As I am writing these updates, I realize that I am writing
in less and less detail…. Sorry! It’s just that there’s so much information and
stories, and so many photos and stuff…. Will just try my best to write the
stuff that I know I’ll forget or stuff that I found really interesting.
Woke up just as the sun was rising, look at the view from
our room’s balcony!
We then took a stroll along the shores of the Dead Sea. It’s
very rocky, and also the Dead Sea has like two pools of water, and is connected
in between…
The water was super cold as well!!!! I wasn't brave enough to go into the water, just took off my shoes and stepped in, and my feet were so cold it became numb.
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| a very brave man became our model |
You’ll also see pipes running from the water to the shore,
these will pump water and minerals back to the plants where they will extract
the minerals for skincare products or other uses.
Then we visited the Masada National Park, which is the city
of Masada where the Jews flew to hide when they were persecuted by the Romans.
Masada was is situated in a very good location because it’s on the top of a
mountain and you can see all around so you cannot be attacked easily.
There are no trees around and the whole area is exposed to
the sun. Good thing we were visiting in February, if you are visiting in the
summer (which is when most people are), you must remember to bring a big hat
and drink LOTS OF WATER. I drank a bottle of water but still felt a bit of a
headache which is probably because I was a bit dehydrated. It’s also very dry
in Israel so you must remember to drink water too.
The story of Masada is an interesting one because it’s one
about courage – the Romans discovered the Jews hiding there and although they
cannot attack the city because there were no roads up the mountain that allowed
a whole army brigade, the soldiers actually moved earth to build a wide ramp up
to the city’s gate. You can faintly see diamond shapes in the sand/earth where
the Romans set up camp.
As the Jews saw what the Romans were doing, they decided
that they would not give up without a fight, and fought bravely. But as time
wore on, they knew they were going to lose the fight, so they decided it was
better to die then to submit to the Romans, and made the decision to kill
everyone in the city. This is the famous story of the Lots.
During the excavation, archeologists found pieces of
clay/pottery with names on them, these are the names of the last 10 people who
had to kill everyone in the village and then kill each other and the last
person had to kill himself (they had to kill each other because in Judaism it’s
a sin to commit suicide, so only one person did that).
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| the ramp the Romans built up to the city gate |
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| the Jews blocked the city gate doors from being opened by placing wooden beams across the space |
In the end the Romans burned the gate and then got into the
city, but all they found was one woman and one child who were left to survive
to tell what happened in the city.
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| pigeon holes |
Afterwards the Romans stayed in the city and even built a
palace there. Frescos and mosaics were found. They even built a Roman bath
there.
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| the black line marks where new stone was placed on top of the original, you can also see how beautiful these places would have been (this was originally the house of the Roman governor), with the white plaster walls and fresco paintings |
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| the heated bath house had raised floor where hot air can circulate |
As the Dead Sea is so famous for it’s therapeutic qualities
and their skincare products, we made a stop at one of the many factories to
stock up. We visited AHAVA which is quite well known, but there are other
brands as well that we saw at duty free shops and hotels as well.
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| while it snowed in the north, it rained in the south, and many roads were blocked yesterday due to flooding and landslides |
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| northern Dead Sea |
Have you heard of the Dead Sea scrolls? These were found at
a place called Qumran by a shepherd boy.
This is one of the biggest discoveries of scrolls – some
were original scrolls from the Jewish Qumran-Essene sect that lived in the area
and some were copies of biblical books – such as the complete book of Isaiah.
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| every city had at least one scribe - their job was to copy text and keep records. the scribes wrote on long pieces of papyrus or other types of material and they had a long table like the one in the lower corner of the photo above |
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| one of the caves where scrolls were found |
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| a bath for cleansing |
The Qumran-Essene sect is a super secretive sect who thought
they were the light and all other Jews were the dark and not as close to God.
They had very defined community rules (which were documented in scrolls) and
did everything together at assigned times. In their community/village they had
a lot of different baths for cleaning and purifying their body before prayer.
We made our way to the city of Jericho for lunch. This city
was part of Jordan before and then became a part of Israel and now it is under
the Palestinian Authority since 1994. There is a gate guarded by UN soldiers
when we enter.
