Wender·Vista
Pool of Siloam
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileIsrael
at the southern foot of the City of David, just outside the Old City of Jerusalem

Pool of Siloam

— — water at the end of a hand-cut tunnel under the city.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A spring-fed pool at the southern foot of the City of David in Jerusalem, where Hezekiah's Tunnel brings water from the Gihon Spring under the ridge to the lower city. Pilgrims have come to this water for almost three thousand years; the stepped Second Temple pool, uncovered in 2004, is being excavated still.

from the studio
Pool of Siloam
— bring it home

Pool of Siloam, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Pool of Siloam

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

The Pool of Siloam sits at the southern end of the City of David ridge, just outside the present-day walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is fed by Hezekiah's Tunnel, a 533-metre channel cut through the limestone bedrock in the late 8th century BC to bring water from the Gihon Spring inside the city's defences. The stepped pool of the late Second Temple period was rediscovered in 2004 during sewer repairs; the Israel Antiquities Authority has continued excavating the site since.

— the water

The water arrives from the Gihon Spring, the only fresh-water source in ancient Jerusalem, channelled through Hezekiah's Tunnel from the eastern slope of the City of David. The tunnel cuts an S-curve through the ridge; the Siloam Inscription, recording the moment two crews met in the middle, was found at the lower end in 1880 and is now held at the Istanbul Archaeology Museums. The pool's water level rises and falls with the winter rains.

— the stone

The excavated pool, dated to the late Second Temple period, measured about 70 metres on a side with broad stone steps descending from at least three of its edges. It is the pool John's Gospel names as the place Jesus sent a blind man to wash his eyes (John 9). The steps were paved in large dressed limestone blocks, many still in place where they were uncovered. Excavation continues under the City of David archaeological park, with new sections of the pool opened to visitors in 2023.

— informed by City of David Foundation
— where
Israel · Jerusalem
— within
City of David archaeological park
— elevation
635 m · 2,083 ft
— position
31.7702° N · 35.2354° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
0.1 km N
City of David
archaeological park
0.4 km N
Gihon Spring
spring
1 km N
Western Wall
wall
1 km N
Temple Mount
holy site
1.5 km E
Mount of Olives
hill
N
Pool of Siloam
City of David
Gihon Spring
Western Wall
Temple Mount
Mount of Olives
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Pool of Siloam — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The pool sits at the southern foot of the City of David ridge, just outside the southern wall of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is reached through the City of David archaeological park, with the lower entrance near the Kidron Valley.

The currently exposed stepped pool dates to the late Second Temple period, about the 1st century BC to 1st century AD. The water system feeding it — Hezekiah's Tunnel from the Gihon Spring — was cut in the late 8th century BC.

It is a 533-metre channel cut through the limestone ridge of the City of David in the late 8th century BC, under King Hezekiah of Judah, to carry water from the Gihon Spring to a reservoir inside the city's defences ahead of an Assyrian siege.

Yes. John 9 names the Pool of Siloam as the place Jesus sent a blind man to wash his eyes. The Byzantine church marking the tradition stood nearby; the Second Temple pool itself was uncovered in 2004 during city sewer repairs.

Workers repairing a city sewer line in 2004 uncovered the first steps. The Israel Antiquities Authority and the City of David Foundation have excavated successive sections since, with major new areas opened to the public in 2023.

Yes. The wet tunnel is open to walkers through the City of David park, with the water knee-deep in places. A dry Canaanite-era channel runs parallel for visitors who prefer to stay out of the water.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The Pool of Siloam carries weight for Christian and Jewish visitors alike, and for anyone who has walked Hezekiah's Tunnel. A Keepsake or Small with a handwritten note from the studio is a thoughtful gift; the Medium suits a study.

The piece reads well in Old-World, Mediterranean, and Jewel-tone interiors. The limestone palette and water blues hold against plastered walls, dark woods, and the deeper reds of Levantine textiles.

Yes. The Pool of Siloam is a quiet, weighted subject rather than a celebratory one. It works in a study, a prayer corner, or a hallway. WenderGrace, our sister studio for faith subjects, carries adjacent pieces in the same hand.

Above a standard sofa the Large reads cleanly. For wider walls the 4-tile Mural or the 9-tile Mural carries the scale; above a console the Medium is the usual choice.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and made for vertical wet installations such as backsplashes, shower walls, and powder rooms.

Microfibre cloth and water. No solvents or abrasive pads. The colour lives in the surface, so the piece will not fade or lift with normal household cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to our single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. We do not license third-party imagery; the eye is Reid Wender's, and the surface is hand-finished in-house.

— if this one stayed with you

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