Old City Ramparts -- Temple "Kotel" Tunnel

[See two May '11 posts on "Jerusalem with Melissa"]

The walls around Old City Jerusalem are over 500 years old.   David & Solomon built defensive walls after 1000 BCE, followed by Hezekiah (before 700 BCE), Nehemiah (400 BCE), the Romans (30 AD) and the Crusaders (1100 AD).  Existing walls, along with much of the Old City, were built in mid-1500's AD under Sulieman -- using existing foundations.

 

These ancient walls surround 2-1/2 miles of the Old City.  On Sunday 10/24/10, we walked around nearly half of them -- starting at the Tower of David and the Citadel.

Entering the Old City's main Jaffa Gate, we could walk northeast toward the Damascus Gate or southeast toward Dung Gate. 

We chose the shorter (and more interesting) route -- toward Dung Gate and the Temple Mount.  We were in for a real treat.  [For the walk from Jaffa to Damascus Gate, see May '11 post, "Jerusalem with Melissa"]

The walls were 15 to 50 feet high and up to 10 feet thick.















There were impressive views of the outside city from the walls.

Views of the Old City inside the walls were even more impressive -- like this old Armenian church and cemetery.

This is how the BYU Center looked from the Old City -- directly above Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mt.  The new Jewish Hurva Synagogue's white dome was on the left.

Until the walls were rebuilt in the 1500s, there were only 4 gates -- one on each of the 4 sides. Sulieman's walls included 11 gates; only 9 are open now.   He built and then sealed the eastern Golden Gate (bottom rt.) -- some say to prevent Messiah's entry onto the Temple Mount.  Others say to enable him to prove his power to enter a sealed gate.

Until 1887, all gates were closed at sunset and reopened at sunrise.  Jaffa and Damascus Gates are the largest and most used.  The gate below is close to the Dung Gate, near the Temple Mt. -- where we descended from our walk.  Near it was this large old cypress tree, enveloped by climbing buganvilias.

These views of the Ramparts are from inside the Old City -- looking back.

 

We walked back to Jaffa Gate thru the Armenian Quarter of the Old City -- the smallest quarter.  All property there is owned by the Armenian Patriarchate.

 

This theological seminary was established in 1975.   Many Armenians study there or work as church functionaries. 

Inside Jaffa Gate are two crypts, where architects of the walls were interred.  By legend, Sultan Sulieman had them executed -- either for their failure to include Mt. Zion inside the walls or to ensure that their secrets died with them.

Leaving thru Jaffa Gate, we encountered many Israeli Defense Forces entering the Old City.  Since there were no disturbances that day, perhaps they were there just to reconnect with some early heritage they are trying to protect.

2nd Temple -- Western Wall & Kotel Tunnel ("Kotel" means "wall"). [See May '11 post, "Back to Jerusalem with Melissa"]

After dark on 11/2/10, we came to the Temple Mount thru Dung Gate and entered the plaza in front of the Western Wall -- most sacred to  Judiasm. About half the wall (incl. 17 courses still below street level) dates back to Herod's 2nd Temple, before Christ.  Only since 1967 have Jews had any access to their holy wall.

Others accessed the Wall only thru the Moroccan Quarter:  a labrynth of narrow alleys & low-grade bldgs. Immediately after the 1967 war,  the Moroccan 1/4 was completely bulldozed for this huge plaza.  It measures over 5 acres and can hold 400,000 people -- now part of the Jewish Quarter. [See Sept. '11 post.]

Our students were divided into several groups. Ours was the last to enter -- thru Wilson's Arch, named for an early English archaeologist.  It was originally built by Herod to support a long bridge leading to the wealthy Upper City

 Our guide was a trained Phila. archaeologist. She showed us the size of the orig. wall -- 45 stone courses (bottom left.) After the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., small bldgs. filled in the lower 17 courses, using the huge retaining walls for support. So now only 28 courses (62' high) are above ground (bottom rt.)

  

 After the 1967 War, Israel dug an underground tunnel nearly 1/4 mile along the entire length of the Western Wall -- to its NW corner in the Muslim Quarter.  It took almost 20 years to do this, amid serious controversy with the Muslims.  In some places, they dug down thru six periods of ancient history.  When we first came here in 1981, it was not yet open to the public. But Dr. Joseph Ginat arranged our passage there around midnight. 

The tunnel passes thru large cavities used as cisterns.

The largest stone in the entire wall is 40 ft. long, weighing nearly 600 tons -- one of the heaviest objects ever lifted w/o power equipment.  A video shown inside the tunnel told how this massive stone may have been moved here.

Each of these stones is beveled with fine-chisled borders, in the Roman style.  The margins range from 2 to 8 inches wide, about 1/2" deep.

