The Fall of the Tower of Siloam by James Tissot. (James Tissot. Tower of Siloam (Le tour de Siloë), 1886–1896. Brooklyn museum, 00.159.166_PS2.jpeg. )

The tower in Siloam incident, recorded in Luke 13:4-5, recounts the tragic collapse of a structure that killed 18 people in ancient Jerusalem. Its name implies the tower stood near the Pool of Siloam, a significant water reservoir in the city’s southern section. This event likely occurred during Jesus’ lifetime, i.e. the early part of first century CE.

According to Luke, Jesus references this disaster while addressing his audience: “Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”  Through this reference, Jesus challenges the prevalent belief that disasters were divine punishment for sin. Instead, he uses the tragedy to teach about the universal need for repentance.

But where was the Tower of Siloam? to answer that we must first track the Pool of Siloam.

Tracking the Pool of Siloam

The Pool of Siloam has a significant history dating back to King Hezekiah’s reign in the late 8th century BCE. To protect Jerusalem’s water supply during an anticipated Assyrian siege, Hezekiah commissioned an impressive engineering project. His workers carved a 533-meter tunnel through bedrock to divert water from the Gihon Spring to the city’s southern end. This strategic water system proved crucial, as the Assyrian king Sennacherib ultimately failed to capture Jerusalem, as recorded in II Kings 19.

The Pool of Siloam became renowned in Christian tradition as the place where Jesus restored sight to a blind man, as recorded in John 9:1-11. However, the pool’s function ended abruptly when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE. Centuries later, Byzantine-era Christians built a commemorative church at what they believed was the pool’s location, near the City of David’s southern end. Yet, in 2004, sewer construction unexpectedly revealed the actual Second Temple period pool, about 200 meters south of the Byzantine site.

Tracking the Tower of Siloam

Illustration of the Buttressed wall uncovered by Bliss and Dickie.

The new proposal identifies the Pool of Siloam at the very southern end of the City of David, buried beneath “Birket el-Hamra”. In the early 20^th century British archaeologists Bliss and Dickie uncovered a 45 meters long buttressed wall at the southern eastern side of Birket el-Hamra. French archaeologist Edmond Weill proposed, tentatively, to associate the remains one of two towers flanking the buttressed wall to the “Tower of Siloam” mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. But only in recent years excavations in and around these towers provided stratigraphical evidence that solidifies this proposal. The new excavations were conducted by Israeli archaeologist Nachshon Szanton, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Combined with analyzing the results of the previous expeditions, Szanton concluded that towers were built in the Hellenistic period yet were rebuilt again in the early Roman period (1^st century). Perhaps the reconstruction of one of these towers (if not both), was due to their sudden violent collapse? A collapse that caused the death of 18 people? If so, this is the first time archaeology provided clear evidence for the Tower of Siloam mentioned in the Scriptures.

Some Final Thoughts

The narrative of the Siloam tower in the Gospel of Luke is notably concise, functioning primarily as a teaching tool. The incident serves to illustrate Jesus’ broader message about human mortality and spiritual preparedness. It is not a detailed historical chronicle, and there are no details about the structure or the circumstances of its collapse. The possibility that modern science has uncovered evidence of this 2,000-year-old event is remarkable. Moreover, it provides further evidence for the historicity of Jesus and the New Testament accounts.

Bibliography

Szanton N. 2023. The Development of the City Gates in the Vicinity of the Siloam Pool During the Second Temple Period. In Eretz-Israel 35:101-112 (in Hebrew).