Bethlehem
The three great reservoirs south of Bethlehem are known in Arabic as Burak Sulayman, the Pools of Nabi Sulayman. They stored the water carried to Jerusalem by…
The three great reservoirs south of Bethlehem are known in Arabic as Burak Sulayman, the Pools of Nabi Sulayman. They stored the water carried to Jerusalem by aqueduct, including to the cisterns beneath the Haram al-Sharif, and Muslim rulers repaired the system many times over the centuries. Beside the pools stands Qal'at Murad, also called Qal'at al-Burak, a square Ottoman fort built in the early seventeenth century to guard the pools and the road between Jerusalem and Hebron. The pools lie among pine trees beside the village of al-Khader, about 3.5 kilometres south-west of Bethlehem.