Hezekiah’s Tunnel When the Assyrians were attacking Jerusalem in the eighth century B.C.E., King Hezekiah ordered the building of a tunnel from the springs outside the city walls to bring freshwater into the city. It was constructed by teams operating from each end, guided by workers above listening for the ways their hammer blows sounded on the rock. The tunnel can still be walked through today, though at certain times of the year this means wading in water.