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Preparation for the Gospel

Eusebius of Caesarea, tr. Gifford, 1903

Book 9, 37. Philo Concerning the Waters of Jerusalem

‘PHILO too says, in his Account of Jerusalem, that there is a fountain, and that it is dried up in winter, but becomes full in summer. And in his first Book he speaks thus:

“Νηχόμενος δ' ἐφύπερθε τὸ θαμβηέστατον ἄλλο δέρκηθρον συναοιδὰ μεγιστούχοιο λοετροῖς ῥεύματος ἐμπίπλησι βαθὺν ῥόον ἐξανιείσης.”¹

‘And so forth. Again, lower down he adds to these a description of the refilling:

“For flashing from on high the joyous stream, Flooded by rain and snow, rolls swiftly on Beneath the neighbouring towers, and spreading o’er The dry and dusty ground, far-shining shows The blessings of that wonder-working fount.”

‘And the rest that follows. Then again, concerning the High Priest’s fountain and the canal that carries off the water, he proceeds as follows:

“A headlong stream by channels under ground The pipes pour forth,”

‘And all that follows this.’

Thus far then our quotations from Alexander Polyhistor.

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