The Siloam Inscription

The Siloam Inscription (also known as the Shiloah Inscription) is one of the most important ancient Hebrew inscriptions ever discovered. It is a carved text written in Paleo-Hebrew script on the wall of the ancient water tunnel in Jerusalem known as Hezekiah’s Tunnel (or the Siloam Tunnel). The inscription commemorates the successful completion of the tunnel, which was dug from both ends until the two teams of workers met in the middle.

The inscription dates to the late 8th century BCE (approximately 701–700 BCE), during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah. It is one of the longest and most significant Hebrew inscriptions from the First Temple period.

What the Inscription Says

The text describes the dramatic moment when the two teams of diggers, working from opposite directions, finally heard each other’s voices and broke through to connect the tunnel. It reads in part:

“...the tunnel. And this was the way it was cut: While [...] (were) still [...] axe(s), each man toward his fellow, and while three cubits were left to be cut, [there was heard] the voice of a man calling to his fellow [...] and on the day of the breakthrough the stonecutters struck, each man toward his fellow, axe against axe. And the water flowed from the spring toward the reservoir for 1,200 cubits. And the height of the rock above the head(s) of the stonecutters was 100 cubits.”

Biblical and Historical Importance

The Siloam Inscription provides direct archaeological confirmation of the biblical account of King Hezekiah’s preparations for the Assyrian siege by Sennacherib. The Bible records in 2 Kings 20:20:

“As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?”

A parallel account appears in 2 Chronicles 32:30.

Why It Is Significant

• It is one of the clearest and most dramatic pieces of physical evidence that biblical accounts of events in the 8th century BCE are historically reliable.
• It proves that sophisticated engineering projects and Hebrew writing were well developed in the Kingdom of Judah during the First Temple period.
• The inscription confirms the accuracy of the biblical text at a very early date.

The original inscription was removed in the 19th century by the Ottoman Empire and its disregard for the region. It is currently housed in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. A replica can be seen in the City of David in Jerusalem. The Siloam Inscription stands as physical proof of the antiquity and historical reliability of the Hebrew Bible.