We started our day Sunday by visiting the Temple Mount. Michael Wilcox had warned us that we needed to dress conservatively to enter the site: no shorts or tank tops. His grandson, Caleb, was one who ignored his instructions and was rewarded by the guards at the Temple Mount giving him a skirt to wear.
The Dome of The Rock is the crown jewel of the Temple Mount and its golden dome is the iconic symbol of Jerusalem. The shrine was built in 687 AD to cover the rock where Gabriel took Muhammed in his miraculous night journey. During the time of the Crusades, the Knights Templar made the shrine into their own Christian church. After Muslims regained control of Jerusalem, they reclaimed the shrine as their own. Non-Muslims were not allowed on the Temple Mount until the 6-Day War in 1967. Israelis won control of Jerusalem, but as part of the agreement ending the war, they returned ownership of the Temple Mount to the Ministry of Awqaf in Amman, Jordan. The Awqaf allows non-Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount for limited hours and under strict rules. The Israeli police help enforce the rules and man security checkpoints at the entries to the site.
Michael Wilcox told us the story of Muhammed, the prophet who started Islam, read passages from the Koran and explained the pillars of Islam. The Dome of the Rock has been restored many times over the centuries and it as beautiful today as it ever was. In 1993, King Hussein of Jordan donated the money to cover the dome in gold.
We could look down from the entrance to the Temple Mount and see the people gathered at the Western Wall to pray.
We came down from the Temple Mount and went to the Western Wall. It turns out there are more people at the wall when it is not the Sabbath. People are anxious to get home Friday afternoon to get ready for the Sabbath and perhaps have less time for long prayers at the wall.
This is a view of the southwest corner of the retaining wall around the Temple Mount.
This is a closer look at the imposing wall, over 2000 years old. Herod I was called Herod the Great not because he was a good guy, but because of his massive building projects.
Our tour guide, Ilan, provided the following slides. The first two are not at all drawn to scale, but give a good idea of how incredible the second temple, built by Herod, was. The first temple was built by Solomon on top of Mount Moriah, the mountain where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac (Muslims believe it was Ishmael in the story, not Isaac.) Solomon's temple was majestic for his time and covered the mountain top.
Zerubbabel built the second temple when the Jews returned to Jerusalem from their exile in Babylon. The elderly people who had seen Solomon's temple wept when they saw the new temple because it was smaller and less ornate than the original. Nearly 500 years later, Herod tried to gain support from the Jews with a dramatic remodel of the second temple. He built a retaining wall to increase the size of the mountaintop and added a series of grand courtyards. Made of marble and gold, the temple was as tall as a 15 story building. Although the temple was destroyed, the retaining wall left standing appears to be very sturdy.
This is a drawing that shows the southwest corner of the Temple Mount as it looked in 70 AD. Pilgrims entered the temple from the broad steps on the south. The temple courtyards could hold 100,000 people.
This is a photo of Helen and Brandan standing on those exact steps. This is a location where Jesus certainly walked.
Helen tried using a viewer that showed how the ruins would have looked 2000 years ago.
We had a little change of plans. Our appointment for Hezekiah's tunnel unexpectedly shifted, leaving us time for a lunch break, our first lunch break in Israel. Ilan did some quick thinking and decided to go to a restaurant in the Christian quarter of Jerusalem that would hold 80 people. Our tour guides always carried bright yellow and red flags so we could follow them more easily, matching the yellow and red buses. Our Egyptian tour guides carried the flags in Egypt. Ilan did not generally carry either flag, leaving them for George and Garrett. Sunday was the day Garrett realized that he did not need to carry a flag, but could pass it off to other tour members, particularly younger tour members who were unlikely to tell him no. Gibson carried the yellow flag for a bit on Sunday.
We walked back through the old city to get to the Christian quarter. As we walked, we intercepted a film crew making a movie. Ilan told us this was the famous Israeli actor with the blue eyes. A quick google search revealed he is Yehudi Levi, perhaps famous in Israel, but not a household name in America.
We decided to peel off from the group and go to a different restaurant nearby.
