Jerusalem, Israel

The most amazing day I spent during my brief time in Israel was in the city of Jerusalem.  We all went with a group via the University of Tel Aviv and we had the most incredible tour guide, Dan.

He gave us some history on the way there, which took about an hour on the bus.  But of course, I can't help but hear my favorite song ever... Driver 8 by REM.  "The power lines have floaters so the airplanes won't get snagged."

After passing through the University of Jerusalem and winding our way through the narrow streets north and east of the city, we made our way to the Mount of Olives.  THE MOUNT OF OLIVES!!!!  The Mount of Olives, of course is the spot where Jesus ascended into heaven.  Wait.  Did you hear me?  The spot where Jesus ascended into heaven!!!  Super incredible.  From there, you have the most amazing views of the old town of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Within the Temple Mount, you see the beautiful gold dome is the Dome of the Rock.  The silver covered Al Aqsa Mosque. The area you see between the two domes is one of the most holy sites for the Jewish and Islamic faiths.  In fact, in the Jewish faith, the Temple Mount is THE most important holy site to visit.  This is where God's existence is evident more than any other place. This is where God made the first human, Adam.

The golden dome clearly sticks out, but you can see the holiest site in Christianity, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  It's in the background just to the left of the Dome of the Rock (also with a silver dome.)  More on this later! 

Looking to the south of Jerusalem, you'll see the City of David.  (Not the City of David that is Bethlehem but the one in Jerusalem which can be dated as far back as 4500 BCE!)

For fun (but of course I didn't do it), you can ride a camel at the Mount of Olives.

Near the end of his life, Jesus rode a white donkey back and forth from the Mount of Olives down to Jerusalem each day.  You can also ride a white donkey at the Mount of Olives.  While I get that this is super cheesy, I can also appreciate someone wanting to literally do the things that Jesus did to feel closer to him.

Cats of Jerusalem.

We continued to make our way down the very, very steep hill toward the Kidron Valley.  Ayala who was wearing her Toms, kept sliding down this hill!

Tradition holds that those buried at the Mount of Olives will be the first to be resurrected with the second coming (or for every other religion other than Christianity... the first coming of the Messiah!)  There are about 70,000 graves here on the Mount of Olives, dating all the way back to about 3,000 years ago.

We started down the hill that Jesus rode back and forth between the Mount of Olives and the walled city of Jerusalem on his white donkey in the days preceding his death and we arrived at the garden that surrounds the Dominus Flevit Church.  Ancient tombs were found here in the 1940s that date back to a couple of hundred years before Christ to a couple of hundred years after. After death, the bodies were put in a tomb until the flesh and organs organically disappeared, usually about a year.  Then the bones were put into these small boxes called ossuaries.

These ancient graves are located in the garden area of the Dominus Flevit church, which translates to, "The Lord wept."  It's believed this is the spot where Jesus looked out upon Jerusalem and, knowing the destruction of Jewish people that was to come after his death, he weeps.  The church itself, which is relatively new as it was built in the mid 1950s, is shaped like a teardrop.

Nothing super special about this little garden (it's not marked, so it's not a famous site of Jesus) but man, they mean business when they put up barbed wiring so people will stay off the grass!  One would think the fence would be enough?!?

As you continue to make your way down the hill to the Kidron Valley, the Temple Mount area comes into better view.  The Dome of the Rock is situated where The Temple of Solomon (or the First Temple) once stood before it was burned in 587 BCE.  It is said to have been where the Ark of the Covenant was stored in the days of the First Temple.

Our next stop down toward the Kidron Valley was the Garden of Gethsemane.  If you're a church goer like me, you probably heard about the Garden of Gethsemane around Easter, because the night before he was crucified and died, Jesus prayed in this garden after the Last Supper.  Meanwhile, his disciples were about 100 meters away (likely in a cave or grotto) sleeping! (Must have been a good supper, and/or too much wine! I kind of can't blame them!)  Jesus wasn't very happy with them, of course.  This is also the place where the guards came to arrest Jesus after Judas betrayed him. 

