795. Drawing Water

John 4:11  •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 9
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The wells in Palestine are usually deep. The depth of Jacob’s well has been variously estimated by travelers from sixty-five feet to over a hundred. The best authorities give from seventy-five to eighty feet. To get water from such a depth a rope is fastened to the leathern bucket or earthen jar, which is let down into the well, sometimes by means of a pulley, and sometimes by merely sliding the rope over the stone curb of the well. It is not uncommon thing to find well-curbs with deep furrows in them, worn by the friction of the ropes which have for many years passed over them.