"Anyone with half a brain and half a heart--unless he or she willfully chooses not to know, not to see--will sooner or later figure out just what has gone on in this country historically, and what continues to go on every day. One need only look at the prevailing paradigm of Power and Control: who has it and how they have used it, who has been aggrandized and who, even now, are being dispossessed. Once decent people begin to understand these things--and it's not that hard--they will not, indeed they cannot, remain silent." -- ANONYMOUS
“Travel makes you speechless, then it turns you into a storyteller.” — 14th century Moroccan traveler IBN BATTUTA
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” — Holocaust survivor & Nobel Laureate ELIE WIESEL
"Once you see behind the veil, you cannot un-see what lies there." --ANONYMOUS
"Whoever sees a wrong and is able to put it right with his hand, let him do so; if he can’t, then with his tongue; if he can’t, then with his heart. That is the bare minimum of faith." -- Attributed to the Prophet MOHAMMED, in one of the hadith.
“If you don’t think too good… don’t think too much.” — (The late, great) TED WILLIAMS
“Everybody talkin’ ’bout heaven ain’t goin’ there…” — African-American spiritual
“Everybody wants to change the world. But nobody wants to start with him- or herself.” –MARO MARKARIAN, Armenian poet
“The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: That’s the essence of inhumanity.” — GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
Tom Powers -- VIEW FROM JERUSALEM
Are you aware of any current plans to restore to a functional state of the Solomon’s Pools and Jerusalem Aqueduct system? Who would be the best contacts for this project and do you think it is possible if funding was avilible?
Thank you and with warm regards,
Brandon Garis
There are no plans to do this, to my knowledge. It would take an unimaginably huge outlay of funds to restore/recreate this system, Indeed, it is virtually impossible, since very little of the various channels still exist, having been erased by modern roads, housing, and other development. (The Pools themselves plus the upper feeder aqueduct (Biyyur) seem to be the best preserved parts of the system.) Even if it were possible, though interesting, it would never be more than a historical curiosity, as modern Jerusalem’s massive water needs have been met from other sources (pumped up from the center of the country) since the early 20th century.
Thank you for the information; I am currently studying the Byzantine aqueduct in Instanbul and it is useful to compare with other sites in the eastern Mediterranean.
Maria C Monteleone
Maria: I’m glad you found the article instructive. I visited Istanbul several years ago and remember the arched, high level aqueduct under which the modern road passes, also the cavernous cistern with its forest of columns near the ancient city center. All the best in your studies!
TOM POWERS / Waynesville, NC