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Discovered by Charles Warren in his investigations of the city in the 1860s, this underground tunnel system has become known as "Warren's Shaft." The system by this name consists of four parts: the stepped tunnel, the horizontal curved tunnel, the 14 meter vertical shaft and the feeding tunnel. Scholars have long debated the date and function of this system.
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What is clear is that this system was used to access the city's supply of water the
Gihon Spring from inside the safety of the city walls. Excavations in the 1980s seem to indicate that the system was
post-Davidic, but more recent work establishes its
Middle Bronze date (c. 1800 B.C.). A new question has arisen over whether or not water was ever raised up the vertical shaft.
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The Pool Tower was one of two (also the Spring Tower) built by the
Canaanite people living in
Jerusalem about 1800 B.C. These two massive towers fortified the city's water system and allowed the
Jerusalemites to safely access fresh water in times of siege. The Pool Tower guarded a pool which received water from a feeder tunnel from the
Gihon Spring. Citizens would apparently retrieve water from a platform connected to this tower.
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Only partially excavated because of a building structure in the way, this newly excavated pool was a storage basin for water brought from the nearby
Gihon Spring. The Pool Tower, pool, and Spring Tower were all discovered during work in preparation for the construction of a visitor's center. Today the visitor's center is being constructed above the Pool Tower and pool.
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