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Published: March 19th 2008
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View of Jerusalem
Scenic view from Mt of Olives - from here you can see the places where Jesus spent his last days. After arriving from Cairo we settled into our hotel in the central area of Tel Aviv known as Dizengoff Square and the next morning after a late start went off to the Diamond District to try and get my camera serviced - several months of traveling through harsh environments was starting to take its toll!!
Negotiating our way through a protest (demonstrating against the Israeli government's lack of action against the Palestinian rocket attacks) we made our way back to Dizengoff to prepare for dinner that evening with my good friend's Sasha and Oren. During an excellent dinner (thanks again guys), we talked about our plans for our week in Israel and based upon their strong recommendation decided to get a guide for our visit to the Old City of Jerusalem the following day.
With Oren's help, we were able to source a fantastic local guide at the last minute and by mid-morning we were standing on a hillside on the Mt of Olives overlooking the Old City. Looking at Jerusalem from the Mt of Olives is a humbling experience - from one spot you can see many sites and locations that are amongst the most famous (or infamous)
Hall of the Last Supper
This Crusader era building was apparently built on the site of the "Last Supper" in human history - the site of the Last Supper, the betrayal of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Golgotha - the site of the crucifixion, the Dome of the Rock - one of the most important places in Islam and site of the First and Second Jewish Temples; and the Mosque of the Ascension where Jesus supposedly ascended to heaven after arising from the dead. The only problem with our time on the Mt of Olives was that it was overcast and bloody cold!!
Our next stop was Mt Zion where we made our way to the "Hall of the Last Supper" - this is a structure built by the Crusaders and Christian tradition holds that the hall is located on the site where Jesus had his final meal with the disciples. There was little of interest about the building itself, except for the groups of pilgrims singing and praying that clearly felt that the place had some deeper meaning. On the lower floor, we stopped by a stone sarcophagus revered as the tomb and final resting place of the Hebrew King David (of David and Goliath fame). Apparently archaeologists today have doubts about the tomb's authenticity, however,
Roman Cardo
The remains of this Roman street was uncovered during construction in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem jewish people still regard it as a very sacred place.
Making our way into the Old City via the Zion Gate, we walked past the Citadel where a fortress has existed since the time of Herod and was the likely site of Jesus' trial and sentencing. In the Jewish quarter we stopped by the Cardo - an ancient Roman street - uncovered during building in the Jewish Quarter after it was largely destroyed during the Jordanian occupation. We also stopped briefly to look at the 8th Century B.C remains of the "Broad Wall" before moving onto the holiest site in Judaism - the Western or "Wailing" Wall. This wall was originally part of the structure that encompassed the Second Jewish Temple and as such is all that remains of the most important place in Judaism - now that the Dome of the Rock Mosque is built on the site of the temple, the wall is as close as Jews can get, hence it's great importance. Interesting trivia - the wall was nicknamed the "Wailing Wall" as ancient jews used to come there to lament the destruction of the Second Temple.
Watching all of the Orthodox Jews dressed in
The Western Wall
The Western or "Wailing" wall was part of the Second Temple complex and is the holiest part of Jerusalem for jewish people. their 18th Century clothes, rocking back and forth as they recited their prayers was interesting, though I can't ever imagine being devoted enough to do that several times a day! After a brief look at the wall's foundations in the Western Wall Tunnel, we headed into the Muslim Quarter to walk through the centuries old bazaars and markets. The poorest part of Jerusalem, many of the shops in the Muslim area have remnants of ancient structures in their basements and storage areas - it is also the beginning of the Via Dolorosa or "Way of Sorrows".
The fourteen stations of the Via Dolorosa are supposed to be the locations where various events happened during Jesus' final hours - his condemnation by Pontius Pilate, flogging and crowning with thorns, falling down with the cross, his crucifixion, death and anointing of his body. However, the interesting thing is that the number of stations and their location have changed over the years until all the Christian leaders got together and reached a common agreement - as such it makes it very difficult to tell what is historically accurate and what is merely tradition and folklore.
The final few stations are all
Ecce Homo Arch
This arch over the Via Dolorosa is where tradition holds that Pontius Pilate presented Christ to the crowd. encompassed within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is a truly amazing place - despite my complete lack of religious convictions I still found being there quite moving. Seeing the hordes of pilgrims and tourists paying their respects at Jesus' tomb and watching the devotees of the various denominations visit the areas of the Church allocated to their sect was very interesting. One final point of interest about the Church is that the key is held by a muslim family that have lived in Jerusalem for generations and open and lock the Church doors each day - this situation arose because the various Christian sects couldn't agree on who should keep the key!!
Heading back to Tel Aviv for a dinner with members of my old team, we mapped out a plan with our guide for a lightning quick three day tour of northern and coastal Israel once we got back from Jordan. The next morning we flew to beautiful Eilat on the Red Sea Coast and had a relaxing afternoon and evening.
Thanks again to Dvir Baruch for a great day in Jerusalem - I highly recommend him for anyone traveling there as his knowledge really
made a huge difference to our visit (dbtour@yahoo.com).
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