Israel 2009 - fordfamilynews

Today was a bonus! This was to be a free day today, to do what we wanted. Several of us wanted to see the temple steps that were closed by the time we got there on Friday. Our guide and Host Dr Glen Schaefer said if several wanted to go he would purchase the tickets with the discretionary money he had left from the university money and took us! 10 of the 16 wanted to go, so we got a mini bus to take us to the South Wall gate (Dung Gate) to the Temple Mount area early this morning and we arrived at the steps at 8:00 before it was hot and before it was packed with tourists. This was really a treat!

This area is outside the walls of the Temple Mount, to the south and the west, and are controlled and excavated by the Israeli, government.

The Temple Mount that has been deeply excavated and many Miqvehs have been found (pronounced mick-vah, it is a ceremonial bath) #8285 and 2160. Those going up to the temple all were required to enter the Miqveh first. Since nakedness in this culture was a bad thing, most likely the men and women had their own separate places. The person removed their dirty, travel stained clothing and walked down the left side of the stairs (stairs had a center partition) and completely submerged themselves in the water, then coming out walked up the opposite side and put on clean clothing before proceeding up to the temple. It is thought that it is this ritual that is the basis for what we call baptism today. Very interesting!

Next we looked again at the excavated destruction of the street below the temple mount from the huge stones of the temple enclosure that the Romans threw down. #2162, 2166, 2167 (70AD, the destruction of the 2^nd Temple)

The stones Herod used for the foundation of his temple complex were HUGE! One of the small ones weighed several tons. There is one along the base of what we could see above ground that was probably 15-20 feet long. Although we did not get to go under the Western Wall to view the excavated foundation for the temple, it is reported that some of those stones were much larger than the biggest one we saw.

When Rome destroyed the temple the soldiers took metal poles (like crowbars) and using leverage literally pushed the walls of the temple enclosure over the side onto the streets below.

Next we walked over to the original Herodion steps at what was the Hulda gates on the side of the temple complex that went down into the city of David. These were the steps that history records were frequently used by teachers to teach. These would have been the steps Jesus most likely walked on and taught on (as well as in the porch are within the temple complex where it would have been shaded). This would have likely been the way Mary and Joseph came when they came to the temple with Jesus and met Anna and Simeon.

Original excavations are rare from the time period of Jesus, and this one of the few where we can be fairly certain that Jesus was there. #2194, 2199.

The steps that look new are new. The ones that are original are worn, and broken looking. Mike got one view for contrast. When this area was excavated it was decided that it would be good to replace what was missing in order to give a better idea what they looked like and also make them safer to actually walk on.

From the steps we have a view of what has been called the Mount of Deception #2208. The structure on top is where the British Military HQ was during the 1917-1948 period. However the name pre-dates the structure.

Later dwelling were built outside the temple complex area. When people built in those days, they would utilize existing walls and build onto them. The city ruins we visited were all built like that, like mazes. That is what the old city of Jerusalem feels like too when wandering through the market place. One of the shots we got was of an area of dwellings just outside the temple walls. #2889.

There is a picture of the tile floors #8286, 2174. One of the ladies in our group said " that looks just like linoleum from the 50’s!" Picture # 8287 is of their bed. The whole family slept on the same raised sleeping platform. One of our men lay down and found that he was about 2 feet too tall for the bed! People were shorter, the door frames found were 5’4" at the most.

Picture #2184 shows a "V" pattern that was made in the wet plaster on the walls to give some aesthetic design.

The sidewalk of the museum was interesting. Between the stone blocks that made up the walkway

Where the grout was they had stuck potsherds into the wet cement (broken pieces of pottery). Dr Schaefer who worked on a dig one summer said they find millions of them and most cannot be fitted together for any purpose, so they often use them like that.

We had to go through the security in order to get to the Western Wall area. #8298

At the Western Wall area is where the picture in today’s banner of the men washing at the fountain area was taken. We stood and watched for awhile and it appeared that some of the people were washing before going to the Wall to pray.

We walked back to the hotel through the old city and got a few other photos…if I have already posted ones like these I am sorry, I have lost track of what I have posted and what remains to be posted.

# 8301 This was a very common sight, women sitting on the ground with their goods in open bags or boxes for sale, usually produce of some kind.

#8302 Coffee, Cold beer, and Hubbly Bubbly- I will post pictures later of what the hubbly bubbly looks like. It is a method of smoking, the tobacco is places inside and the smoke is drawn through water inhaled, then exhaled.

#8304 Bread- a staple here, bread equals life. They don’t always eat meat, but they always have bread. The picture of the boy with the board of bread on his head was taken a little too late. He was carrying it without hands down the sloped crowded street, by the time we snapped the picture he was at his destination and was ready to set it down!

Once I get home (we leave in a couple hours) I will sort through our pictures and complete this blog for you. This will likely be it for a week or so.

Shalom Y'All ! 

June 20, 2009 (Saturday)

Our last morning of touring began with walking the Stations of the Cross. The history of this began in England not here. Priests were teaching people about the 14 specific things that happened to Jesus from the time he was flogged and mocked and given his cross to carry to Golgotha for his crucifixion. Since people were being taught this, when they came to Jerusalem they expected to see these places. A benefactor came to Jerusalem and went through the area with local priests and tried to find where these things happened. At the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, no one talked about where things happened, rather the talk was about his resurrection. But the Greek Orthodox and Catholic churches "named" the places and built churches over most of the sites.

Our guide said that if there are more than one church built on a site, the chances of it being the real place is better than if there is just one church. The reason being that there was great conflict among the churches over possession of these "holy" sites. Of course after 2000 years and layer upon layer of city, the real truth is no one knows for sure.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre houses Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant chapels within the walls of the same structure. Their claim is the rock of Golgotha, the tomb of Jesus, # 2122, 2123 and the slab of stone on which he was laid when he was put into the tomb #8263, are all within the church. This was the church Mike and I wandered into the first Sunday we were here and there happened to be a Greek Orthodox service in progress. That was something to see. The ritual, pageantry and liturgy was unlike anything we had ever seen before!#2126

Other information seems to point to the Garden Tomb #2144 area where we visited, north of the old city later in the day. The view of the hillside that is called Golgotha really looks like a skull, # 2147but then what did it look like over 2000 years ago? Chances of it looking like a skull then are slim. The guide at the tomb told us that the vibration of the buses parked at the bus station below the hillside was causing pieces of the cliff to fall away. This might have been the same hill that Stephen would have been stoned to death from. That happened but pushing the person off the cliff and if they didn’t die from the fall they hurled stones down on top of them.

The tomb in this garden is one that would likely have been the style Joseph of Arimathaea had constructed for his family. # 2880, 2155 We visited other NT tomes that were more like mausoleums built in caves with cubbies carved out for the bodies. Dr Schaefer said that the bodies were usually left on a slab until they became stiff enough to easily slide them into the cubbies. They were left there until they decomposed and then the bones were picked out and put into bone boxes called ossuaries.