Jericho was a famous city in the bible, as it’s the first
city the Israelites conquered when they came in to the land of Canaan. Joshua
was the leader of the Israelites and was told to lead the army around the city
walls of Jericho for six days and on the seventh day to circle the city walls
seven times. And at the end of the seventh time the priests were to blow the
ram horn trumpets for a long blast. The city walls would crumble and the
Israelites can go in to conqueror the city.
Although historically, Jericho was a famous and prosperous
city, at the moment it didn’t look as well developed as other places in Israel.
Also, the excavation of Jericho wasn’t as complete as other places we saw in
Israel. This is because the Palestinian Authority didn’t have as much funding
to complete excavations. In many of the excavation done by the Israeli
government, university and also from generous Jewish donors – many who are
American, they have a lot more money and see the work of preserving their
history as an important part of their culture – it’s also a huge source of
revenue for them as it opens up the country to tourists.
After lunch and a quick look around the tel-Jericho, we
started on our journey to Jerusalem. On the way, we also made a visit to
Bethlehem, the place of Jesus’ birth. Here we visited the Church of Nativity.
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| last of the snow still along the side of the road |
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| passing by Jerusalem on the way to Bethlehem |
Bethlehem is also under the Palestinian Authority and so
again, we had to go through a check point. Apparently, our Israeli guide was
not supposed to go into areas that are under Palestinian Authority – there was
a bit of nervousness as we didn’t leave him behind, but instead he sat at the
back of the bus. As you may have heard about how there are fights between
Israelis and Palestinians on the news, I think this is one of the reasons why
they don’t allow Israelis into areas that are under Palestinian Authority – we
also hoped that he would be safe and no one would provoke anyone else.
Walking to the Church of Nativity, I think he felt a little
nervous too. But our local Palestinian guide is a Christian, an Arab Christian.
He was ok with our Israeli guide coming as well. I hope everything will be ok
soon between the Israelis and Palestinians – not being Israeli and Palestinian
makes it hard for us to understand the real conflict between them. To me it
seems trivial, Israel doesn’t recognize Palestine as a separate nation and it’s
people, while Palestine doesn’t feel that it is a part of Israel…. Israel
limits the movement of the Palestinians, I heard that Palestinians don’t have
passports… but I also heard from our Palestinian tour guide (the Arab
Christian) that he’s traveled to other places in the world… is there a
Palestinian passport? Then doesn’t that solve the problem?
I don’t think I’ll ever truly understand why they can’t
accept each other and just live peacefully together… so I’ll go back to talking
about the Church of Nativity.
To enter the Church of Nativity, you need to go through the
Door of Humility – where it’s so low you have to bend over to enter. The church
is a UNESCO heritage site, and it’s under the authority of the Greek Orthodox,
Roman Catholic and the Armenian Apostolic. When we visited the church was
undergoing renovations.
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| lining up to squeeze into the crypt |
We visited the crypt where the place where Jesus was born is
marked by a 14-point star, and we also see the place where he slept in his
manger.
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| 14 point star mars the spot where Jesus was born |
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| this grid and hanging candles mark the spot where he was laid in a manger |
Then we went next door to a side church that also connect to
the Church of Nativity and this is the Church of St. Catherine, where the
Christmas Eve Mass is broadcasted from around the world.
We were also supposed to visit the field where the shepherds
heard from Angels about the news of the birth of Jesus, but it was late and
dark so we went back to our hotel in Jerusalem.
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| trains that run through the city like buses - been in use for only 2 years! |
Day 6 – Jerusalem:
Church of the Pater Noster > Dominus
Flevit Chapel >
Gethsemane > Church of Peter and
the Rooster > Mount Zion and the
Room of the Last Supper > Jerusalem Old City tour >
The Western Wall (aka The Wailing Wall) >
The Garden Tomb >
Shepherd’s Field (Bethlehem)
First thing in the morning, we made our way to the Mount of
Olives, where Jesus used to live and he would walk from there into Jerusalem.
At the Church of Pater Noster, this is land that is owned by France, there is a
church built to remember this as the place where Jesus taught the disciples
“The Lord’s Prayer”.
