Bible Dictionary
Fountain of the Virgin
The Fountain of the Virgin was a perennial spring near Jerusalem that supplied the Pool of Siloam through a rock-cut tunnel. Its flow was intermittent and made it an important source of water for the city.
Definition
The Fountain of the Virgin was a perennial spring near Jerusalem whose water flowed through a rock-cut tunnel to the Pool of Siloam. The spring rises in a cave, and the tunnel connecting it with the pool is described as about 1,750 feet long.
Biblical Usage
The supplied material does not provide a specific biblical role beyond identifying the spring as the source supplying the Pool of Siloam.
Historical Background
It was described as Jerusalem’s only unfailing fountain, though its flow was intermittent: several times daily in winter, twice daily in summer, and once daily in autumn. The intermittent flow was explained by a possible siphon-shaped outlet. Its traditional name was connected with a legend about the virgin washing the Lord’s swaddling-clothes.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
The perennial source from which the Pool of Siloam (q.v.) is supplied, the waters flowing in a copious stream to it through a tunnel cut through the rock, the actual length of which is 1,750 feet. The spring rises in a cave 20 feet by 7. A serpentine tunnel 67 feet long runs from it toward the left, off which the tunnel to the Pool of Siloam branches. It is the only unfailing fountain in Jerusalem. The fountain received its name from the “fantastic legend” that here the virgin washed the swaddling-clothes of our Lord. This spring has the singular characteristic of being intermittent, flowing from three to five times daily in winter, twice daily in summer, and only once daily in autumn. This peculiarity is accounted for by the supposition that the outlet from the reservoir is by a passage in the form of a siphon.