Pool of Bethesda ( Berket el Serail )
Category: Website reference service
Here below are a few 19th century pictures of the Pool of Bethesda.
Wikipedia: "The Pool of Bethesda is a pool of water in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem, on the path of the Beth Zeta Valley. The Gospel of John describes such a pool in Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. It is associated with healing. Until the 19th century, there was no evidence outside of John’s Gospel for the existence of this pool. Scholars argued that the gospel was written later, probably by someone without first-hand knowledge of the city of Jerusalem, and that the ‘pool’ had only a metaphorical meaning, rather than historical significance.
Then in the 19th century, archaeologists discovered the remains of a pool exactly matching the description in John’s Gospel, thus confirming the historical accuracy of John’s account."
Please read the full article at Wikipedia.
The links below will lead you to the books from which these pictures have been taken.
Picture #1: Mayer, 1804, Views in Palestine from the original drawings of Luigi Mayer.
Picture #2: Laborde, 1837, Voyage en Orient; Voyage de la Syrie.
Picture #3: Bernatz, 1839, Afbeeldingen van het Heilige Land bestaande uit veertig gezigten.
Picture #4:David Roberts, 1855 (1842). The Holy Land.
Picture #5:David Roberts, 1855 (1842). The Holy Land.
Picture #6: Messmer, 1860, Das heilige Land und die heiligen Stätten.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_of_Bethesda
Click on a picture to enlarge.
