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!