Hezekiah's Tunnel

All around me I hear voices shouting in the darkness “WATCH YOUR HEAD!” I don’t know where they are coming from, but I crouch down even more. Flashlights are off, the darkness is squeezing in around me. I do not dare take my hand off the wall, for fear I will lose my bearings completely. My fingers were tracing the damp wall, sensing each hole and each angle of the wall of rock. I could feel it curving, it is my only sense of direction. With my other hand I am gripping the fingers of the person in front of me, so I don’t fall too far behind. The water at my feet was reaching just below my knees, it had a chill to it and my pants suctioned to my legs when I was on higher ground, which added to the clammy feel of the tunnel. It was so humid, there was no fresh air and surrounding me is thick rock on all sides. I hate the darkness. It is suffocating. I was willing my eyes to adjust so I could make out some shapes, but they never did. The darkness is too thick. Suddenly in the midst of shouting voices, full of confusion, all around me, I hear a peaceful sound from behind

“Ho-du la-do-nai ki tov,

ki le-o-lam chas-do,

ho-du ho-do, ho-du, ho-du,

ho-du la-do-nai ki tov.”

This is a Hebrew song we learned recently, it means “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever.” With the echoes of the singing bouncing off the rock walls, it was a comforting feeling, to know I am surrounded, front and back, with those closest to me and we are praising God for His mercies even in this dark tunnel. At this moment I knew I had to let go of my fears and trust the person in front of me. That is all I could do, using all of my other senses to direct me and trust the leading of those in front of me. I trusted that they would warn me if the ceiling suddenly dropped low, so I would avoid hitting my head, and trusted they would yell if there was a hole in the ground, I needed to avoid so I would not twist my ankle. I kept looking ahead, straining my eyes to catch any glimpse of light. Thinking my eyes are deceiving me, I see something far in the distance…daylight!

Five days prior, I had a similar experience, although not quite as intense. Surrounding our Moshav are the hills and valleys of Israel. We took advantage of the natural hiking environment and took a trip to into the valley. Reaching the bottom, we came to an ancient cistern. Cisterns like this dot the landscape of the hills, it was the best way for people to collect and have clean drinking water. Before our adventure, we took the time to read stories of cisterns, or wells, in the Bible. The three most prominent places it is mentioned is in Genesis 29, with Jacob and Rachel; Genesis 37, with Joseph; and in Jeremiah 38.

The adventure-spirit that lays ahold of our group, would not let us simply sit around and observe the cistern, we had to climb down it ourselves. Grabbing onto the coarse rope, one by one we made our way into the belly of the cistern. The narrow shaft of the cistern was carved out of limestone and it was no small task to shimmy down the rope, without hitting your head on the rock. I was guided down the rope, positioning myself on the opposite corner so I could firmly grip it. I placed my bare feet on the small shelves in the rock before I trusted the rope completely. Bracing myself I held on tight to the rope, one foot on the rock, simultaneously trusting the loopholes in the rope to start holding my weight. I was now in an awkward squatting position and the next step was to carefully get my body through the shaft and into the bell-shaped opening of the cistern. Being aware of where my back and head were, I allowed myself to drop and completely trust the rope, swinging into the large opening in the bottom. Reaching the bottom, the water immediately hits just below my waist, and I stand on my tip toes to make sure it does not come any higher. The water is cold, the longer is stay there, my toes eventually become numb to it all and I can just enjoy this once in a lifetime experience. Adding to our experimental tendencies, each group wanted to sense what it would feel like to be Jeremiah and be closed into the cistern. We did not have a boulder, that would traditionally be placed on top, instead we settled for a rusted metal lid. The echoes in the cistern were beautiful, and we did what would be expected of our IBEX group, we sang. And the acoustics were beautiful as our voices reverberated off the walls. As much as I enjoyed the experience, I was desiring the fresh air and sunlight again. In order to do that I had to shimmy back up the rope. I stretched my legs farther than I thought they could go, swinging on the rope to grab the next foothold. First in this slot…then on this branch…and when I couldn’t reach the next loophole, I simply grabbed the rope with my toes and hoisted myself up to the shaft, where I was able to grip the rock and was pulled out. It was a unique experience, fun for a few minutes, but I would not want to be stuck down there like Joseph or Jeremiah. Looking back, this was only a precursor to what I would experience in Hezekiah’s tunnel.

Excitement pulsing throughout our group, as the anticipation of exploring Hezekiah’s tunnel was on everyone’s mind. Before we entered it, we read 2 Chronicles 32, and we learned the tunnel was created because Hezekiah knew Sennacherib of the Assyrians was coming to attack Jerusalem. Hezekiah took many measures to protect Jerusalem, not only creating this waterway, giving Israel access to fresh water during the siege, but he also built a second wall. This second wall, called the Broad Wall, enclosed the tunnel and the pool it flowed into, Pool of Siloam, cutting off water access from outside the city. Preventing the use of fresh water for the Assyrians.

Following the lead of our Professor, I dived right into the tunnel, eagerly anticipating the journey, and marveling at the tunnel’s ingenuity. Initially we were able to keep our flashlights on and inspect the walls, observing the marks from the pickaxes that had carved the tunnel long ago. About halfway through we were told to shut off our lights, the tunnel now had a completely different feeling. In the seconds before, I was enjoying the narrow walls and the next moment, they were closing in on me. With the lights off, I was able to imagine how those who carved the tunnel felt. It would have been this dark, with only a few small candles for their light. The sound of the pickaxes chipping away the stone reverberating off the walls, creating a deafening sound. Toward the end we were able to turn our lights on again to observe the false starts, but there were only a few of them. In the darkness of the cave it is amazing that the two groups, starting on either side, were able to find each other at all. But, they did, and they saved Jerusalem through the siege by accomplishing this engineering marvel.

The Cistern we climbed into (below) and the exit of Hezekiah's Tunnel (above)