In recent years one of these bone boxes was found that had the inscription on it "Joseph, brother of Jesus". There was a huge controversy over this find, and it was declared a hoax. However, the department of antiquities has a reputation for calling anything found in private collections fraudulent. There has been a huge court battle over some of the things they have said were hoaxes when they have not even proven them to be so. (#0126)

Our group walked the Stations of the Cross hearing a more subdued Protestant version of the path Jesus trod on his way to the cross- we did not give attention to the stations that have no biblical references. Our focus was more on what it would have been like for Jesus that day. It was a Friday, the time when everyone was out shopping and getting ready for Passover. The narrow streets of the market would have been packed with people jostling around # 8248. Remember that at this time of year the city was full of thousands of visitors - Acts 3 mentions some of the places from which the pilgrims traveled. Jesus was led through the crowded streets carrying his cross. He had been beaten severely, bleeding, and people would have shrunk back from him not wanting to come in contact with blood and become unclean for Passover. It was in the crowded market that Simon from Cyrene was pressed into service, to carry the cross for Jesus. Then outside the city gate up on a hill where all could see he was crucified.

We went into what was a cistern dug beneath Antonia Fortress # 2111, and there was a display of old pavement stones on which Roman games were etched #2087, 2099. It is thought that perhaps the Roman soldiers were playing this game when they mocked Jesus with the crown, robe, and scepter. Interesting thought.

The hillside that looks like a skull and is called in modern times Golgotha is not far from the Damascus gate, only about the length of a football field. The garden tomb that we visited is also nearby, not far from the foot of Golgotha.

No one knows for sure where it happened, but if I had to pick, I would choose the garden tomb at the base of the hill (Golgotha). The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is very dark and creepy, built over caves and walls soot stained black from all the candles used over the centuries. The photos we took turned out much lighter than it really was in the church. It is possible that where the church was built was the site of the cross and tomb. No one knows. In truth, it does not matter because Jesus is alive not dead! #2156. Jesus is not confined to a tomb, a place, or a time. He is everywhere and has power to help anyone.

That was our day today. We did some shopping and had lunch at an Armenian restaurant. # 2870 The woman pictured was from CT in the USA, married to an Armenian.

Now we are about to go have dinner with our tour group and prepare for our last day and our flight home tomorrow.

This has been a physically and emotionally exhausting trip. We are very glad we came, we are glad to be returning home tomorrow. They said to us when we arrived that we would never read our Bibles the same way after our time here, and I believe it. Scriptures have come alive here, looking at the geography and seeing the way people live, looking at the ruins of cities mentioned in scripture have forever changed the images I had. No blogs could ever convey what we have experienced here. It is just too difficult to put into words and convey what was so real to our eyes. Pictures cannot capture the expansive desert wilderness or the mountains in this place.

There have been monumental changes in our thinking and understanding of scripture.

My hope is that it will forever make my life more useful to the Lord.

June 19, 2009 (Friday)

This was a shorter day, had time to get things sorted and packed this afternoon and now I will try to get something written before it is time for dinner. Just one more day here, Saturday we will go with the group to the Garden Tomb, and then return to the hotel to change and finish packing. Our taxi is scheduled to pick us up Sunday at 4:30 and we will be on our way home again on the 10:30 PM flight.

The first pictures in our header today are the temple steps. #2057 These were the steps that anyone coming from the city of David below would have traveled to enter the Temple. Teachers frequently sat on these steps and taught, and it is pretty likely that Jesus did that also. The scripture in Acts that tells of all those who believed on the day of Pentecost were also likely here. We were supposed to get to walk out on the steps today, but our guide was given the wrong time and when we got there they were already blocked off due to Sabbath and the Muslim holy day with their services on the Temple Mount. This was a huge disappointment as this was one of the things I most wanted to do.

#2034 is a picture of the huge stones of the temple wall complex that the Roman army broke down. The used levers to break the stones apart and push them over onto the street below. These have been excavated. It is interesting to note that there is still about 20 feet of wall below the ground at this time.

#2039 is a picture of a cornice stone (replica, the original is in the museum) with the inscription on it telling that it was at that corner of the temple complex that the priest stood to blow the rams horn (shofar) for their holy days.

#2035 shows a stone projection high up on the wall. This is what remains of a wide arching staircase that led up to the temple gates from one of the Mikveh’s (baptismal bath). The wall is now solid. If you look closely, you can see where Herod’s wall ends and the Muslim rebuild starts. They blocked up the gate (as they did with several others in order to secure the temple mound area).

# 2033 is a picture of the excavation of the Western Wall and above is a walkway that has been constructed to reach the temple mount area. No Jews go there. Not because the Muslims keep them out (although they may try), but because the Rabbi has said that since no one knows for sure where the Holy Place of God is in that area, they could accidentally walk into it and loose their lives. (Think of the laws God gave about who was permitted to enter and when, and those who disobeyed that law were killed).

If you look closely, standing on that walkway are Israeli riot police in full riot gear (zoom into the top of the covered walk-way [against the top of the wall]at the top of the photo). When we went onto the Temple Mount on Jun 10^th, Mike took pictures of the plexi-glass riot shields stacked by the entrance (#0235 & 0236). Today is Friday, Muslim’s were at "church" (that was part of why we were not allowed to go on the steps), and it was about to let out. Just below that walkway is the Western Wall where Jews are preparing for their Sabbath Holy Day…..sometimes trouble arises when the Muslims leave their service and encounter the Jews preparing for theirs.

We also saw and walked up the steps that are thought to be the steps leading from Caiaphas’ house. # 1981. This is where Jesus was taken before his trial before the Sanhedrian. # 1988 is a cell found at what is believed to have been Caispha’s house. Could this be where Jesus was held during that time?

We thought it would be interesting to also touch the Western Wall of the Temple mound. #2069

After Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday through Sat sundown, no photography or filming are permitted. Men and women are separated at the wall, so Mike had a man from our tour group take his picture at the wall. The interesting thing about the separation of men and women at religious services among the Jews is that it is not an Israeli tradition! Ironically enough, it is Islamic! Somewhere along the way this tradition was borrowed from them and incorporated in their own traditions. Historically the Jewish men and women went together to the tabernacle, women helped with the work of constructing the tabernacle etc. Herod’s temple seems to be the first where the women were separated from the men. I Kings 6 tells about Solomon’s temple and no mention of a court of women is listed.

We visited the traditional site of the upper room where Jesus and his disciples had their Passover meal together. It was not probably the exact site, but was in the area where it would have been. Muslims previously occupied the building and now (within the past 5 years) they have been displaced and the area is now under Israeli control. #1929 is one of the stained glass windows in the building now sitting on the site. Now that it is in Israeli control, they have an "ark" here….#1930, this is the cabinet where they keep scrolls of their Torah.

The dwellings we saw from the time of Jesus, were not huge homes, so the home where the 12 met with Jesus was unusual, most homes were only one room. Most of life was lived outdoors, the cooking, laundry, weaving and spinning was all outdoors. For the most part unless you were very wealthy, you lived in a one-room house that had a shelf for a lamp, shelves suspended from the rafters to hold supplies and house hold goods, and a raised platform which was the family bed. Animals were brought into the house at night and would have slept on the floor. The scripture that tell of the man who came to his friend during the night to ask for provisions and was told to not disturb them because it was night and the family was in bed….is better understood after seeing how they lived. For this man to get up and give bread to the one knocking, he would have disturbed the others in the bed, and had to step in the dark over several sheep/ goats to get the bread and give it to the man. It would have been a great inconvenience for the man to do that, and all in the house would have been disturbed as a result.