The Garden of Gethsemane sign.

The olive trees here are most certainly very old.  Olive trees are very difficult to check for their age, since their trunks grow hollow over time.  Carbon dating has shown that these trees are at least 1000 years old, and genetically, they were all descendants of the same tree.  Also, when you cut an olive tree down, it's shoots will grow back into a new tree.  So while it's not known whether these are the exact olive trees Jesus prayed under, it's certainly the same garden, and it's likely that the trees are offspring from the ones he walked among.

Prayers according to Matthew that Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Pope's from the Roman Catholic faith are known to have come into the garden early in their papal reign and plant an olive tree.

One last neat thing about this garden is that during the days of Jesus, it was one of many groves of olives that were present along the Mount of Olives.  Over the years, between the Romans and the Crusaders, the trees were cut down to make battering rams and other weapons since the city of Jerusalem is well fortified.  This is one the last remaining olive groves in the area.

Adjoining the Garden of Gethsemane is the very pretty Church of All Nations.  Some believe that this is the actual spot where Jesus prayed right before his arrest.  The rock itself ("The Rock of Agony") sits in front of the alter. I took a picture of it, but it didn't come out very well.  Instead, you can see the ceiling, which gives an indication of why it's called the Church of All Nations.  Notice the French flag in one of the circles on the ceiling!  Overall, there were 12 countries that donated to the church during it's construction, and their flags are placed around the ceiling.  This church itself was built in 1924, but there have been three churches on this spot throughout history.



I'm kind of wild about purple so, I really loved this stained glass!

We met up with Dan outside of the church after our visit and my wide zoom lens let me capture the whole thing.

At this point, we have finally made it to the bottom of Kidron Valley. You can still see the bushes that line the small stream here.   You can also see the walled up "Golden Gate" in the upper center part of the picture above. It is thought by the Jewish religion that God's presence will appear here upon the arrival of the Messiah.

 As you continue through Kidron Valley, you come across Absalom's tomb.  Absalom isn't buried here, and this monument wasn't built until more than 1,000 years after his time.  Absalom was King David's son, and was quite rebellious.  He tried to lead a revolt against his father and declared himself king, only to lose his lift in a battle where his army was soundly defeated.  To teach naughty children of Jerusalem about disobeying their parents, they're often brought here to be taught about what happens if you disobey your parents!

Looking back up to the Mount of Olives.  Look at all of those graves!

As you keep walking, you come across the original City of David.  This is where King David set up his city 1000 years before Christ.  There's still a lot of excavating going on, but I think on my next visit I would like to see more of this area.  You can take a tour and get a closer look at the walled city, the underground sewer system, what *might be* King David's palace, and even a few really old toilets!

This was the tomb of the Sons of Hezir and the Tomb of Zechariah. Zechariah was a Jewish prophet who lived long before the days of Jesus, yet experts are confident that this tomb was built in the 1st century AD.  So it's likely more a monument than an actual tomb.

Finally we made it to the walled section of Jerusalem.  Above us, the call to prayer was going out from the Al Aqsa Mosque. This mosque is Islam's third holiest site, behind Mecca and Medina.  One super cool fact about the Al Aqsa Mosque is that the Crusaders used it as a palace in the 1100s, and later in 1120, it became the headquarters of the Knights Templar!

We entered the city of Jerusalem through the Dung Gate (built in the 1500s).  Our first stop was the Western Wall.  In order to get INTO the area, you have to go through security, much like at the airport.

There IS a dress code at the Western Wall.  Women must not show exposed shoulders or knees, and men are required to cover their heads (yarmulke's are available, but a baseball cap will work too).  It is expected that both married women (as well as men) also cover their heads. No sleeveless shirts are allowed for men, either! 

