May 18th: The tunnel

Since I have been home from Israel, a friend asked me, “I know it must be hard, but, what is the one thing that you liked the best in Israel?” I responded that I had actually already given that question some thought, and I had come to the conclusion that I was finding it difficult to decide what my favorite thing was on each day, let alone for the whole trip. It was all so fascinating, so awe-inspiring. Nevertheless, on May 18th, I think I would have to go with Hezekiah’s tunnel.

In about 701 B.C., the Assyrians were about to overrun the country of Judah (the Jewish nation whose kings were in the direct line of descent from David and Solomon). As the Assyrians were poised to besiege the capital city of Jerusalem, King Hezekiah of Judah got his men to work on a vitally important project. You see, the water supply for the inhabitants of Jerusalem was located outside of the city wall, and was thus vulnerable to seizure by the Assyrian army. Hezekiah had his men build an underground tunnel that would allow the water to flow into the city. That way, the residents of Jerusalem could use the water, and access to it would be denied to the invading Assyrians.

This tunnel is mentioned in 2 Kings 20:20, which says, “As for the other events of Hezekiah's reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?” In addition, an inscription was discovered in the tunnel during the nineteenth century (known as the Shiloah inscription), around the time when several excavations were going on in the vicinity. The inscription describes the work that was done by Hezekiah’s men, and it is considered a very valuable archaeological find because it is an excellent example of the type of Hebrew used in those days.

As part of our itinerary, we had the opportunity to traverse Hezekiah’s tunnel. After strenuous, and I mean strenuous, warnings that those who are claustrophobic should not enter, we proceeded down a series of steps, ending about a few hundred feet underground. Then it was into the tunnel. The tunnel was about one thousand yards long, and only a few feet wide. As you can see by the photo of myself above, my shoulders and backpack were scraping the sides of the tunnel the whole way. In fact, there were a few brief portions where I had to turn my body sideways to squeeze through. The height of the tunnel ranged from ten feet down to about four or five feet for stretches, so I did a lot of squatting and crouching. Oh, and I almost forgot . . . there is still water running through the tunnel. For the most part, the water was about ankle high, but there was a brief stretch where it was knee deep (see photo below where person is walking in front of me in the distance).

It took thirty-five minutes to make it through the entire tunnel. At the end was the site where the inscription was found. As is the case with most important inscriptions found in Israel, the original is now in a museum (a replica is at the site). The below photo was at the place where the inscription was found. The tunnel is too narrow to get a frontal photo, so as you can see, I had to take the shot from an angle.















After traversing the tunnel, I was more tired than I expected, yet I had a feeling of indescribable satisfaction. It was hard work to make it through the tunnel. I had worked up a sweat, yet also felt somewhat cool from wading in water. But most of all I was just awestruck. Here I was, on the other side of the world from my home, and worlds away from my desk job, having completed an incredible journey through a 2700-year old tunnel that is mentioned in God’s Word. I couldn’t believe that I was lucky enough to get to do this. The entire biblical account of the Assyrian invasion of Judah and Hezekiah’s defense had come alive to me in a way I never dreamed possible.