We will try to post some pictures tonight. The best part was the temple steps, (even if seen from afar) and the area around the temple that was excavated before the Muslims put a stop to any more digging.

Today was our last day in the Galilee area, it is really beautiful here. # 8075, 8077, 8079 are photos of our hotel at Mag-a-gan Kibbutz on the Sea of Galilee. The photos in the header today are: Mike standing on the Nazareth cliff (#8091) where the people wanted to push Jesus off. The largest mountain is Mt Tabor. (#1702) The statue is of Elijah on Mt Carmel commemorating his confrontation of the prophets of Baal.(#1812)

Our first stop today was the Nazareth area. #1690, 1692, 1722) This area is where Jonah was from when God called him to go preach at Nineveh. He fled quite a distance to try and get away from God’s command. (Time frame 760 BC). The Northern Kingdom feared these people and the last thing Jonah wanted to do was go there. Then when he did go, he was upset when God they repented and God had mercy.

Nazareth was where Mary lived when the angel told her she would be the mother of the Son of God. Where Jesus grew up and where Jesus preached first.

We visited the ridge where the people of the town tried to push him off the cliff after hearing him tell them in their synagogue the meaning of the scriptures in Isaiah.

Also the area where Naboth had his vineyard and King Ahab wanted it for himself.

From the ridge at Nazareth, we could see many places. The Jezreel Valley,#8081, Mt Tabor,#8087 Mt Moreh, this is the smaller mountain and was where Jesus healed the boy who was dead and about to be buried (#8081)

From there we went to Tel Megiddo. The valley was of great strategic importance over the centuries, but has since been bypassed. The last of many many battles was during WW I. This area of the Jezreel Valley below is known as Armageddon,(#1762) and is fertile farmland.

Tel Megiddo itself was very interesting, they have found 20 different levels of civilization #8096, 1747,1750 in the Tel. Looking at the section of soil where they made the initial cut you can see soil and then a layer of ruins, then soil and another layer of ruins, etc. Some of the ruins excavated are Canaanite. There is a high place where cultic rituals took place to Baal, the fertility god. (#1759) This predates Joshua and was one of the high places that they were supposed to have destroyed when they entered the land. Then there were Israelite ruins that spanned the time of the conquest to the time of Solomon and the exile. We have a picture of a grain silo # 1777, 1778. # 1756 is a good example of a manger in which feed for the animals was placed (where Mary would have laid Jesus after he was born). # 1776 is a lizard Mike caught sunning himself….we saw many of these, like what we have in Texas, only slightly larger.

We had lunch again at a Druse village. # 8111, this was the salad bar that people chose from as toppings for their Pieta sandwiches. I got just the salad.

The Druse are a people who originated from the area of Lebanon and were among the first to try and combine all three of the major religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism with some Egyptian and Greek philosophy tossed in for extra spice! (# 1814) They wanted to incorporate the ideas without the rituals. It is not a religion or ethnic group that you can join, you must be born into it. There are about a million of them worldwide, and a large number of villages here in Israel. They sided with Israel in the Jordanian war, so one wonders what will happen to them if Jordan gets control of the area again.

Our last stop today was at Caesarea Maritime, the harbor King Herod the Great built there as a resort for Caesar. Paul was here when he was on house arrest and appeared before Festus, "almost you persuade me to be a Christian.." The whole place was built out of a stone found in the dunes along the sea there, called Qurkar (or Kukar). This was mix of sandstone and limestone that created a very distinct stone with a very porous look but obviously very strong. #1833.

Herod’s Harbor # 1841 #1856, 1857are the remains of the hippodrome (seating has been patched and it is still used today for concerts) #1863 was the sea water filled swimming pool, #1874 was the inner harbor, but now it also is a place of concerts. #1885 is the remains of the aqueduct. And…….they still have mermaids there it seems # 1890.

We arrived back in Jerusalem about 6 PM and after dinner we had one of Dr Schaefer’s past students who is working on her Ph.D. in Biblical history/ archaeology, and is here for the summer on a dig. She came and talked to us about archaeology.

Dr Schaefer’s archeology analogy, is:

Take a 1000 piece puzzle, I will give you 35 random pieces.

You tell me what the completed picture is like?

Interesting thought…..

As I write this it is 10:45 PM and we have a Muslim wedding reception in full swing just below our window….I don’t think we will be going to sleep anytime soon as they seem to be geared up for quite a bit of serious dancing! Mike stepped out on the balcony and tried to get some footage. I don’t even think ear plugs will shut that out!

PS- the next morning one of the couples in our group said they had a good view of the wedding party from their balcony, Marcie said the way the music was she expected to see some really wild dancing, but when she looked the bride was in the middle of a circle of young girls and they were just kind of shuffling around in place, not really dancing at all. I was surprised because the music was pretty wild sounding. The wedding party looked as though they were having an American wedding, but many of the guests were dressed like Muslims. The interesting thing I learned about the Muslim women is that under those drab long coat/dresses, they dress just like any western woman. Our friend who had been invited to visit a Muslim family said they really dress pretty racy and that the real reason they wear the coats is not for their own protection, but to protect the men from them in their provocative clothing. I don’t know how much of that is true, but from the news we saw while here, we learned that young women in Iran are already stretching the dress-code to the limit. On Al Jazeera English (English language Arab News Network… close to CNN in propaganda) it showed Muslim girls (20 something’s) wearing make up, showing more of their hair and wearing very fitted coats.

Two more touring days… Hard to believe our time is almost at an end!

So many places in Israel are becoming harder to see, from a distance and in their pristine state. There is massive building here by Jewish settlers. Several places we visited or wanted to visit have become restricted by the parks service, or are more controlled as a result of the political trouble here. Some areas are off limits completely. Yesterday we visited many sites over which the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican Churches have built. In the valley where it is thought that Jesus may have given his Sermon on the Mount (a natural amphitheater in a valley that meets the Sea of Galilee), there is now a large banana grove, rather spoiling the picture of Jesus teaching there.

Today was better. We started our drive this morning going up to the Golan Heights. This area is like driving up a steep mountain- switchback road all the way up. What a surprise when we reached the top! It could have been Kansas! # 8046, 1524, 1531 Flat fields of grain as far as the eye can see. After 1967 when Israel secured this strategic high ground from the Syrians, they have developed it and made it very productive. However, the Syrian boarder is very near and the UN has its presence there also to help keep the peace. One of the overlooks where we stopped we were told NOT to take pictures on the upper side of the road because Israeli guard towers were there and they are watching. Reminded us of our time in Germany when we went into E Berlin. Warning signs lined the road not to go into the fields because they have not yet found all the mines left by the Syrian army. We saw empty army barracks #1557 everywhere that were once occupied by the Syrians and in other places the Jordanians. We see many guns slung over young soldier’s shoulders walking around everywhere. Some are private enterprises and mercenary guard services. Today our last stop was to go rafting down the Jordan River (Mike and I along with several others opted out on that), we even saw a young girl in a swimsuit with a rifle slung over her shoulder. #1665 Our driver said that whenever school kids (these looked like high school kids) go on trips like that they take along a security person with a gun for every 10 kids. Their school buses looked odd too, I think they may have had bulletproof glass in them, but they had a separate cab for the driver like a tractor/trailer rig.