 Unfortunately, we took our tour of Jerusalem on Shabbat, or the Sabbath, which is observed from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. During this time, you are not allowed to use electronics.  This also includes the magnetometer which is used for security!  Now I know you're thinking... this doesn't even make sense because they didn't have electricity during the time these laws were written! There are 39 things defined as melakhah (or "work") that are prohibited during the Shabbat.  One of them is "lighting a fire."  Orthodox Jews believe that the small spark created when turning on or off electronics (whether that's a light bulb, a camera, or your iPhone) constitutes lighting a fire.  So the turning on and off of electronics is therefore prohibited.

Again, since it was Shabbat, we were not allowed to take any pictures so I borrowed this one from Wikipedia.  I know that some people break the rules and take pictures anyway and I know I'm not Jewish, but these are the rules, and I am respectful of them.  Although I can't share with you my experience, I'm grateful to have the pictures and memories in my head.

I did go to the wall to pray. Women go to pray in the smaller section on the right.  Men go to the left. This is Judaism's MOST HOLY site. It is said that God's divine presence is ALWAYS with the Western Wall.  Many people write their prayers on small pieces of paper and leave them in the cracks of the wall.  The lower seven rows of stones are still in place from when Herod the Great constructed the wall in 20 BC.  Also, you are not allowed to ever turn your back on the wall, so when you leave, you must walk backwards.  Kind of like when leaving the presence of Queen Elizabeth! HA!

We now made our way into the Arabic Quarter of Jerusalem.  This means LUNCH, which we ate at a little place called Between the Arches.  I'll have some shawarma and a Coke Zero, please! 

Our next objective was to walk the Via Dolorosa and make our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  The Via Dolorosa or, "Way of Pain" is the path that Jesus took from his condemnation to death up to Calvary where he was to be crucified.  This is the path that he had to take while carrying the heavy cross.  Some scholars do not believe this is the correct path, but I like to think that it really doesn't matter because if it wasn't here, it was probably just around the corner!

I would consider this roadway WIDE for Jerusalem.  (I like the guards on the right, too!)

We began our trek at Station 4.  Stations 1-3 were somewhat far away (where Jesus is condemned to death, gets his cross, and falls for the first time) so we began at station 4, where Jesus meets his mother.  Although the New Testament does not mention this meeting anywhere, many people believe this happened.

As we were standing there at the fourth station of the cross, the road appears to change for a small section.  They had unearthed the original paving stones from the Second Temple Era (100 BC to 100 AD).  It had been about three meters down, and they found the entire road, some of which was restored.  Pretty cool!

Station 5 is where Simon of Cyrene helps (or gets ordered to) Jesus carry the cross.

Next, you must start making your way up to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  This road is definitely more like the other narrow roads of Jerusalem!

At this point, Dan brings us to station 6, which is where Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.  This story is also one that doesn't appear in the gospels, and no one knows what has become of the cloth since it spent time in Rome during the Middle Ages.

Well that's a giant distraction from the holiness of the Via Dolorosa!  War Eagle!!!

Station 7 is where Jesus falls for the second time.

Somehow we missed station 8!  I still can't figure out how.  Here ahead we have station 9, which is where Jesus fell for the third time.  Ahead we finally see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  This church was built on the site where Jesus was crucified and resurrected.

We made our way to a little courtyard on the property of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  The history of "ownership" of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is an interesting one.  The major churches of Christianity around the world all own sections of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  You can see in the above photo that the Greek Orthodox church appears to own the most, followed by the Roman Catholic church (Latins), the Armenian Orthodox church, the Syrian Orthodox church, and finally the Copts (although the Copts and Ethiopians actually co-own the roof of the Chapel of St. Helen (which the floor space is owned by the Armenians).  Imagine owning a piece of the roof!  And yes, they do hold services up there!

