Ein Rogel

Ein Rogel The name "Ein Rogel" appears in the Hebrew Bible. It is also variously transcribed as Enrogel (, King James Version), En-rogel (2 Samuel 17:17, American Standard Version and English Standard Version), or En Rogel (, NIV and NKJV). En Rogel was one of the boundary marks between Judah and Benjamin (, ). During Absalom's uprising against David, Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed at Ein Rogel, "for they dared not be seen coming into the city (Jerusalem); so a female servant would come and tell them, and they would go and tell King David". However, "a lad saw them, and told Absalom", and so they had to flee to Bahurim (). Ein Rogel lay close to a stone, Zoheleth, where Adonijah, Solomon's half-brother of, held a sacrificial feast when he attempted to assert his claims to the throne (). Ein Rogel is mentioned in "Topography of Jerusalem", a document found in the Cairo Geniza, which describes how the water breaks through to the riverbed after a winter of plentiful rainfall. Bir Ayyub Some scholars identify Ein Rogel with Bir Ayyub. The application of the name Bir Ayyub ( Bir Ayoub, also spelled Ayyub, Ayoub) to the site is old, which translates to "Fountain of Job" or "Job's Well", as it was used by the local inhabitants of Jerusalem in early modern times. Clermont-Ganneau was surprised when local fellahin pronounced it as "be'er" (as in Hebrew) rather than "bir" (as in Arabic). The application of the Biblical name Ein Rogel to this well in Silwan is long-standing amongst early European travellers to Jerusalem. Well of Nehemiah or Well of Fire It is also known as the Well of Nehemiah, or Puteus ignis (well of fire), in reference to the location in which the sacred fire was hidden during the Jewish captivity in 2 Macc. i. 19-22. This name started in the 16th century. ==Description==

Robinson, during his tour of Palestine in 1838, describes Bir Ayoub (Job's Well) as being "a very deep well, of an irregular quadrilateral form, walled up with large squared stones, terminating above in an arch on one said, and apparently of great antiquity. There is a small rude building over it, furnished with one or two large troughs." The well, he said, went down to a depth of . A water plant was established near Bir Ayoub, which involved large expenses and a lot of labor. A canal was hewn in the rock, 2 meters high and 0.5 to 1 meter wide. It is located just south of the junction of the three valleys - Wadi er-Rababi, Central and Kidron. Today there is a modern pumping station there, drawing water from a 38 m deep well, whose stone lining may be partially of Roman date. Today the Bir Ayoub Mosque of Silwan stands above the Bir Ayoub well. Gustaf Dalman who visited Palestine in the early 20th-century mentions a custom of the local inhabitants of Silwan to visit Bir Ayoub (Well of Job) and to recite a blessing for the coming rain. During periods of great rain downpour, as happened in February 1927, a gushing spring would issue out of the earth some downstream from the Well of Job. ==Dispute==

Other scholars, namely Charles Warren, thought that Ein Rogel was to be identified with the Virgin's fountain, or what is also known as Gihon Spring. As of 1901, the identification of the well with Biblical Ein Rogel was uncertain, Charles Warren being one of its skeptics. Other arguments are based upon the fact that in later times the well was used by fullers. ==Gallery==

File:Well of En-Rogel, (Nehemiah's Well) (28700151844).jpg|Nehemiah's Well on double, or stereoscopic photo card, Bonfils, ca. 1870. File:JOAB'S WELL AT THE FOOT OF THE SHILOAH IN JERUSALEM. (COURTESY OF AMERICAN COLONY) באר יואב למרגלות השילוח בירושלים.D826-058.jpg|Bir Ayub in 1910 File:Mount Moriah, Jerusalem, from the Well of En Rogel MET DP116364.jpg|Ein Rogel in the mid 19th century ==External links==