Rising nearly 40 feet and stretching the length of a small building, the newly uncovered dam stands as the largest ancient structure of its kind in Israel and the oldest known in Jerusalem. Built around 805–795 BC, likely under King Joash or King Amaziah, it once trapped and tamed the waters of the Gihon Spring, protecting the vulnerable city below. Its very existence suggests a people staring down a climate emergency—erratic rains, sudden floods, and the terrifying possibility of collapse—and answering with engineering on a monumental scale.

Discovered just steps from the Pool of Siloam, the site where the Gospel of John locates one of Jesus’ most intimate miracles, the dam forges a visceral link between biblical text and physical stone. It joins a growing list of finds, from submerged cities to forgotten fortifications, that transform scripture from distant story into a landscape you can touch. In the shadow of Jerusalem’s walls, the past is not finished speaking.