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the ownership of the church is the "Status Quo." The above picture is on the other side near the entrance of the church and I took this picture a little later in the day, but wanted to show you  the ladder that you can see beneath one of the windows on the left side. There are a long standing historical set of rules that all of the Christian religions agree to abide by with regard to the church and it's ceremonies, rites and rituals as well as the possessions within.  For a long time (literally, hundreds of years), there was fighting among them as to who had ownership of the holy places.  While the original set of rules were introduced in 1757, the Ottoman Sultan declared in 1852 that however it stood on that day, that is who has ownership of the sections of the church and that is how it should stay.  This Status Quo has remained in effect ever since.  The wooden ladder remains here as a reminder that nothing in the church can be altered or moved without the consent of all six of the sects, not even the movement of a simple ladder.  (Side note of course:  The ladder is actually there so that the balcony can be cleaned!  The Armenian Superior used to drink coffee out here and he even had a garden at one point!)

In addition to the Status Quo, one more interesting fact remains.  Two Muslim families (yes, I said Muslim!) actually hold the key to the door of the Holy Sepulchre.  The story goes way back to the days of Muhammed.  The Caliph Omar was a senior adviser to the Prophet Muhammed in the early to mid 600s AD.  He was on a visit to Jerusalem and toured the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with (now Saint) Sophronious who was the Patriarch of Jerusalem.  When it came time to pray, Sophronious told the Caliph Omar that he could just pray in the church.  However, Omar declined and went outside to pray, knowing that if he prayed in the church, the people of Islam would want to build a Mosque there.  He had that much respect for Christianity, that he went outside to pray so that a mosque would never be built on the site. Sophronious was grateful, and gave Omar the keys to the church.  Omar obviously wasn't able to be the keeper of the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, so he entrusted the keys to the Joudeh and Nuseibeh families, who still hold the keys today.

Unfortunately, we were told by some policemen that the highest official in the Orthodox church was actually IN the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and that the church was closed.  WHAT. I came all this way to see this church and it's closed!?!  No worries, it will reopen at 5. 

 We decided to do the rest of the tour and then come back at 5 pm and see if the Orthodox leader was out of the church at that time. Instead, we sauntered into the Jewish Quarter.  There are 4 quarters in the city:  The Jewish Quarter, the Armenian Quarter, the Arabic Quarter and the Christian Quarter.

Almost as soon as you walk into the Jewish Quarter, you see the remnants of the Broad Wall from about 700 BC.  The rocks at the bottom of the above photo are all that remain, but the wall was estimated to be much, much higher!

The Broad Wall was about 215 feet long and ran from the Temple Mount to the south.

 Another nearby archaeological discovery was the Cardo. In Roman times, the Cardo was the major north-south thoroughfare.  What you see above is only about half of the main road as the entire thing was about 22 meters wide.  Pedestrian traffic and little shops lined the area inside of the columns.

The Cardo links the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with the Zion Gate, although this gate was built in 1540.  It is riddled with bullet holes from the 6 Day War in 1967.  The 6 Day War happened (at least in part) as a result of the Egyptians blocking use of the Suez Canal through the Straits of Tiran by the Israeli's (or any ship traveling to or from Israel) in 1967.  This violated international law and agreements, so this started the 6 Day War.  During that war in 1967, the Israeli's surprised everyone, taking the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights.  The Sinai Peninsula remained under Israeli control until 1979 when a peace treaty was issued and the Israeli forces withdrew (although the canal reopened in 1975 as Israeli forces withdrew from that area in exchange for the Egyptians allowing Israeli ships to pass through freely once again).

Heading outside of the Zion Gate, we next went to the nearby Church of the Dormition.  This is believed by some to be the spot where Mary ascended into heaven (body and all!).  Others think that she ascended in Ephesus where the Gospels say she went with John (who was to take care of her after the death of Jesus). The land was given by the Turkish Sultan to Kaiser Wilhelm in 1898, who then gifted it to the Catholic church who then built this church on it in 1910!

