Pools in Fausset's Bible Dictionary

berakah. Reservoir for water, whether supplied by springs or rain (Isaiah 42:15). The drying up of the pools involved drought and national distress. The three pools of Solomon near Bethlehem are famous, and still supply Jerusalem with water by an aqueduct (Ecclesiastes 2:6). Partly hewn in the rock, partly built with masonry; all lined with cement; formed on successive levels with conduits from the upper to the lower; with flights of steps from the top to the bottom of each: in the sides of Etham valley, with a dam across its opening, which forms the eastern side of the lowest pool. The upper pool is 380 ft. long, 236 broad at the E., 229 at the W., 25 deep, 160 above the middle pool. This middle pool is 423 long, 250 broad at the E., 160 at the W., 39 deep, 248 above the lower pool. The lower pool is 582 long, 207 broad at the E., 148 at the W., 50 deep. A spring above is the main source (Robinson, Res. 1:348, 474).