a name which
may have had its origin in the Dragon's Well of Nehemiah, which seems to have been
situated to the west of Jerusalem. The Birket es Sultan (see page 102) lies in the Valley of
Hinnom, but at so low a level that its only use could have been the irrigation of gardens
lower down the valley. The pool does not now hold water; it is, however, of considerable
extent, and would contain about nineteen million gallons. The reservoir has been formed by
building a solid dam or causeway across the valley, and closing the upper end by a slight
embankment; at the sides the rock is left for the most part in its natural state. Immediately