Golan Heights was much cooler than it has been anywhere else we have been. They have crops of hay, grains, orchards, and cattle. Their irrigation looked just like in Texas, big-wheeled systems that move across the fields spraying water over the crops.

We had a good overview of the Sea of Galilee, but not sure if any of our pictures will be good- due to the evaporation which makes the sky hazy. Winter is about the only time the sky is really clear over this area. We also saw Mt Herman one of the sources of water for the Jordan, but it was so shrouded in haze it was difficult to get a good photo.

We visited a park in Katzrih (now a privately owned park, which used to be free) where someone has built replicas of a village from the Byzantine era. We saw how their homes were constructed # 1564 and furnished, saw how they threshed their grain #8039, 8040, make their wine,#8037 pressed their olives #8042 for oil.

We visited a Druse village for lunch and everyone except me got their specialty a sandwich called "lebanah" (it translates to ‘white cheese’). It looked like a very large, but very very thin tortilla, big as a pizza crust (about 20"), folded in half, spread with a soft goat cheese that looked like sour cream, then topped with an herbed olive oil that looked like pesto. (But it didn’t taste like pesto). It was, folded over and then grilled on a special grill. Mike said it was good.#1586, 1589. They live in very hilly country and the soil is not the best. The terrace the hillside and manage to produce some food. It is high labor for little produce. #1595

We went to Caesarea Philippi (Nature Reserve Banias-Hermon Stream) where there was a pagan temple to Pan.#1621, 8051, 8056 It was here that it seems Jesus asked his disciples "Who do men say that I am?" Peter answered "Thou art the Christ, son of the living God"

Jesus said, " upon this rock I will build my house and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." This area where the pagan god Pan and others were worshiped was thought by the Pagan peoples to be the gates of Hell. Interesting, as the river spring flowed from there. This verse makes more sense in this context, that Jesus was telling them that "what these people believed would not prevail against the kingdom of God and that his apostles would be responsible for helping to build that kingdom".

The cave in the photos at one time had water gushing out of it at this site, and that was thought to be the entrance to the underworld.

This park was beautiful, fig trees were everywhere and mint growing along the streams, the two gave such a sweet fragrance to the whole area.

Next we visited tel Dan. This was over-run with school kids and their guards and we had to skirt around them and missed some of the area. We saw the place where King Jeroboam set up one of the golden calves after the Kingdom split. I will post pictures of that, it was really neat and to think it still exists to be seen! # #8062 is a picture of the high place where the golden calf would have been. #8063

Is a picture of the altar. # 8064 is an over view of the area. Our guide posed some interesting thoughts on this area. In ancient times gods were said to ride on the backs of bulls. The fact that there were two golden calves one at Dan and one at Bethel, could pose the picture that the one true God rode these golden calves one foot on each of them. The altars appear to be made like the one in Jerusalem for offerings to God. The most curious thing however is that none of the prophets of that time spoke against the Northern Kingdom for doing this. They did not have the ark of God’s presence with them, and perhaps they were trying to worship him or represent his presence to the people in this way. I will have to study and think about that some more, interesting perspective.

We also go to see the Canaanite Gate from the 18^th century BC, and still completely intact! #8066, 8069. This would have been the gate Abraham would have gone through with his men when he went to rescue Lot.

Next we saw the Israelite gate from the first temple period. This was really neat, the walls were about 6-10 feet thick, and there is still a seat in the gate where the King or ruler would come and pronounce judgements.

We also got glimpses of the Jordan River, but we did not want to go white water rafting this afternoon. This was a long day, and tomorrow we have a long day, and return to Jerusalem in the evening. Our trip is just 3 days from completion, and everyone is starting to feel weary.

There is sooo much, and I really feel I am not keeping up on the blog. But late nights and early mornings, the heat, walking and mountain climbing are taking their toll. Some in our group have not been able to make some of the climbs. I am glad that we have not missed out on any of the sites due to our physical abilities, it is pretty rugged trekking at times. We will fill things in more next week if we don’t get a chance to do it before we leave or during our travels on Sunday.

Hi! Today we did a tight drive around the Sea of Galilee and saw many sites that are mentioned in the NT. Unfortunately, many of the places are not very recognizable any longer due to the structures that have been built around the area. Some are very new and even our guide had not seen the buildings.

Our Kibutz is on the SE side of the Sea of Galilee. We drove around the lake to Gergesa (where the man Legion lived among the tombs), Capernaim, Chorazin, the traditional mount of Beatitudes, and Tiberias.

My favorite was Chorazin, because the synagogue that Jesus was sure to have taught in is still there (ruins of course, but intact enough to see what it must have looked like).#7962,7964,7967. Mike is sitting in what was called Moses’ seat. The man who is reading the Torah would sit in this seat. Jesus would have sat in a seat like this when he read scripture to the people in the synagogues. The original seat is in a museum, this one is a replica of the very seat Jesus sat in. Jesus told them that it would be better for Tyre and Sidon than for them on the day of judgement because of the miracles he had done there and yet they did not believe him. It is interesting that Tyre and Sidon are still cities today (in Lebanon) but Chorazin no longer exists as a city.

The ruins at Capernaim were also really neat, but the synagogue there was from more recent times,#7986, 7987 built over the one from the time of Jesus.

We did see the city ruins from the time of Christ, and it was interesting to see the way the houses were laid out much like apartment complexes.

We visited the traditional site of the sermon on the mount, where Jesus called his disciples apart to have a quiet place to teach them, but ironically, the place is now so noisy that we could not hear our guide speak to us for all the noise from traffic, workmen, and tourists. The area where our guide wanted to take us down near the sea to talk to us (a natural amphitheater) and let us get a feel for how it must have been when Jesus talked with his disciples is now fenced off and is a banana grove. #7973

The sea has receded a great deal even in the past 5 years, so I am sure that it is much lower than it was when Jesus sailed it. We visited the place thought to be where Legion lived among the tombs, and climbed up to a tomb #7946, 1200 to look out toward the sea. I pictured a sharp cliff like drop off, but that was not what we saw. If the sea was higher, then the pigs could have run off into the sea, but the way it is today, they would have had to run across several fields first and then into the sea. Anyway, it was nice to see the area and know that somewhere in that area this happened.

We visited the museum and saw the boat that was found several years ago in the mud along the shore of the sea. Because the water level is much lower now than it was in Jesus’ day, two brothers found a fishing boat from the time of Christ buried in the mud. It has been dug up, preserved and can be viewed now. #1384 Afterward we boarded a fishing boat and sailed from around Magdala to Tiberias. #1460, 1468, 1486

That was our day- as Mike may have mentioned, we do not have internet connection from our room here and are not able to upload our picture highlights, so those will come when we return to Jerusalem at the end of this week.

