<P> In the 1st century BC, natural caves to the east of the two pools were turned into small baths, as part of an asclepieion; however, the Mishnah implies that at least one of these new pools was sacred to Fortuna, the goddess of fortune, rather than Asclepius, the god of healing . Scholars think it likely that this development was founded by the Roman garrison of the nearby Antonia Fortress, who would also have been able to protect it from attack . Also, the asclepieion's location outside the then city walls would have made its presence tolerable to the Jews, who might otherwise have objected to a non-Jewish religious presence in their holy city . </P> <P> In the mid 1st century AD, Herod Agrippa expanded the city walls, bringing the asclepieion into the city . When Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina, he placed a roadway along the dam, and expanded the asclepieion into a large temple to Asclepius and Serapis . </P> <P> In the Byzantine period, the asclepieion was converted to a church . Empress Eudocia (c. 401--460) built an huge basilica over the Pools of Bethesda, named "Mary where she was born". This church was destroyed in 614 by the Persians </P> <P> After the Crusader conquest of Jerusalem, a much smaller church was built among the Byzantine - period ruins on the stone dyke separating the two pools, known as the Church of the Paralytic or the Moustier (' the Monastery'); it was followed by a larger new church erected nearby . This larger church, completed in 1138, was built over the site of a grotto believed by the Crusaders to be the birthplace of Mary, mother of Jesus and was named for Mary's mother, Saint Anne . After the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin it was transformed into a Shafi ` i fiqh (Islamic law school). Gradually the buildings fell into ruin, becoming a midden (waste dump). </P>

Who was healed at the pool of bethesda