Birket Israel
بئر إسرائيل | |
Birket Israel | |
| Alternative name | Pool of Israel, Birket Israil, Birket Isra'in |
|---|---|
| Location | Old City of Jerusalem |
| Coordinates | 31°46′49.22″N 35°14′10.35″E / 31.7803389°N 35.2362083°E |
| Type | Public cistern |
| Length | 109.7 m (360 ft) |
| Width | 38.4 m (126 ft) |
| Area | 0.31 ha (0.77 acres) |
| Height | 26 m (85 ft) |
| History | |
| Builder | Ezekiel or Hezekiah (According to Muslim tradition) |
| Material | Stone, Roman concrete, cement |
| Founded | Late Roman or Umayyad period |
| Abandoned | 1934 |
| Site notes | |
| Public access | Yes |
Birket Israel (trans. Pool of Israel) also Birket Israil or Birket Isra'in, abbreviated from Birket Beni Israìl (trans. Pool of the Children of Israel) was a public cistern located on the north-eastern corner of the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem. The structure is believed to have been built either in the Late Roman or the Umayyad period for use as a water reservoir and also to protect the northern wall of the Temple Mount. Hackett attests that Arab locals knew it by this name in 1857.
By the mid-19th century it had gone out of use as a reservoir; being partly filled with rubbish and reused as a vegetable garden. In 1934 it was filled in and is now known as el-Ghazali Square. It is currently in mixed use for shops, as a car park, and as a transshipment point for refuse.