Next up was into the Jewish Quarter to see the Broad Wall (this is not the Broad Wall that Nehemiah refers to). This wall was part of the fortifications build by King Hezekiah to protect the western hill after he rebelled from the Assyrian King. It is 7 m wide and was originally 8 m high. The wall was built where it could provide the best defense, so some houses were destroyed and others were left outside the wall. The Assyrians did not conquer Jerusalem, even though Senacarib wrote about how he had "locked up Jerusalem like a bird in a cage) - he listed the other cities that were destroyed and Jerusalem is not on that list. This led to the "Jerusalem Theology" - the belief that since God dwells in Jerusalem, He won't let anyone destroy the city. We followed the path of the wall (marked on the ground by red stones) to what is thought to be the Gennath Gate. Gennath mean "garden", and since Jesus was crucified and buried near a garden, it could be this gate that he exited through.
Just as it opened, we got to the Wohl Archaeological Museum. The excavation in that area has uncovered the ruins of a few wealthy houses from the second temple era (the time of Christ). They contain mosaic floors, water cisterns, multiple ritual baths, and even a bathtub! From inscriptions, we can assume that it was a priestly neighbourhood, which in Jesus' time, were very wealthy.
Next stop was the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, which is just south of the Western Wall. There were a number of bar-mitzvah's taking place, so there was a continuous background noise of trumpets, drums, singing, and clapping. Considering that I always think of people going to the temple during feasts (and rejoicing about being there), it fit in really well! The stones used to build the platform are HUGE, especially the cornerstones! The Romans destroyed the top of the Temple Mount after the Jewish rebellion, throwing the large stones off the top into the valley below. Under the rubble, ruins of shops can be found against the walls.
Walking around to the southern wall, we couldn't see the City of David below the hill - it makes a lot more sense now why it is written "Let us go UP to the Temple of the Lord". The original temple access was from the south, and some of the original stairs (carved out of the bedrock) are still there - it's possible that Jesus actually walked on those rocks. The southern steps were a meeting place, and the area has plenty of ritual baths for purification. (Side note: there is a division in the baths to separate the now-clean from the unclean people.) It's likely that this is were the apostles were on Pentecost. At this time, many Jews from all over would have been in Jerusalem for the festival, and after hearing a sound of a violent wind, probably rushed up to the temple to see what was happening. (In Hebrew, the Temple is often referred to as "The House") Since Pentecost is at the end of the rainy season, this also works as a good place to baptise the 3000 new believers - where else in the city could they have found enough water for all of them?
After walking down along the eastern side of the Temple Mount and re-entering the city through Lion's Gate, we reached St. Anne's Church, the site of the Pool of Bethesda. There are 2 deep pools (about 20 - 30 m deep), and 5 smaller baths. When Jesus healed the paralytic man at the Pool of Bethesda, the man refers to not being able to get into the water when it is stirred. This stirring was probably caused by water from the larger pools being funneled into the smaller pools, not an angel stirring the water like some believed. After looking around the pools, we went into the church. The church isn't much to look at, but the accoustics are amazing! After the other groups had sung their songs and left, we sang "Amazing Grace" and "It is Well" (the "when peace like a river ..." song).
After racing back to the university for lunch, we started our class talking about the Church of the Holy Sepulchre since we didn't have time to visit it as a group. Next up was an overview of archaeology, and the geography, climate, geology, and main roads of the region.
After a break, we learned a bit about the Benjamin region. A third of the Biblical stories take place in Benjamin, even though it was one of the smallest tribes. The reason is it's location - between the two largest and most powerful tribes, Judah and Ephraim - and also it's strategic location - it povides the easiest connection between Jerusalem and the major trading route along the Mediterranean Sea - the Coastal Highway. The first king of Israel, Saul, was from Benjamin. After David (from the tribe of Judah) became king, he conquered the Jebusite city of Jerusalem (which is just inside Benjamin), and made his capital there, renaming it "David's City". That name indicated to Israel that Jerusalem no longer belonged to a tribe, but to the whole country (kind of like Washington, D.C. in the USA). When the kingdom divided after the death of Solomon, Benjanim probably chose to stay with the other tribes in Israel, but because of the Central Benjamin Plain's strategic and financial value, Judah most likely forced Benjamin to join them. Tomorrow we tour through the region, so it will be interesting to see the area we just learned about ... and to get out of Jerusalem!
A group of us had supper at the pizza place across the street from the hotel. Since I can't have milk, I got my own specially made little pizza! Normally the dough is made with milk, so even the dough of my pizza was made just for me! We then spent a while shopping in the Old City were I bought 3 small bowls, then back to JUC to spend a while typing this up! (My assignment for myself on this trip is to try to keep this blog up-to-date. Unfortunately I can't seem to get any pictures to upload, so that part will probably have to wait until I get home.)
No comments:
Post a Comment