We didn't actually go into the Church of the Dormition (next time!) but we did make a quick stop at King David's tomb.  This location is most definitely disputed, due to the fact that no one really knows where the real Mount Zion is, although it is said that King David was buried at Zion. It was originally believed that Mount Zion is where the current Temple Mount is.  But later accounts show it as being in the southwestern part of the city (where this tomb is located). The Bible also says he is buried in the City of David (which is a bit west of this area).

Again, since it was Shabbat, we were not allowed to take pictures in King David's tomb, so I borrowed this one from Wikipedia (source: By Berthold Werner (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons). 

Our next stop was one of my favorite stops of the entire day.  The room where the Last Supper was held.  THE LAST SUPPER!  (Now imagine me smacking my forehead in disbelief that I am even here!) The Cenacle (as it is called) is located above the tomb of King David. It is not only the site of the Last Supper, but also the spot where Jesus appeared to the apostles after his death.

Unfortunately this room has been destroyed and rebuilt a few times, thus giving us the current Gothic look.  It was mentioned in Mark 14:15 and Luke 22:12 that the last supper took place in an "upper room" where he transformed the bread into his body and the wine into his blood, reminding us that his blood would be shed so that we could all have eternal life. 

The only sect that does not believe this is the real location of the Last Supper is the Syrian Orthodox church, who believes the real location is the nearby Church of St. Mark.  St. Mark was St. Peter's right hand man as they traveled about preaching to the masses.  Within the last century, excavations found a 6th century inscription that declares this was house of St. Mark's mother, Mary.

Many people won't find this as interesting as I do, but when the Crusaders invaded around 1100, they left some "graffiti" behind in the Cenacle... including this shield of the city of Regensburg, Germany!  That's only about an hour and a half from my house!

 I saw a few people from the Kellogg group head up to the roof and decided to follow them for some great views of the Church of the Dormition.  This is where I nearly lost the group and Ayala was out looking for me! 

This man is wearing a shtreimel on the Shabbat. It's only worn on the Shabbat and on holidays and is only worn by married men.

Back in the narrow streets of Jerusalem, after we passed back through the Zion Gate.

Seriously?!?  I can't even with this!!!!

We made our way back to a little square near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre so we could waste a bit of time doing some shopping while Dan went to check and see if the church was reopened.  One of the guys with the group got a coffee that looked amazing, so I went with him to get one too.  It was just this little room where the guy made espresso with cardamom in it.  It was one of the best (although hottest) coffees I've ever had!!!

So good. And so, so hot.

It was finally time to head into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  The holiest site in the Christian world, it's the location of where Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again on the third day.  The church itself was built originally by Constantine in 326 AD on the site of a Pagan temple. Constantine's mother, Helena allegedly found the cross that Jesus bore and was crucified on in a nearby cistern.  Constantine's church was destroyed by the Persians in 614 and was rebuilt later.  It was again destroyed by the Muslims in 1009, and of course... rebuilt again, this time in 1149 by the Crusaders.  That's pretty much how it stands today, although it has been renovated and added on to over the years.  Many people don't know that this area had been a quarry around the time of Jesus.  The quarry was filled with limestone and was mined for use in building parts of Jerusalem.  However, at one point, the quarrymen came upon a rock that was defective so they left the large column standing.  It apparently gave the appearance of a skull, hence the name Gol'gotha ("place of a skull") which is mentioned several times in the Bible.

We took an immediate right and went up the stairs to Calvary.  They have the MOST beautiful mosaics I have ever seen in my life.  And I've seen some mosaics! 

Calvary is the hill upon which Jesus was crucified.  The top of the rock is approximately 15 feet up above ground level (although we know that over time, ground level goes up naturally so it's possible the top of Calvary was a bit higher than 15 feet above ground level back in the day of Jesus). The sparkly mosaic ceiling was really something!  This ceiling is in the chapel where Jesus was nailed to the cross (the 11th station of the cross).

Located just to the left of where Jesus was nailed to the cross is the Chapel of the Crucifixion.  Candles in front of where Jesus Christ died. 

