Day 10, March 28, 2009 Bethlehem, Herodion

To the right is the Rosary Sisters Convent Guest House where we stayed while in Jerusalem.   It was quite grand, but yet simple and homey at the same time.

We are back on the tour bus this morning and headed for the West Bank. We proceed through the Israeli check station with no problem. Our first stop is Herodion, which is a large fortress and palace built up on a volcano like man-made hill. It is quite a steep climb to the top, but we all made it. There are the remains of a Roman Bath, porticos, and a large room with columns and of course the cistern! The climbed down the cistern to the tunnels carved through the hill. These tunnels were used by the Jew

s during the Jewish revolts against the Romans of 67 and 140 AD. And just recently found and excavated is the 

tomb of King Herod. This was all very cool!

We go on to Bethlehem where we have a local guide. We stop at the gift shop where

 we are served tea and coffee and encouraged to buy of course. The guide then took us to The Shepherd's Field. There were some ruins of a monastic center from th 4th of 5th century and also fields to look over and underground caves. These are the fields of Ruth and Naomi, David and his family and the sheperds who heard the announcement of the angels when Jesus was born. We went to a newer church called The Shepherd's Church which is made in the shape of a cave.

We visited the Church of the Nativity, which is built over the site where it is believed that Jesus was born.  It is the oldest Christian church in Israel, originally built by Constantine's wife Helena.  We were able to view and amazing original mosaic floor and many of icons as this was a Greek Orthodox church.

We spent the rest of our time today in Jerusalem at the Israeli Museum in the Shrine of the Book, which had displays of some of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  From there we went to the airport and eventually home.  What a wonderful trip with a great guide and good friends!

Day 9 March 27, 2009 Jerusalem

We beging the day with a knock on the door from Dave, letting us know that Day

light savings time change happened today and we were late for breakfast! After breakfast, Terrance gathered us in a room at the convent for a couple of d

evotions on Christ's agony in the garden and his death and resurrection.

We enter again through the Jaffa Gate and walk through the Christian Quarter to

 the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is at this location where the events too

k place that is the basis of ou

r Christian faith. This is huge church which was outside of the city walls when Jesus was crucified. The entire church is divided into many chapels of 6 different sects of Christianity. We first observed the site where Jesus was crucified and then saw some empty tombs cut into the rock beneath the church. The line to see the location of Christ's empty tomb was huge, so we went for an early lunch in the Muristan area. Of course there are a multitude of shops selling us souveniers.

Returning to the church, we find that the line is still long but better. We wait for about an hour and are allowed into the site a few at a time to view the marble slab that marks the tomb of Jesus. There were pilgrims from all over the world...we heard Italian, Russian and languages that we couldn't identify. It was a very moving time for all. Many people were lighting candles and extinguishing them to bring home a candle that had been lighted at this site.

We then walk toward the Lion's Gate to the site of the Pool of Bethesda. A church has been built at the site (of course) called St Anne's. This is thought to be the birthplace of Mary...her parents are Anne and Joachim...so that's why the name of the church. The church has amazing acoustics and tour groups go in just to sing. We were so thankful to have Donna Newcombe with us, who could

 lead us in a couple songs. Later we were able to hear a group from Uganda singing and dancing. The ruins of the Pools were quite interesting and extensive. Some remains at the site were from a Temple to Asclepius, the god of healing. So it has been known for its healing qualities from ancient times. It was at these pools that Jesus healed the lame man on the Sabbath.

Our next stop is the Garden of Gethsemane, where there is a beautiful garden of old olive trees. And of course another church to commemorate the site and the stone where Jesus prayed in the garden before his death. A few of us walk back through the Muslim Quarter to the Damascus Gate. Then we walk on home to the convent, thinking we would purchase food at the grocery store for a potluck. But is is the Sabbath and the store is closed. A few of the men volunteer to walk into the Old City to find a store that is open. They are successful and we have quite a spread of pita, bread, cheese, meats, fruit and veges.

We say goodbye to Jim, Judi and Jerry who leave us in the morning to head to Jordan and Petra.

Day 8 March 26, 2009 Jerusalem

The sisters at the convent guesthouse have a nice breakfast buffet for us this morning. We have toast, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheeses, their own yogurt, olives and olive oil from

 their olive trees. Our agenda for today is to visit The City of David archaeololgical site, the Pool of Siloam and the Wohl Museum of Archaeology.

We begin by entering the Old City by way of the Jaffa Gate and walk through the Armenian Quarter and the Jewish Quarter to the Dung Gate. Outsite the Dung Gate is The City of David with ruins of a palace that could mostly likely be David's palace. Terrance also took us to "Area G" where we saw ruins of houses from the 7th century BC, an ancient tower, and homes with indoor plumbing! We were able to climb down into the Canaanite (before the Israelites) water system, which is a series of tunnels that connect to the water source of the Gihon Springs. We were able to see the entrance to Hezekiah's tunnel (45 minutes walk through knee deep water) that he had 

built to have water

 supply inside the city walls during the Assyrian's seige of 701 BC.

The ruins of the Pool of Siloam where Jesus sent the blind man to wash and regain his sight was very interesting. I bought a widow's mite from a young guide at the site. Recently excavated are the remains of a street from Jesus' time.

The Wohl Museum is actually a covered set of ruins of homes of the wealthy during the time of Herod, called the Herodian Quarter. There were some amazing tile floors and nice bathrooms.

Some of us then decide to walk on the city walls of Old Jerusalem. It was an interesting view of the city life from up high. I didn't anticipate how high and how narrow it would be at time

s. I really had to face my fear of heights! After some shopping we had an nice, interesting dinner at the Armenian Tavern.

Day 7 March 25, 2009 Jerusalem

We leave Biblical Tamar Park and we are on our way northeast to Jerusalem. We take a break near Jericho for refreshments and camel rides. After all the biblical learning we have been doing, it is time to be a tourist! It was only 20 shekels ($5.00)!

We arrive in Jerusalem mid-morning and check into the Rosary Sisters Convent Guest House. We no longer have our bus and will be walking all over Old Jerusalem. We enter the Old City about 5 minutes away throught the Jaffa Gate. We are making our way to the Western (Wailing) Wall and the Temple Mount. We soon find out that it isn't easy to get to up to the Temple Mount since it is controlled by the Muslims and it is closed at various times for prayer. At the Western Wall we observe the Jewish pray and the men are able to go into the side where the men are and under the tunnel where the men pray closest to where the Ark of the Covenant would be. Tim was able to get this picture of a grandfather teaching the little boys to pray.

We then march on to Davidson Center and Archaeological Park. After a short movie we go on to the ruins of the southern and western walls of the Temple Mount as they were during Herod's time. It was fascinating to see the pile of huge stones that had toppled from the top when the Romans destroyed the temple in 67-70 AD. We were able to walk on the actual street from Herod's time that Jesus would have walked on! On the south side of the wall are the remains of the old steps going up to the temple. The picure of the group below is on a restored part of those steps. Anne Malcolm gave us an insightful devotion on the steps.


By this time we are getting very hungry! Terrance is earning his nickname of "Death March Terrance" and "Camel" all in one day! We finally have lunches of falafel and other native food. As we walk back toward the Jaffa Gate we see The Broad Wall, thought to have been built by Hezekiah to fortify the city againse the Assyrians back in 732 BC.

We walk through the souks (markets) and of course our shopper, Judi, has a great time! Back at the guest house some of us buy groceries and share a potluck dinner.