David's Wells

Background

Along the road leading out of Bethlehem there are three great cisterns, excavated in the rock. Known as ' David's Wells ', tradition identify these as" the cistern that is in Bethlehem at the gate" from which David longed to drink during a battle with the Philistines. 

2 Samuel 23:1-17 records the story of David who was camped nearby Bethlehem at a time when it was held as a Philistine garrison. David looked to the town of Bethlehem and exclaimed: "O that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!"

In 1895 a mosaic pavement of a church of the 5th or 6th century, with a Greek inscription was discovered east of these cisterns. The church rested on a vast necropolis. The cemetery was Christian as proved by the inscriptions. The cisterns are located in Ras Eftais, an eastern sector of Bethlehem.

To the east lies a church discovered in 1895, decorated with mosaic pavements and Greek inscriptions.

Opening Hours: 0800 to 1700 hours

Article by Laila Asfroura