It's hard to gather exactly what is going on here, but in order to touch the rock upon which Jesus was crucified, you have to stand in a VERY long line, which we did not have time for (again... next trip!)  But you can kneel on the floor underneath what looks like an alter and put your hands on the rock. The rock is large (although not as large as I thought it would be) and extends to either side of the alter area beneath the glass you see.  This is "owned" by the Greek Orthodox church, hence the very elaborate details surrounding the site.

You can also (barely) see to the far right a small arched glass enclosed space that houses a depiction of Mary.  This is the Alter of our Lady of Sorrows, which is where Jesus was taken down from the cross (the 13th station).

Behind the candle holder, you can see the white rock of Calvary.  You can also get a good sense of how people kneel down to touch the rock beneath the alter.

I guess about two people can fit in there!  You can definitely see the rocks better from this position. You can also make out the giant crack in the rock on the right side (just between the two women with backpacks).  It's possible this crack was caused by the earthquake that happened right after Jesus died.  It's also very possible that this crack is the reason why the quarrymen left this "junk rock" standing.  

This mosaic on the wall depicts Joseph of Arimathea anointing Jesus after he was taken down off of the cross.  Right behind where I'm standing taking this picture is where that event is believed to have taken place.

People were VERY emotional over this stone, although it's known that this is not the exact stone that Jesus was anointed on!  It's believed to have been at this location, but not this particular stone.

There was lots of bowing, kissing, touching, and blessing of objects going on here.

The artwork and the beautiful ceiling fixtures and lamps of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Around the corner from the anointing stone is the location of the tomb of Jesus.  For the past year or so, this has (under the Status Quo agreement of course) been under renovation and they had apparently just taken down the scaffolding and other reparation tools.  This Edicule, or the Tomb of Christ is the 14th station of the cross.  Again, it was a really long wait so we didn't get to go inside (should I say it again?  Next time!) but inside there are two sections.  The first houses what is believed to be a small portion of the giant rock that was moved in front of the tomb after Jesus was placed there.  Apparently you can also go down a bit farther and see the actual spot where Jesus laid after his burial. Not everyone believes this is the location of the burial spot of Jesus, mostly because it is clearly within the city walls and it's well known that cemeteries were not placed within city walls.  However, excavations that took place during the 1900s found several burial areas dating from the first century AD, proving that this area was indeed outside of the city walls at the time of Jesus.

I had to get a picture of the Edicule from the side so you can see the pretty top.  The whole thing used to be quite filthy (due to all of the candle smoke in the church).  Not only was the outside cleaned, but some discoveries were made inside as well.  The original limestone burial bed that the body of Jesus laid on was still there, located under several layers of marble. 

I've seen this picture around and it really gave me a much better sense of how it looked in 30 AD vs. how it looked today.  Constantine cut away the rock around the tomb in order to build the first church here (Source: Yupi666 at English Wikipedia). 

The dome above the burial spot of Jesus.

We were on our way to the Chapel of St. Adam when we saw this - another section of the rock of Calvary.  Remember, it was about 15 feet high so as you make your way deeper into the Church, you definitely run into some of the lower portions of the rock.

Right around the corner from the above section of the rock of Calvary is the Chapel of Adam.  I know this story probably isn't true, but it's said that Adam had been buried here. When the earthquake occurred after the death of Jesus, the newly formed cracks in the rock of Calvary allowed Jesus's blood to drip down to Adam's skull thereby emancipating him.  The name Adam in Hebrew means "man" so the story is likely allegorical -- the blood of Jesus redeems all men.  But I like the other story too!

Looking down into the Chapel of St. Helena.  This is one of the deepest sections of the church.

I don't want to leave!  This was such an amazing experience!

Alas, it was time to head back through the market on our way to the Jaffa gate. As usual, it was bustling with people and sales.

Outside of the Jaffa gate looking back toward the Tower of David.

The old walls of Jerusalem.

Until next time Jerusalem!  I'm very much looking forward to returning!  This was absolutely one of the best experiences of my life!