Today we left Jerusalem and started north. Our first stop was the traditional sight of the temptation of Jesus….of course there is a monastery built there in the side of the cliff . Today only two monks live there and they never leave the monastery, all their needs (food, clothing etc) are met by men who take provision up to them. Their life style is what they consider a living sacrifice. Since women are not allowed in this place, and the climb was way too much we viewed it from below. Of course, since we were standing around below we were besieged by Bedouin’s wanting to sell us necklaces, post cards and other trinkets.

#973,7884,958,960,961

They all want to barter, haggle, what ever you want to call it, and will hardly take "NO" for an answer. They appear poor although most of them have wealth. Makes sense since they do not own the land they live on or pay property taxes.

One thing we learned that I did not understand, is that several cities (Jenin, Nablus, Jericho, Bethlehem, and Hebron) are Palestinian controlled but are surrounded by Israeli territory and Israeli controlled road systems with guarded check points. Palestinians cannot travel on the Israeli roads, isolating the cities and making it very difficult for the people there. Our first stop was in Jericho, and since it is a Palestinian city we had to go through several check points both in and out. #1085

Jericho has been built three times. We visited the modern Jericho and stopped at a tourist attraction there called Zacchaes sycamore tree. Funny sign said the tree was 2000 years old (we all had a good laugh and took pictures). It is a sycamore fig tree, and its fruit is dried and sold. We tried some at the fruit stand where our bus parked and they tasted rather like sweet peanuts but were more the size of almonds.

#7883, 1036,966,967,969

Leaving the new city we went to the first Jericho which is a Tel (a large artificial hill, that has multiple layers of ruins underneath, built on top the old, making a hill) that has been undergoing digs for some years. It was very interesting to look at the area. What has been excavated so far pre-dates Joshua, but there is sooooo much more that still needs dug up. The tower that we will post the picture of is over 8,000 years old and is the oldest archaeological find of battlements in the mid-east. #7889,7890,988,1046

Our next stop was at the site of Elisha’s spring, which was across the street from Jericho #1. Our guide has not been to Israel since 2004, and he was dismayed that the spring is no longer there to see. The city has put in a system to capture the water and now it has a huge water pipe coming out where the water used to gush forth. The account was of the women who could not have children and Elisha preformed a miracle from God that brought forth water, drinking it the women were healed and had children. We discovered that they did not want to get rid of the tourist attraction, so they built a replica of the spring (although much fancier) near-by for people to take pictures of (and we did take pictures of both).

#7881, 1081

Where our bus parked in a fairly deserted parking lot, a young man with a camel came over to offer camel rides to our group. Mike and I got on and had a ride around the parking lot…..it was fun, but the camel is really smelly…as the day wore on and we got hot, we all smelled like camels!#1005, 7880

We went to Beth Shean (here spelled Bet She-an), the city is also named Scythopolis. Many things happened here or near here. It was first a Canaanite settlement (16-12 bc), the city became seat of Egyptian rule. The Israelites did not succeed in conquering this city. When Saul and Johathan were killed at Mt Gilboa which is near-by, their bodies were taken and hung on the wall of this city. Gidion and the army God directed him to lead also fought in this area . #7900,1107,7901,7903,7904,7908,1167,1173,1130,1126,

7925,7915 The picture of the two young girls sitting is of the public restroom!

Late in the afternoon we drove to the Sea of Galilee, where we are staying at a Kibbutz right on the shore of the lake, in fact there is swimming in the lake if we want. It is a beautiful lake, will try to get some better photos of it tomorrow to post. Late afternoon the sun was in our eyes trying to get pictures.#7938

Tomorrow we ride across the lake in a replica of a boat like the ones the apostles would have gone in with Jesus. More tomorrow. Good night!

This morning our group attended a service at Christ Church here in Jerusalem. It was an interesting service, very unusual from what we are used to. The man who gave the sermon today was Jewish. His theme was hope and encouragement as we look at world events unfolding today. He read several scriptures both from the OT and NT concerning the word of God like seed. He said that the world does thing big, the bigger the better and then they come tumbling down around us. But God starts his work small ( Jesus as a babe, his word like a small seed) and then grows it into something magnificent. He spoke about the Pope and Obama both wanting to have peace by treaty with "Babylon" and how that will never work, that the only way there will be peace is through Christ because we then become a new creature and a part of the body of Christ, have him live in us. He said that he sees God preparing the stage for the return of his son and that he is encouraged at the number of Jews and Arabs that are coming to Christ as the word is being preached in this land and around the world.

Their hymns were interesting also, some of them were sung in Hebrew and it was neat to hear them sung in the language Jesus would have most likely sung as well. Many of their hymns were written like the ones we have in the Psalms, really uplifting praises to God and our Lord Jesus and all the wonderful things they have done for us.

A fairly laid-back kind of day… and no real update on the pictures…. Yawn… early night then move to Galilee tomorrow.

Saturday June 13, 2009

Our morning today started about 7. We headed into the hottest part of this land, the Judean Wilderness. The early start was to get us to Masada before it got too hot. Getting there early also beat most of the other tour groups, which was nice. Although there is a walkway up the side of the mountain, I think you would be crazy to try to climb it unless you were a trained athlete. We took the cable car up and on the way we saw people who were walking. (#714)

Before I get to Masada though, I want to talk about the wilderness. Even though I have seen pictures of this in books and read about it, nothing prepared me for the vast and desolate landscape. We drove south from Jerusalem through the wilderness for 1½ hours and there was still more beyond that. We saw the shepherds there with their flocks and saw the narrow trails the sheep and goats cut into the hillside as they walk round and round them looking for a tuft of green to eat. If you did not know where the pasture and water was here you would die quickly. This gives new meaning to the Lord as my Shepherd. In a world where we can die very quickly due to lack of spiritual food and water, our Lord knows just what we need and he can lead us to that place for our need to be met. No more will I think of the 23^rd Psalm as a lush valley of green pasture and water all around.

As we drove in our air-conditioned bus through those miles and miles of mountain deserts and valleys, I thought of our Lord spending 40 days and 40 nights here alone. I can appreciate more what he did there. I can picture him there, alone and relying completely on his Father to keep him and strengthen him to meet all that Lucifer was going to attack him with. (#665 #650)

The Bedouin people live here in their tents or ramshackle huts. They were described to us as being in many ways like the American Indians. They believed that the land did not belong to anyone, it belonged to God and that no one should own it. The are nomadic shepherds who come from many different ancestries. Now, they are all Muslim by religion. Some of them are becoming modern and owning homes and going to school, but the vast majority still live the nomadic lives that their ancestors did, schooling their sons and daughters at home to lean what they need to carry on that lifestyle. (#645)

Masada! Herod the Great’s magnificent fortress built (started 20 BC) to provide him a place of refuge should his life be in danger - nearly everyone hated him, even his own family. This is understandable since he had many of them murdered. Herod was an Idumeanite, not Jewish. Masada is very near the border of what was once Idumea, near the southern end of the Dead Sea.

