Exhibit 44a- Biraychas Yisroel. The
Biraychas Yisroel, or Israelite Pool, was a huge cistern
built by Shimon Hatzadik, around 300 BCE.
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Exhibit 44b- Biraychas Yisroel. There were no
rivers flowing through ancient Jerusalem. Water was a precious commodity.
During the rainy season, every drop had to be preserved for drinking,
bathing, and laundering the remainder of the year. A pool built for the
conservation of rainwater is called a cistern.
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Exhibit 44c- Biraychas Yisroel. Many homes had
private cisterns. There were also several very large public cisterns such
as this one and the Struthion Pool. (See Room 24, Exhibit 24f.) On the
Temple Mount there were several very big underground cisterns to hold
water for the needs of the Bais HaMikdash.
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Exhibit 44d- Tunnels. There was a very elaborate system of
sewers in ancient Jerusalem. The rainwater would run off the streets into
drains that led to the sewers. The sewer tunnels would conduct the
rainwater into the various cisterns where the water would be stored until
the dry season.
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Exhibit 44e- Tunnels. At the far end of the pool you can see
the sewer tunnels in this 130 year old photograph. They were never
explored to see were they led.
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Exhibit 44f- Biraychas Yisroel. Many decades ago,
during the British Mandate, the pool was considered a safety hazard and
was
filled in.
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Exhibit 44g- Artist's Dream. The area around the Biraychas
Yisroel was always a favorite site for artists of the 19th
century. On the left side of the pool you can see a gateway leading onto Har
HaBayis. This was built by the Moslems and is called the Israelite
Gate, after the Israelite Pool.
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