Siloam Inscription
Hebrew record of the moment two tunnelling crews met under Jerusalem
Found 1880 — Jacob Eliahu (later Spafford), a 16-year-old pupil of Conrad Schick, while exploring the tunnel; recorded by Schick
Where Hezekiah's Tunnel, City of David, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) (Israel)
Dates from c. 700 BCE · Iron Age IIB · Reign of Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah)
Now at Istanbul Archaeology Museums, Turkey (replica in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem)
How Siloam Inscription was found
Noticed on the tunnel wall about 6 m from the Siloam outlet. In 1890 it was hacked out of the rock and broken; the Ottoman authorities recovered the pieces and sent them to Constantinople.
What it is
Six lines of paleo-Hebrew carved in a smoothed panel on the tunnel wall. It tells how the stone-cutters, working from both ends, heard each other's picks through the rock and broke through, 'and the water flowed from the spring to the pool, 1,200 cubits.' It is one of the longest monumental Hebrew inscriptions of the First Temple period.
Why it matters for the Bible
The inscription does not name a king, but its script and language fit the late 8th century BCE, the time of Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah). It shows a literate Judah capable of a major engineering project exactly when 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles describe one. Israel has asked Turkey to return it, so far without success.
The Hebrew word: nik-BAH
נִקְבָּה
נִקְבָּה is pronounced nik-BAH and means tunnel, breakthrough (the inscription's own word for the tunnel).
People this discovery connects to
- Hezekiah — חִזְקִיָּהוּ (Chiz-kee-YAH-hoo) — YHVH strengthens
Places
- Siloam / Shiloach — שִׁלֹחַ (Shee-LOH-ach) — sent / conduit
Events
Digging of Hezekiah's Tunnel
Siloam Inscription in Scripture
2 Kings 20:20 Names the pool and conduit as Hezekiah's achievement.
Isaiah 8:6 First mention of Siloam in Scripture.
2 Chronicles 32:30 Describes Hezekiah channelling the Gihon's water into the City of David — the work the inscription commemorates.
Questions people ask
What is Siloam Inscription?
Six lines of paleo-Hebrew carved in a smoothed panel on the tunnel wall. It tells how the stone-cutters, working from both ends, heard each other's picks through the rock and broke through, 'and the water flowed from the spring to the pool, 1,200 cubits.' It is one of the longest monumental Hebrew inscriptions of the First Temple period.
When was Siloam Inscription discovered?
It was found in 1880 by Jacob Eliahu (later Spafford), a 16-year-old pupil of Conrad Schick, while exploring the tunnel; recorded by Schick, at Hezekiah's Tunnel, City of David, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).
Where is Siloam Inscription today?
Istanbul Archaeology Museums, Turkey (replica in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem).
Which Bible verses does Siloam Inscription relate to?
2 Kings 20:20, Isaiah 8:6, 2 Chronicles 32:30.
Related discoveries
- תְּעָלָהHezekiah's Tunnel (Siloam Tunnel)533-metre rock-cut water channel bringing the Gihon Spring inside Jerusalem's walls
- הַחוֹמָה הָרְחָבָהThe Broad WallSeven-metre-thick fortification from Hezekiah's expansion of Jerusalem
- מָצוֹרSennacherib's Prism (Taylor, Chicago and Jerusalem Prisms)Assyrian annals: 'Hezekiah the Judean I shut up like a bird in a cage'
- מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָהRoyal Bulla of Hezekiah'Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz, king of Judah' — the king's own seal impression
- בָּמָהLachish Gate Shrine and Desecrated ToiletA gate sanctuary with broken altar horns and a stone latrine — Hezekiah's reform in action?
- קֶרֶןTel Beersheba Stratum II and the Dismantled Horned AltarA Judean city burned in 701 BCE, whose great altar had already been taken apart