The most significant building left from the time when the Abbasid caliphs ruled in the Land of Israel is the Pool of Arches. The structure is a rare witness to the quality of construction and beauty of Moslem architecture, especially in view of the fact that the Pool of Arches has survived for 1,200 years since its construction, and also the enormous damage caused by heavy earthquakes which destroyed large parts of the town of Ramla.
The underground water reservoir was built in 789 AD, in the days when the famous Caliph Harun al Rashid ruled from Baghdad. The year of its foundation is chipped into the plaster of the pool’s wall, saying, “In the name of Allah and with Allah’s blessing, the agent of the Emir of the faithful ordered construction, may Allah lengthen his days, in the month of Haja in the year one hundred and seventy two. The pool was built as a roofed water reservoir for the residents of Ramla. In Christian lore, it is also called the Pool of St. Helena, based on a tradition according to which Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine I, was the one who ordered it to be dug. In addition, the pool is also known as The Pool of The Goats in Arabic. And indeed, there were arches in the past through which the beasts were watered.
