Reconstructed photo based on a personal scan of a vintage postcard depicting the Pool of Bethesda in ancient Jerusalem. Credits to Google Gemini for helping with this reconstruction.

Not exactly the most scenic looking photo, but considering the original postcard was a basic black & white drawing, I am impressed with the result. Because of the added color, contrast, and improvised details, I can better visualize now what the Pool of Bethesda might have looked like in ancient times.

If you had asked me a couple years ago about this Pool of Bethesda, I would have just assumed it was a puddle of water in a desert oasis with some sort of spiritual significance attached to it. Which is embarrassing because I first moved in a town called Bethesda, Maryland, around 1985, and never really bothered to look into its history or the inspiration behind the name. But now I see this pool was pretty epic, and interested to learn more about Bethesda, both in Jerusalem and Maryland. Something I still took for granted with the bland appearance of the vintage postcard, but a little help from AI changed all of that in a heartbeat. In this case, I can say Gemini made history come to life 👍