Conduit

A conduit was an aqueduct, channel, or trench constructed to carry water from a source to a city or irrigation area. Water management was critical in ancient Palestine, and significant engineering was devoted to securing reliable water supplies, particularly for Jerusalem's defense during sieges. The conduit of the upper pool, where Isaiah met Ahaz (Isaiah 7:3), was a channel bringing water from the Gihon spring to the city. The same location is mentioned when Assyrian officials positioned themselves there to deliver terms of surrender to Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:17).

Hezekiah's most significant hydraulic achievement was the tunnel bearing his name, carved through 533 meters of bedrock to bring Gihon spring water into the Pool of Siloam within the city walls, rendering the water inaccessible to besieging armies (2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:30). This conduit, discovered intact in the nineteenth century, remains one of the most remarkable archaeological finds in Jerusalem and confirms the biblical account. An inscription found in the tunnel describes the workers cutting from both ends and meeting in the middle — a feat of ancient engineering that protected the city during Sennacherib's siege.