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Source:
Picturesque Palestine, vol. 1, p. 145. |
Pools of Solomon
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We now pass up the tiny glen to El Burâk (Solomon's Pools), by the side of the
direct road from Bethlehem to Hebron . . . .Immediately on leaving the enclosed
gardens barrenness resumes its sway. The valley was once full of oaks of large
size, and stumps may here and there be seen, now sought for and dug up for
firewood. The pools are marked at a distance by the great square castle at the
north-west corner of the upper one-a late Saracenic structure serving the
purposes of khan and barracks for a few soldiers. The pools are three in number
and in steps, each at a considerably lower level than the one above it, and are
formed by walls of massive masonry stretching across the valley. They are
chiefly hewn out of the native rock, the upper one especially being considerably
heightened by masonry strengthened by buttresses. (Source:
Picturesque Palestine, vol. 1, p. 139.) |
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Solomon's Pools |
Source:
Jerusalem, Bethany, and Bethlehem, p.
132. |
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A short ride up the glen from Urtas brings
us to a basin-shaped depression in the
mountain-range, in the bottom of which lie
Solomon's Pools. They are partly excavated in
the rocky bed of the vale and partly built of
large hewn stones. They are three in number,
of great size-each being nearly one hundred
and fifty yards long, by half as much in
breadth, and about forty feet deep. They are
so arranged on the natural slope of the ground
that the bottom of the upper pool is higher
than the surface of the next, the object
evidently being to collect and store the
greatest possible quantity of water. The
source from which they are supplied is a
subterranean fountain some distance above them
on the hill-side. The only visible mark of
this fountain is an opening like the mouth of
a well, generally covered with a large stone.
The internal arrangements are very ingenious,
and give one the impression that the intention
was to conceal the spring. (Source:
Jerusalem, Bethany, and Bethlehem, p. 132.) |
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Source: Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 140. |
View of Solomon's Pools |
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The view here presented is very fine. To the
right of the picture, near the top, is a
castle of Saracenic origin; to the west of
this castle is a small chamber built over a
spring called Ain-Salah, which supplies the
pools with water. The first pool below the
castle is 380 feet long and 25 feet deep, with
a breadth on the west end of 229 feet and on
the east end of 236 feet. About 50 yards below
the first pool is the second, the top of which
is a little lower than the bottom of the
first. This pool is 423 feet long, 39 deep,
and at the west end 229 feet wide, and at the
east end 236 feet wide. The lowest pool is 248
feet from the middle pool, and its length is
582 feet. It is 50 feet deep, its breath on
the west end is 148 feet and on the east end
207 feet. The pools are all widest at the
lower end . . . .This is a cheerful country,
and birds sing in the green coppices of oak on
either side, and flocks may be seen going to
the pools for water. (Source:
Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 140.) |
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Solomon's Pools |
Source:
Photographs of Charles Lee Feinberg. |
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We can see at once the reason for
constructing three basins, for a single
reservoir to hold so large a supply would have
demanded an embankment of enormous strength. .
. . To enable the pools to be cleaned and
water to be drawn on the spot when not quite
full, there are flights of stairs inside the
lower end of each. Not only are the supplies
from several springs, near and distant,
carefully conducted by subterranean channels
into the pools, but there are also channels
for the collection and conveyance of
rain-water, so that nothing shall be lost.
(Source:
Picturesque Palestine, vol. 1, p.
139.) |
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See
Water
Systems in Jerusalem,
Hezekiah's Pool,
Pool of Siloam,
Bethlehem,
or the
Dead Sea |
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