We were so glad we did as we had one of our favorite meals of the trip: falafel, shawarma, fresh pita bread and salads. Gibson also got a plate of fries. Everything was perfectly seasoned and so delicious. While the most of the food on our trip was fine, it's hard to cook for large groups and make something really special.
Gibson ordered a glass of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice and Helen had freshly squeezed orange juice.
After lunch we rejoined out group and walked to the Jewish quarter. Jerusalem is divided into 4 not at all even quarters. The Muslim quarter is the largest, the Christian and Jewish quarters are about the same size and the Armenian quarter is the smallest. Armenians are also Christians and have lived in Jerusalem since the 400s AD. The Jewish quarter looked crisper than the Muslim and Christian quarters because it is much, much newer than the rest of the city. Jews weren't allowed into Jerusalem between the end of the British Protectorate in 1948 and the 6 Day War in 1967. Those who came back decided to raze the old buildings and rebuild.
This massive solid gold menorah stands inside bullet proof glass in a plaza in the Jewish quarter. It was built and is displayed by the Temple Institute, a gentle name for a radical group. The institute wants to build the third temple in Jerusalem. The only acceptable place for the third temple for this group is the exact spot of the first and second temples. Which is currently occupied by the Dome of the Rock. No worries, the Temple Institute has thought of several scenarios where the Temple Mount would be cleared of the current Muslim mosques and shrines that cover the area, including that the Awqaf could voluntarily disassemble the buildings and reassemble them somewhere else. Maybe they missed the part about Muhammed's night journey and that the Dome of the Rock is the third holiest site in Islam. Back to the menorah, the Temple Institute has researched every aspect of temple worship and prepared replicas of all the furnishings so that when they build the temple, they can move right in. These radicals Jews are joined in their efforts by radical evangelical Christians who believe building a third temple will lead to Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Besides the alarming reminder of the warmongers among us, we thought the Jewish quarter was very charming. Sadly, Emma slipped on some limestone steps near here and twisted her leg. She and Sofi took a taxi back to our hotel so she could get some ice and ibuprofen.
Next we headed outside the old city and across the street to an even older part of the city that dates back 3000 years. Some believe (hope?) the site contains King David's palace. Evidence that this is his palace includes the date of the site, the presence of cedar wood which the Bible mentions was used to build David's house, the large size of the structure and the presence of fine pottery appropriate for a king's house. The site was discovered in 2013 and is under a modern development.
Pretty much the entire country of Israel is a possible archaeological site, just start digging.
The site is next to the entrance to Hezekiah's tunnel. The Gihon springs outside Jerusalem was the source of fresh water for the ancient city. When the Assyrians threatened Jerusalem in the 700s BC, King Hezekiah had a tunnel dug to bring the water into the city at the site of the pools of Siloam. Workers dug from each side and somehow met in the middle, creating a 1750 foot long tunnel. Today it's possible to walk through the tunnel. These steps lead to the entrance.
The tunnel is narrow with some 90 degree turns. Water still runs through the tunnel today which makes the walk thorough the tunnel even more interesting. We had to feel forward with our feet to avoid being surprised by stepping into holes in the floor.
This lovely pool is at the end of the tunnel.
Originally archaeologists thought this was the pool of Siloam.
Further excavation revealed this pool nearby which is bigger and better matches the description in the Bible.
Our guided tour ended for the day and once again we were given the choice of taking the bus back to the hotel or exploring on our won. Helen and Gibson went back to the hotel and Becky and Brandan went exploring. Becky had hoped to buy some souvenirs in the Muslim quarter, but she is terrible at haggling and gave up when a shopkeeper tried to sell her a tablecloth for 4000 shekels (about $1300).
It was much nicer to explore Jerusalem without the stress of shopping. We asked a policeman if there was a way to get around the Western Wall without going through the metal detectors and he pointed us to a staircase. We heard beautiful piano music, saw a wedding party getting their photos taken in the golden light and saw men dancing in a circle near the wall.
As we headed out of the city, we found that the road to our hotel was blocked by dozens of scout troops with bagpipes and drums. Christians in Jerusalem celebrate Palm Sunday with a parade of bagpipe music. The tradition dates back to the British occupation of Israel in the early 1900s. The group we saw on Friday night were probably practicing for this event. We took a photo of the most extravagantly dressed scout troop.
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