During the Hasmonian period the Lower aqueduct is constructed together with one or more of the Solomon pools.
During the time of the reign of Herod the Great (37 – 4 BC) several waterworks are dated:
– The 5km long el-Biyar aqueduct feeding the Solomon’s pools.
– The Upper distribution aqueduct (re-built in the Late Roman period).
Some 30-40 years later, during the Pontius Pilate time (26-36 AD) other water works compiled including the impressive 40 km long Arub feeding aqueduct.
Repairs in the aqueducts and pools take place during the Byzantine period.
Possible repairs took place also in the Mamluks period.
During the Ottoman times the long Arub aqueduct comes out of service. Its great length made it difficult and expensive to maintain.
In the same period the Lower Aqueduct is reconstructed along its entire length, and furnished with a closed ceramic pipe.
The Turkish Sultan Suleiman Al-Qanouni builds a small fortress known as the “Castle of the Pools” to defend the water source and the commercial caravans between Jerusalem and Hebron.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the tunnel of the Lower Aqueduct is deepened to serve as a reservoir.
Solomon pools are completely refurbished by the British, when a pumping station was also installed, to send the water through pipe system to the Old City. This was in use until 1967 to supply water to Upper Jerusalem. The partially-ruined pumping station structures, with much of the original apparatus still in place, are still visible today.
A Resort Centre is built right next to the pools which have been dried since then.