Date of Photos: 29 January 2010
Mamilla Pool іs one оf the largest reservoirs
in Jerusalem with a dimension of 291 feet x 192 feet x 19 feet and a capacity to
hold 30 million liters of water! This ancient pool supplied water tо the Hezekiah
Pool inside the Old City оf Jerusalem (see my previous post). Located in the
middle of a Muslim cemetery known as Mamilla Cemetery, the pool is less than a
kilometer northwest to the Jaffa Gate. The exact date of the pool is unknown,
but it is believed to exist from the time of Jesus and thought to be constructed
by King Herod (1st cent. BC) or Pontius Pilate (1st Cent.
AD). Some even identify the "upper pool" of 2 Kings 18:17 with the
Mamilla Pool. The cemented coat on the pool you see now was added only after
1948.
Today, with the first rains, the pool
becomes a haven for migrating birds, crabs, frogs and insects of different
kinds. In 1997, a previously unknown species of tree frogs was discovered in
the pool. The researchers named their find Hyla
heinzsteinitzi, in honor of Heinz Steinitz, a deceased Israeli marine
biologist. As of 2007, the species is assumed to be extinct (details from
Wikipedia).
One of the most embarrassing chapters
in Jewish history happened at the site of Mamilla Pool, where an estimated
25,000 to 90,000 local Christians of Jerusalem were slaughtered in the 7th
century. At that time Jerusalem and its neighborhoods were a flourishing
Christian center with several churches and monasteries. In 614 AD, the Persian
Sassanid Emperor, Shah Khosrau II invaded Jerusalem and mercilessly butchered
its inhabitants and plundered the city. Many churches were destroyed including
the Church of Holy Sepulcher and the Church of the Ascension on the Mt. of Olives;
the Christian patriarch of Jerusalem along with the relic
of the True Cross were taken to Persia.
Whether the massacre had a Jewish involvement
is a matter of intense debate today. The proponents of this theory has gone
too far to claim that local Palestinian Jews allied with their Babylonian
coreligionists and assisted the Persians in their conquest of the Holy Land. On
the other hand, the opponents, mainly Jewish scholars deny and often ignore
such claims and stick to the opinion that only Persian army was involved, some
even point out that there were no Jews in Jerusalem in the 7th
century to conduct such a massacre. The 7th century accounts from
the Armenian Bishop Sabeos and Palestinian monk Antiochus Strategos of Mar Saba
suggest Jewish involvement in the massacre. According to Strategos, the local
Jews purchased the Christian captives from the Persian invaders and killed them
on the site of Mamilla Pool. He estimates 66,509 Christian corpses of which
24,518 were in Mamilla! Later, Greek chronicler
Theophanes (d. 818) enumerates the figure to 90,000!
Although, archaeological evidences do not support the massive
scale of destruction in Jerusalem during this period as recorded in ancient
documents; the discovery of a Christian burial cave in the site holding
hundreds of skulls and bones and a small chapel with a mosaic inscription in
Greek saying “God knows their names” is perhaps the first evidence for the killing
of Christians in the Persian conquest of 614 AD. Israeli
archaeologist Ronny Reich has excavated the grave and the results are published in
the Biblical Archaeological Review (BAR) issue of 1996 (Volume 22, No 2).
Location
Mamilla Pool is 750 meters North West to the Jaffa Gate. From the
Jaffa Gate, walk along Yitzhahak Kariv Street and when you reach the Ha Mekhes
Square turn to Gershon Argon Street. You can see the Mamilla Cemetery at the
beginning of Gershon Argon Street on your right side and the Mamilla Pool is located
in the center of this Muslim cemetery.