Once up at the top we saw a 30-acre fortress (or the remains of it). Herod had a palace built literally hanging the side of the mountain that was 3-4 stories high. We will put the picture of the model on the blog so you can see how it looked. It was 80 steps down from the top to the lowest floor of this palace. Then, because one palace is not enough, he also had a palace built on the western side of the mountain. There were living quarters for the servants who maintained the fortress (it is not known if Herod was ever there, but he kept it ready in case he needed to come there). (#731)

There is no water source on top if this mountain. Water was brought there two ways. An aqueduct was built to catch the rains (only 2-3 inches per year) that ran down the valleys between the mountains. This was directed to cisterns dug into the mountain and stored. Also, there were springs, again near the bottom of the hill. Either source required a "donkey express" which carried the water. They needed water for: all the people and animals that lived there, the swimming pool, bath houses, cooking, cleaning, and watering the gardens that were on top the mountain. The historian Josephus said that there was enough food stored there to last 100 years. Someone in our group asked "for how many people?", and our guide laughed and said "knowing Herod, probably only for himself" (#763,718,740,745,753,778)

The Romans got sloppy and lost Masada to rebel Jews in 66AD. In 73AD, Rome laid siege to Masada they built a ramp up the western side of the mountain (just like they did at Lakhish, only much, much bigger). The remains of that ramp are still there! It was very difficult to get a picture with the proper perspective in order for you to see the size of the ramp, but we did get some pictures. (#761,762)

This place was literally two palaces and living quarters for hundreds of servants, military men, and animals. Swimming pools (2), church, food preparation and storage, gardens, and underground water storage, all covering 30 acres and fortified from attack.

Our next stop was En Gedi. I Samuel 24 tells the story of David when he was in hiding from King Saul who was seeking his life. King Saul had 3000 men with him in a dessert area he did not really know. Saul found a cave and went in to get some sleep and David encouraged by his men to take Saul’s life went into the cave where he slept and cut off part of Saul’s robe. When Saul woke and left the cave David called to him and there was a conversation between them before Saul leaves. This happened at En Gedi (vs 1). We are driving along and stop at the park and it is dry and dusty, nothing looks like a place I would want to stop and refresh myself there. But David was a shepherd and he knew where the water was. We hiked a ways and then we heard water, saw a little stream (#807) and then started our hike up the crevice of the mountain. We passed three small waterfalls and several pools (it was a hot day and people were in them). (#808, 820) At last we reached the top where the water was pouring down, a most beautiful sight. (#841) The water comes from aquifers within the mountain that bursts through the fissures in the rocks and cascade down in a refreshing waterfall. It is very easy to see why David would have brought his weary men here for rest. On our way back to the bus we saw a little animal in the trees, and our guide said it was what the Bible referred to as the Coney that builds it home in the rocks. (#851)

After our hour-long hike up to the falls and back, we drove to Qumran, the caves of the Dead Sea scrolls. By the time we had had lunch it was over 100 degrees outside and we did not spend too long there. There are a total of 11 caves that have been found in the mountainsides, several of them contained scrolls. The remains of what are thought to have been a community of Essenes. They had a number of ritual baths and their custom was to bathe twice daily by submerging their bodies totally in the water. (#896) There is nothing said in the NT as to where baptism came from,(it is as though those to whom the NT was written already knew) but it is very like the ritual bathing of the Jewish people in the OT. In both cases the washing is symbolic of reaching a clean state before God.

This community had an aqueduct, cistern, reservoirs, kitchen, pottery workshop, kiln, cattle pen, food storage, living quarters, and scriptorium. (#895) Although it is not 100 %, it is believed that this sect lived a strict life here devoted to God, much as the monks did.

Our last stop of the day was the Dead Sea. I did not want to get in, but Mike did. It looks like any beach, beach chairs and umbrellas everywhere. The water is not only salty but also muddy. You know the green mud masque women purchase to put on their faces?? Well, that is what the mud looks like. People were smearing it all over their bodies and walking around looking like green aliens. (#914) (#915) You cannot sink, but it is awkward to get in without getting it into your eyes. Our instructions were not to dive, splash or try to swim. In the past a woman got the water in her lungs from trying to swim and coughed up blood for the next 2 weeks. We put some of the water in a bottle to bring home so you can feel it….it feels oily. I still have not gotten the salt out of Mike’s swim shoes after 4 washings. Perhaps there really are some curative powers in the water though! Mike got a bite on his arm earlier this week, it looked like a spider bite and it was looking pretty red and swollen. While he was in the water he put some mud on the spot and today it is considerably smaller and looks like it is healing.

That was our day- it was very hot and we were all glad for a shower when we returned to our hotel.

June 12, 2009

We saw so much today there is no way I can share it all, so will go with some highlights.

Since Friday is a Holy day for Muslims, everything they operate is closed on Friday. The Jews celebrate Sabbath from sundown Friday to Sundown Saturday, and they close their shops (and in some areas streets and town) (486) about 2:30 PM on Friday in order to be ready for their Holy day. The Christians close their shops on Sunday for their worship. So, for the touring, it is tricky to plan around these three days every week. This afternoon by about 2pm the streets were nearly empty.

This morning we visited Bet Shemesh. I Samuel tells the story of Hannah praying for a child that she would give to the Lord. That of course was Samuel. Eli’s two sons (who were priests) were ( 2:3) sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD. Chapter 4, Israel went out for battle the Philistines without asking the Lord, and took the ark with them as though it was a magical rabbit’s foot. Hophni and Phinehas were killed in the battle and the enemy captured the ark.

They took the ark to Ashdod (we drove by there today). The story goes that God struck them with plagues (it is thought sterility and rats)

The Philistines thought maybe the ark might have power, but in order to make sure, they put the ark on a cart and harnessed two milk cows (with calves left behind) to the cart and sent it in the direction of the Israelite territory. If the cows take it back then they knew it was their God, if not their troubles were from another source.

Bethshemesh (Chapter 6:12) is where the cows took the ark. Bet Shemesh was in Israelite territory. Our pictures today could not capture the impressions and beauty of what we saw. We walked to the top of the small hill where it is thought the cart came to a stop. It is reasonable that it is correct as it is the only logical route for them to travel. (7760)

Next we went to the ruin of Lakhish. (7765) This was a town built in a very strategic position that over-looked the Shephelah (valley between the Israelites and the Philistines). It was second in importance to Jerusalem because it was like the watchtower of the valley. When the Assyrians (modern day Iraq) began to conquer the territory of Israel, this was where they started, knowing that if they cut off this city Jerusalem would be easier to capture. It was a well fortified city with a double wall, double gate, on a high hill…..the Assyrians built a ramp over top the double wall (7766) by enslaving local Israelites peoples who were not in the city and making them do the work, that way if they were killed it was not Assyrian soldiers. The people were trapped, sent signals with fire but no one came to help them and they were slaughtered. Archaeologists estimate there are 1600 tons of rock in the ramp.

This happened about the same time Hezekiah was building the tunnel for water at Jerusalem. He knew they were coming his way and he wanted to be prepared.

