Notes on the Rock-Cut ‘Space’ near the Gihon Spring

Abstract

This article rejects David Ussishkin’s interpretation of the Rock-cut ‘Pool’ in the City of David, Jerusalem, as an abandoned quarry. This feature, better described as a space than a pool or quarry is, actually, a separate system from the northeastern corner, which in the past was referred to as the Round Chamber. Contra to my initial understanding of these two features, I now suggest that they each belong to a different period. The Round Chamber, ca. 4.5 m deeper than the bottom of the Rock-cut Space, has a narrow shaft that rose to the surface of the water; it is the remnant of a Middle Bronze water system. The Rock-cut Space dates to the Iron II.