The Sultan's Pool was part of the water supply network for Jerusalem from the late Second Temple period to the late Ottoman period. Today, it is an event venue for concerts and festivals.
History
The Sultan's Pool was created by building a dam[when?] across the Valley of Hinnom, which stopped the drainage of the valley south towards the Kidron Valley and created a water reservoir.[citation needed] In place of the dam, an ancient bridge had previously passed, over which the lower aqueduct[1][better source needed] that carried water from Solomon's Pools near Bethlehem to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount passed. The confusing online release of the Israel Antiquities Authority mentions the Hasmonean-built Low-level Aqueduct (2nd–1st centuries BCE) at the same spot where archaeologists discovered "four phases of different aqueducts that were constructed in exactly the same spot" starting in the Byzantine-period, the 6th–7th centuries CE. The next three phases were Ottoman (16th century and later).[1]
A covered and plastered rock-hewn canal from the Roman period was discovered throughout the pool; it is likely from the time of Herod. Some scholars identify it with the Snake Pool mentioned by Josephus.[2]
The Pool was renovated during the early Ottoman period by Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566 CE), who enlarged it into a reservoir measuring 67 m × 169 m × 12 m (220 ft × 554 ft × 39 ft). Subsequently, the place was later renamed the Sultan's Pool. On the pool dam, Suleiman the Magnificent built a sebil for the use of pedestrians, which has been preserved to this day. Today, the Hebron Road passes over the dam.
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