We visited the caves at Bet Guvrin-Maresha. These were cave dwellings (partially underground cities really) that were carved out of the soft limestone by the Jewish people during the period between Malachi and Matthew. These were awesome! Literally a whole network of rooms, tunnels, multi-level, dwellings underground! (565) The land here is hardpan soil on top and soft limestone underneath, since the people could not farm it they decided to build their homes underground and use the fertile Wadi (seasonal river beds) for their crops. We walked through dwellings, an underground olive press, (575) and a Pigeon coop cave (7791 & 580), where hundreds of pigeons roosted. This provided them with eggs, meat, and fertilizer for the crops.

We also visited in the same area the bell caves. These were actually the result of the people mining the soft limestone to use as plaster. They would make a hole in the ground and start digging out the plaster, the result was a deep bell shaped cave, often breaking through into another cave or mine and leaving a net work of caves. (7795, 603, 608). I especially like the one of Sandy standing in a stream of sunlight coming in from the opening about 200 feet above.618)

Valley of Elah was next….remember David and Goliath? This was the valley where David felled the champion of the Philistines. We were able to walk along the edge of the valley where there was a Wadi (7800), and in it are stones brought there and worn smooth by the water flowing there when the river is full. David likely picked up those stones from this area. I picked up a stone to bring home.

A shepherd had a sheep herd along the valley floor (7802).

Our last stop was Nebi Samuel. Said to be the tomb of Samuel, but it isn’t. Samuel did live in the area however. It is the Benjamin plateau, and from the top you can see 360 degrees and view many of the cities in Israel. We could see Jerusalem, Ramah, and Gibeon(7809). This was the area that most of the Samson stories took place.

That was the highlights of the day, there was so much more info that is very interesting, but too much to share here.

Tomorrow morning early we travel to Masada, Ein Gedi, the Dead Sea and Qumran.

Today was interesting and also sobering in many ways. First we visited the Herodion, which was one of Herod the Great’s many structures. It was a palace and also his burial site, which was found in very recent years. There were two mountains here and neither was tall enough to suit him so he had the top of one mountain cut down and moved to the top of the other to build it up higher for his palace location. (7695). It is thought to have been 4-5 stories in height. It was a circular palace with four towers jutting out of the "four corners" of the circle. (7713) (7722) He had cisterns built under the palace to hold thousands of gallons of water, the cistern was huge enough that long after his death, Jewish rebels used the caves and cisterns under the palace as their head quarters. (329)

Below the hill was a great pool and bathhouse (7701)

Herod the Great was hated by pretty much everyone, and when he knew his death was near, to be sure that he would be mourned, he imprisoned many people with orders to kill them upon his death insuring that there would be mourning after he died.

When he died however the prisoners were set free and there was rejoicing instead of mourning. His burial place has remained a mystery until recently when it was uncovered at the base of the Herodion. The people who hated him had desecrated his coffin. This was to pay the ultimate disrespect and insult to anyone. (297)

Traveling to the Herodion, then onto Bethlehem, we passed by the West Bank settlements that we heard so much about in the news in recent years. I am putting in a picture Mike took through the bus window of the first settlement on the top of a high hill/ mountain. They literally built the entire mountaintop up with concrete skyscrapers! (285) Our guide said that the Jews have been reclaiming the land this way for several years now, they will pull in trailers by night to an area and then by morning it is a settlement with security around it. I learned that the Palestinian people are a mix of the Canannite peoples intermarried with Jewish, Crusaders, Philistine and other nationalities. However, there is little hope of the two peoples ever getting along or co-existing peacefully.

We visited the Church of the Nativity, where tradition places the birth of Jesus. It is a Greek Orthodox Church, built in 339 AD. (7738). There are photos of the original tile floor (371), the inside of the roof and upper windows that provided light, and the three doors on the outside. The largest doorframe was the original, the Crusaders closed it in and made it smaller, then after the Muslim rule a much smaller door was put in, so that even I needed to bend over to enter. (366) No one knows for sure why, but two traditions are: #1 to be sure everyone enters the church in a bowed position, and #2 to make the door too low for the Muslims to ride their camels into the church and desecrate it.

Inside under the alter is the proposed site of the birth and manger of Christ. The star area represents the location of the birth. (389) It has been said the origins of the Crimean War were related to a piece of this silver star unscrewed and stolen??

They hold services every half hour or so, and Mike was able to film about 10 minutes of it…. Too much for a full video clip, but it sure slowed us down going through.

The priests are standing in front of the birthplace, and the service attendees are filing in with candles. It is a sing-response, with incense holders and lots of smoke…(see video clip of "Church of the Nativity").

Across from the church was the area known as Bethlehem Square where the nativity is played out at Christmas time. Near the square is a tower with sirens like we would use to warn of a tornado, only they are used to sound the Muslim call to prayer several times a day. (for a "Taste" check out the video clip…try to listen to what the two men are conversing about) It was so loud you could not hear the person next to you talk….and it sounds like they are in great pain, moaning over and over. Very annoying at this point.

We drove through some areas that we were told was where shepherding took place.(313) I always pictured from the 23^rd Psalm, that the sheep were led into lush green pastures with plenty of water splashing all around. It is nothing like that at all! The reason the sheep follow the shepherd and depend on him is because he knows where the next meal or water is going to be. The good land is not used for grazing, the sheep go with the shepherd into what looks like west Texas during a dry spell, just tufts of grass here and there.

We had lunch in Bethlehem with a Palestinian family and then went back through security to Jerusalem. In the afternoon we visited a 1 to 50 scale model of the NT Jerusalem (Approximately 68 AD, or CE [common era] as it more politically correctly called). We have a few interesting shots of what the Temple complex probably looked like and the steps going into the lower city, which was the City of David. (443, 444, 446)

I did not know that Bethlehem was inside Palestinian territory. To re-enter Jerusalem, we had to go through security to enter, in fact, it reminded me very much of what the Berlin wall looked like before it came down. We had to go through a security checkpoint with our passports to enter. Mike took one photo before we were told not to take pictures. (423)

To finish up the day we visited the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. Mike and I would rather not have gone here, especially to spend 2 hours. We have visited similar museums and been to Dachau, Germany. It was a very nice memorial to those who died and was tastefully done. Really depressing none the less.

Nice cool shower and dinner in the Mediterranean Tent Resturant.

To bed LATE again!! Love that coffee in the morning (Mike!!)

Today was awesome!!! Our bus took us to the top of the Mount of Olives at 8:00 this morning and we viewed the temple mount from the Golden Gate side (and a good view of the Dome of the Rock which we learned is not a mosque but a museum), the Kidron valley, and the city of David excavations that we visited on Monday.

I mentioned the other day that there are not many olive trees on the Mount of Olives, and today we learned some very interesting things about why. When the Romans came through and destroyed Jerusalem, Titus had all the olive trees cut down. However, since olive trees propagate from the roots, the trees grew again. Some of the trees in the garden of Gethsemane are about 1800 years old- at least the root/trunk are. Olive trees produce an abundance of fruit one year and bear lightly the next. All olive trees know to do this and all do it the same years but no one knows how or why they do that. Even when trees have been planted so that they should bear a heavy crop the next year, if all the other trees bear light they will too.

