Far from being shambolic, the construction of the tunnel was a masterpiece of engineering! You have to remember, this was back in the days before laser guidance and all that. It wasn't like when they built the channel tunnel and the two teams digging from either end met in the middle within a precision of about half a metre!
In actuality, most of the tunnel is straight as an arrow. Its only right in the middle that the tunnel curves left and right, which is exactly what you would expect.
So advanced is the engineering in fact, that for many centuries the passage in Chronicles was regarded by scholars as some sort of allegory. People simply thought the technology didn't exist in antiquity to redirect the water course underground. The tunnel was only rediscovered by modern archeologists in the 19th century.
Also, you should know that most of Jerusalem is unexcavated. Anything which touches on biblical stuff is extremely contentious. For example, take a look at the excavations round the south side of the temple mount. I think that these were done in the 60's and 70's and haven't been touched since. There's loads more potential digging to be done round the eastern and northern walls, not to mention on the mount itself, but all these places are too politically and religiously sensitive to allow digging.
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Date: 2007-07-26 10:43 pm (UTC)In actuality, most of the tunnel is straight as an arrow. Its only right in the middle that the tunnel curves left and right, which is exactly what you would expect.
So advanced is the engineering in fact, that for many centuries the passage in Chronicles was regarded by scholars as some sort of allegory. People simply thought the technology didn't exist in antiquity to redirect the water course underground. The tunnel was only rediscovered by modern archeologists in the 19th century.
Also, you should know that most of Jerusalem is unexcavated. Anything which touches on biblical stuff is extremely contentious. For example, take a look at the excavations round the south side of the temple mount. I think that these were done in the 60's and 70's and haven't been touched since. There's loads more potential digging to be done round the eastern and northern walls, not to mention on the mount itself, but all these places are too politically and religiously sensitive to allow digging.
Paul