In ancient times water was brought into the city by two aqueducts, the "low level" and the "high level," but the course of the former can alone be traced within the walls of the city. It crosses the valley of Hinnom a little above the Birket es Sultan, and winding round the southern slope of the modern Zion, enters the city near the Jewish alms-houses; it then passes along the eastern side of the same hill, and runs over the causeway and Wilson's Arch to the Sanctuary. The numerous Saracenic fountains in the lower part of the city appear to have been supplied by pipes branching off from the main, but the pipes are now destroyed, and the fountains themselves are used as receptacles for the refuse of the town. This aqueduct derived its supply from the Pools of Solomon (near Bethlehem), from Ain Etan, and a reservoir in Wady Arûb, and still carries water as far as Bethlehem; its total length is over 14 miles, not far short of the length of the aqueduct which Josephus tells us was made by Pontius Pilate.
The Pools of Solomon near the head of Wady Urtas are three in number; they receive the surface drainage of the ground above them and the water of a fine spring known as the Sealed Fountain. The pools have been made by building solid dams of masonry across the valley, and are so arranged that the water from each of the upper ones can be run off into the one immediately below it. The lower pool is constructed in a peculiar manner, which appears to indicate that it was sometimes used as an amphitheatre for naval displays; there are several tiers of seats with steps leading down to them, and the lower portion of the pool, which is much deeper than the upper, could be filled with water by a conduit from one of the other reservoirs.
The "high level aqueduct," called by the Arabs that of the Unbelievers, is one of the most remarkable works in Palestine. The water was collected in a rock-hewn tunnel 4 miles long, beneath the bed of Wady Byar, a valley
