Pool of Siloam
The term Pool of Siloam ( Birka Silwān, , Bərēḵat haŠīlōaḥ) refers to a number of rock-cut pools on the southern slope of the Wadi Hilweh, located outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem to the southeast. The pools were fed by the waters of the Gihon Spring, carried there by the Siloam Tunnel. The Lower Pool or "Old Pool" was historically known as Birket el Hamra, literally "the red pool". History During the Second Temple period, the Pool of Siloam was centrally located in the Jerusalem suburb of Acra (), also known as the Lower City. Today, the Pool of Siloam is the lowest place in altitude within the historical city of Jerusalem, with an elevation of about above sea level. The ascent from it unto the Temple Mount meant a gradient of in altitude at a linear distance of about , with a mean elevation in the Temple Mount of above sea level. According to the Jerusalem Talmud (Hagigah), the Pool of Siloam was the starting point for pilgrims who made the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and where they ascended by foot to the inner court of the Temple Mount to bring an offertory to the