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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

AQUEDUCT

Conduit or artificial channel for conducting water from a distance, usually by means of gravity; also a structure carrying a conduit or canal across a valley or over a river.

In Palestine most cities were situated near an abundant water supply so that in time of siege, water would be available. Ancient tunnels for the conveyance of water have been found at Gezer. The Jebusites, inhabitants of the area that later became Jerusalem, seem to have constructed some sort of aqueduct to bring rainwater into the city (2 Sm 5:8). By the time of King Hezekiah there existed a “conduit of the upper pool” (2 Kgs 18:17). In anticipation of throwing off the Assyrian yoke, Hezekiah made a 1,777-foot (541.4-meter) tunnel through the hill of Ophel to carry water from the Gihon spring to the pool of Siloam (Is 22:9-11). The famous “Siloam inscription” describes how it was done.

It is also known that two aqueducts, 13 and 41 miles (21 and 66 kilometers) in length, brought water into Jerusalem. They merged at the Roman reservoirs near Bethlehem. On reaching the city, the water was carried to the temple area by means of underground pipes (cf. Ez 47:1; Jl 3:18). In NT times, the Jewish historian Josephus stated Pontius Pilate appropriated some “Corban” money from the temple treasury for work on an aqueduct. Three “pools of Solomon,” which are of Roman design, were probably constructed with part of those funds.

Other cities of Bible times served by ancient aqueducts were Tyre, Samaria, Caesarea (Roman capital of the province), Jericho, and Ephesus in Asia Minor. The Romans brought the science of aqueduct engineering to a fine art. The Appia (312 BC) was 10.3 miles (16.6 kilometers) long, and the Ano Vetus (272 BC) was over 32 miles (51.5 kilometers) long. Both were underground channels that brought water into the city of Rome.