From there we walked down to the Dominus Flevit Chapel,
which has a great view of the old city of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock.
“Dominus Flevit” means “The Lord wept” is the shape of a tear drop and the
interesting thing about this chapel is that the altar faces the west instead of
the east as in most Catholic churches. The reason for this is because it didn’t
want to turn it’s back from Jerusalem, but rather wants to face it.
Following this, we walked down to Gethsemane, where Jesus
prayed in the Garden of Olives and asked God to take away this mission but if
it was His will, then he will die. It’s also the place where they arrested
Jesus.
Olive trees will grow new shoots from the old dead tree’s
center so it’s symbolic of resurrection too.
We went into the Basilica of the Agony which is right next
to the Garden of Olives and there was Mass taking place.
Following the path of Jesus, we then went to Mount Zion and
visited the church that remembers Peter and the three times he denied knowing
Jesus. Inside the church are dungeons and it is in one of these dungeons that
Jesus was brought to after his arrest and he was lowered into the dungeon by
rope through a hole at the top of the dungeon.
Then we went up to a place where Jesus had his last supper
with his disciples, the room is now decorated in the style of the Crusaders –
vaulted ceilings but also has certain elements from Islam – like this Mihrab.
Below the room, is the chamber of King David’s tomb. As it’s
a place where Jews go to pray, we had to separate women from men, and the men
had to cover the top of their head with a Kippah.
Then we entered Jerusalem the old walled city by going
through Zion Gate. The city is split into four sections – Armenian quarter,
Jewish quarter, Muslim quarter and Christian quarter. Zion Gate goes into the
Armenian quarter, and from there we walked through to the Jewish quarter and
then to the Western Wall.
The Western Wall surrounds the area known as Temple Mount –
where the first and second temple were and where the Dome of the Rock now
stands. The Dome of the Rock which we will visit the next day is a Muslim symbol
– originally this is the place where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son
Isaac on a rock, and where the first temple and second temple were built. Later
on the Muslim took over this area and built the Dome of the Rock.
The Western Wall is a significant Jewish location because
Temple Mount is the most sacred place, but they lost it to the Muslims. I’m not
sure if the Jews go to the Western Wall just to pray that they get back the
land that is the Temple Mount, or why they cry/wail – is it because they are so
hurt? (well this is more for those super conservative Jews I think…)
At the Western Wall, again, it’s separated into two sections
– one for men, one for women. But the funny thing is that when you walk into
the women’s section, you see all these women standing up on plastic chairs
looking over into the men’s section. This is because they are usually family
and friends who came to the Western Wall together to celebrate. Usually they
are here to celebrate the coming-of-age ceremony of a boy (when they turn 13
years old) – bar mitzvah.
It’s quite funny, because it almost looks like a blind
dating site… the group that I saw, the men were singing and then the women
would throw candy in the air. Some would even release balloons.
There are also some who are here for more serious matters,
and they will go right up to the wall and pray with their foreheads against the
wall. Some will leave prayers written on paper in the cracks between rocks in
the wall.
After lunch at an Armenian restaurant, we went to The Garden
Tomb. This is one of the places that archaeologist believe could be where Jesus
was crucified. The reason is because this location is just outside of the old
city of Jerusalem, and there is a road that is next to the crucifixion site
which is what is described in the Bible.
Although a lot of images will depict the cross at the top of
a hill, but actually it should be in a place where,
1.
outside the city walls of Jerusalem
2.
near a gate of the city
3.
along a busy road
4.
at the place of Golgoatha (which means skull –
there’s some caves on a mountain behind the execution site that looks like a
skull)
5.
a garden nearby
The Garden Tomb’s area all fit these description.
There is also a tomb in the area that fits the description
of the tomb that supposedly his two disciples and Mary visited after his death.
Most tombs are made of two chambers, one in the front, one in the back. But
this tomb had four sections and they were not in a line. Mary and the disciples
didn’t have to step into the tomb to see Jesus’ body, they saw it from the
door, and from the layout of this tomb, it is possible to see diagonally into
the tomb’s far corner room.
To end the day, we made our way to Bethlehem again to see
the field where the shepherds heard the news of the birth of Jesus.
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