The Golden Gate was blocked off by the Muslims and they buried their dead outside the gate saying " If the Messiah does come back in the area of the Mt of Olives as prophesied, he will be unclean because of our graves here" They think that will stop him I guess. All along the city wall on the temple mount side facing the Kidron Valley and the Mt of Olives are Muslim graves.

On the East Side of the Mt of Olives (facing the Temple Mound) are hundreds of graves of Jewish people. Looking at the grave sites (Muslim and Jewish) one can understand what Jesus was talking about when he spoke about the whited sepulchres. The graves are white stone boxes on top of the ground.

We visited the site where it is thought Jesus wept over Jerusalem, thought so because of the road system of the time period and the view of the city. We also visited the proposed site of the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed in agony and was betrayed by Judas. I always wondered how far away he was when he was taken. It is less than one-half mile from the Temple.

We walked down the hill and into the Old City through St Stephens Gate or the Lion’s gate. As we entered in Lion’s gate to rest from our climb, we viewed the gate and could clearly see why we read of men sitting in the gate. It is much cooler and usually a breeze. Another reason to be in the city gate was to know what was happening, it was the news center.

We visited St Ann’s church and sang some hymns in the center of the church. The stone dome was acoustically awesome. Mike got a recording of a choir who sang later, maybe he can add it here so you can listen.

We visited the Pool of Bethesda, which was really neat, originally built as a holding area for the city’s water. The rains would run down and fill this huge area. We took pictures of the steps leading down to the water and learned that the oldest transcripts of the Bible do not mention the angel stirring the water. This is quite possibly more superstition than anything else and was later added as a scribal gloss because the people went there thinking that the water was stirred by an angel.

After lunch at a near-by Armenian restaurant we walked through the double security to the Western Wall and on to the Dome of the Rock which now stands on the site of the Jewish Temple Mound. Jews do not go there, not because of the Muslims but because they do not know where the Most Holy Place was (where the Ark of the Covenant should reside) and it is a fear of accidentally stepping into that space. There is a sign at the entrance that Jews are not allowed - ordered by the Chief Rabbi.

We were not permitted to go into the mosque or the Dome of the Rock, as they are not currently open to non-Muslims. That was really OK with me. It is a pretty spectacular sight and the roof glows in the sun. Interestingly, the Dome of the Rock is an 8 sided building built on the same principle as the early Christian churches. Another thing that was interesting was the little church in the Tear-Drop church, in the Garden of Gethsemane has a window facing the Dome and when you look out it, the cross in the middle of the window which could line up perfectly over the Dome.

From the Temple Mount we saw the Western (Wailing) Wall. Complete with the pre-positioned plexi-glass riot shields.

We then walked south through the Dung Gate into the City of David where we went into Hezekiah's tunnel and walked through the cold water in the dark tunnel. And a LONG steep climb back up the hill….

That was really neat and I am glad we went.

Of course a few more flora pictures.

Back in our room- 9:30PM. Tomorrow is another early morning and we go to Bethlehem.

Today we got an early start and decided to walk to the Rockefeller Museum. We started walking about 8:30 (museum is about 1.5 miles from the hotel. However, we did not check to see that it was open, and when we got there found that Tuesday is the one day a week they close. We really did not want to walk in the Old City again today, so we returned to our Hotel room.

It was much hotter today than it has been and we were both hot and tired when we returned. After resting awhile and trying to decide what to do, we got a cab and went to the Jerusalem Mall (the biggest one in the Arab world). It looked much like any large mall we see at home, only the languages on the signs were different. Three floors, food courts, clothing, shoes, electronics, candy shops, bakery goods, jewelery……even Burger King, KFC, Office Max, and McDonalds. Just can’t get away from fast food!

Mike needed some things and we had been unable to find them in the market, so the mall seemed a good place to look, and we did find the transformer/surge protector, and an optical shop that fixed his sunglasses.

I got some fruit at the super market (fresh dates for about $1.50 per #.

Mike took a couple pictures while at the mall while we were sitting at a café having a drink, nothing really exciting to photograph, but the people are very interesting! You see just about every type clothing here! Maybe you can see in the pictures some of the varieties. It seems the Orthodox Jewish women dress pretty modestly, with long skirts and usually long sleeved blouses; they also usually (but not always) wear a head covering. Most wear a sort of beret that all their hair is tucked up into; older women seem to go more for the snood look. Orthodox Jewish men all have one thing in common- they grow the hair at their temples long. They must put curlers in at night because the hair hangs down the sides of their beards in perfect coils. I did see one man who tied his in knots by his ears and let it hang down like ponytails. Today we saw a young boy about 3-4 years old who already had tufts of hair sprouting out in front of his ears, while the rest of his hair cut was really short.

I wondered how the men kept their kippa’s on (that is what they call their little round hats they always wear), and I have gotten close up views of the hair pins and clips they use to anchor them down. However, some men have their hair so short I have wondered if they use Velcro!

You see the strings of their prayer shawls hanging down the sides of their pant legs (I guess the less devout wear the Shaw itself tucked into their clothes.

Muslim women are the most interesting however, because they seem to take great license here with their clothing. It goes from the full gown, veil and head covering, to skin tight jeans, stiletto heels, and provocative tops (of course worn over top a long sleeved, high necked, black shirt) a flashy head covering and makeup even saw one lady today who had a long necklace that had purple stones in it to match her head scarf. Then there are all the ranges in between. They really seem to go for fancy shoes ( but that is all of their individuality they are really allowed to show, so I guess that would be why.

Enough about clothing! Our tour group arrived tonight and we all had supper together outside under the trees. Our day tomorrow starts early, breakfast at 7 and on the bus by 8. I should have some interesting things to tell you tomorrow. As I close this tonight, it is to the sound of the Muslim call to prayer which happens six times a day and echoes through a city wide PA system. All tonight.

We arrived in Israel Saturday, June 6^th at 5:20 pm after an 11 hour flight from Atlanta. We are staying at the Ambassador Hotel ( built in 1952). We have a balcony room and I took a couple pictures from there this morning- the city view and the view below is the Middle Eastern Restaurant under a tent which is part of the hotel.

On our walk this morning to the Old City, we photographed some flowers ( one of the things that interests me about new places are the botanicals)

We entered the Damascus Gate which puts you immediately in the market. You can buy a huge variety of items here in the market…..like probably any other market. Books, antiques, clothing, food, shoes, sunglasses and all sorts of trinkets. Thought the T-shirt was funny! We walked up the path traditionally thought to be the path Jesus carried his cross to his crucifixion ( Via Dolorosa) and were accosted about every 10 feet with vendors wanting to sell us souvenirs of the Stations of the Cross. I was thinking, I wonder what the Lord thinks of people profiting from his death in that way?

There were Israeli soldiers in several places where we walked inside the Old City, the tour books say that because of tight security it is safe to walk just about anywhere here.

The picture of me is taken through the "needle’s eye"…. guess you can see how it would be hard to get a camel through such a small narrow space!