The pool of Siloam
The Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem, where Jesus sent the blind man to wash his eyes
Chapter 9 of John's Gospel, verses 1-11, record how Jesus heals a man who had been born blind. He does this by spitting on the ground, making mud with the saliva, smearing it on the man's eyes. Then he tells the man to go and wash in a pool called 'Siloam'. The man washes the mud off, and regains his sight.
The pool of Siloam was (and still is) a real place in Jerusalem, at the southern end of the tunnel that king Hezekiah built to bring water into the city when it was under threat of being beseiged by the Assyrians, seven hundred years before Christ.
For many years, pilgrims and tourists visiting Jerusalem have been shown a pool at the bottom of the slope that goes down from the Dung Gate through - or past the side of - the City of David. This has been touted as the Pool of Siloam.
But now we know that this wasn't the pool of Siloam in Jesus's time. In 2004, city workers were replacing a sewer in the City of David. Archaeologist Eli Shukron was watching them when they accidentally uncovered two ancient steps. Subsequent excavation confirmed that this was the pool from the time of Jesus. This pool is south-east of the pool that used to be known as the pool of Siloam - which has been dated to the fourth century.
The pool is a trapezoidal shape, about seventy metres wide, with steps going down to the water. There are three sets of steps, with five steps in each set.