About 150 feet into the tunnel, an area has been turned into a small synagogue--now the closest point to what many consider was the original temple's Holy of Holies.  Several devout Jews were praying and reading.

At the end of the Kotel Tunnel is a huge cistern first built by Roman emperor Hadrian as an open-air, then a covered, pool.  Called the "Strouthion Pool," we saw it half-filled with seepage from the recent rainfall.

During daylight hours, tour groups would normally exit up these stairs--north, into the Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem, at the NW corner of the temple mount.  (This exit caused riots when first created in 1996.)  Since it was after dark, we doubled back and returned the way we came.

Even late at night, many devout Jews were still praying at the Western Wall.  (Women pray in a separate area, so as "not to distract the men.")  Many written prayers are placed as notes into the crevices of the Wall.

We greatly enjoyed our latest adventure.

Upon departing, we looked up at what many experts now believe was the true "pinnacle of the temple," where Jesus was tempted to cast himself down (Luke 4:9-13) -- rather than the SE  corner of the temple mount. [See Sept. '11 post, Jewish Quarter and July '11, N.T. Archaeol. Jerusalem ... Kotel.]

Be'er Sheva

On October 30 (our Sabbath) we drove 80 miles south to Beersheva on a District sacr. mtg. speaking assignment.  Attending with us were 7 others: Bryan & Crystal McDonald (plus 2 small children), Scott Nibley and two BYU students--Lizzy Hawes and Charles Wilson (shown below).  Bryan is a 2nd year medical student at Ben Gurion Univ.  Scott is starting his masters in Political Science there.   We met in the McDonald's modest home.

Afterwards, we were given a tour of Beersheva by Benny Hermann--a wonderful Jewish man that we hosted with his wife Zippy (for Zipporah) at a JC tour and concert last month.  They have lived in Beersheva for 40 years, where he was a materials engineer.

Because of its abundant water from wells tapping a vast aquifer (runoff from the Hebron mtns.), Be'er sheva has been inhabited since about 4,000 BCE.  Be'er (hebrew for "well") sheva ("oath") takes its name from the well of Abraham, dug about 2,000 BCE (Gen. 21:31). It is preserved in the center of today's town.  The patriarch lived here when he took Isaac to sacrifice at Mt. Moriah.  Also, Jacob fled from his brother Esau while living here, then found heaven at Bethel and wives at Haran before returning.  Ultimately he left Beersheva for Egypt, where he died.

Two miles away is Tel Beersheva, visited by our students last month.  It has been recently excavated to reveal extensive ruins of the original Israelite town settled after 950 BCE under Solomon, with its own Israelite temple --used until the time of King Hezekiah--and a distinctive water system.  (Internet photos.)

Another Israelite temple was excavated at Tel Arad (20 mi. east), including an ancient horned altar, a holy place & a holy of holies.  (I  left my scriptures there while on tour in 1999--perhaps my only proselyting, as a Mormon in the Holy Land!)  It is the only fully-excavated Israelite temple in the world, built by Solomon and used until the times of kings Hezekiah or Josiah (2 Kings 18).

 

These mosaics in our JC (on loan from the Israeli Antiguities Authority) came from the floor of public bldgs. in ancient Be'er Sheva. 

Be/er sheva marked the southernmost extent ot Israel's kingdom, hence the phrase "from Dan to Beersheva" describing the entire kingdom.  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all lived there.  Today, it is a modern industrial city -- the "Capital of the Negev Desert."  Its 200,000 population makes it the 7th largest city in Israel.   It has "blossomed as a rose" from the mainly dry and sterile northern Negev.

The Turkish Ottoman Empire controlled the area for 300 years (until WW I) and built many facilities--like this handsome building (now privately owned).  There is also a Turkish cemetery and monument nearby.

General Edmund Allenby was a hero of World War I in the Middle East.  In 1917, UK and Australian forces overran the defenses with horses & bayonets, capturing Beersheva in the "last successful cavalry charge in British military history."

On the edge of town is a peaceful, beautified UK/Australian cemetery.

During Israel's 1948 War for Independence, its military took Beersheva from the Egyptians and other Arabs.   On the highest hill above the city is the modernistic Negev Brigade Memorial honoring those fallen soldiers.

Views of Beersheva from there are the very best--even in a heavy cloud cover.










Not far from the McDonald's home where we held Church is David Ben-Gurion University, including its large medical center (left below).

The nearby Beersheva courthouse and civic center is also very modern.

The downtown area is a mixture of modern and "Old Town" (note the Roman aqueduct). 

Beersheva's growth has been largely Jewish, including many immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union.  A thriving industrial and military center, its growth is pushing the suburbs further to the south and west.  Below (right) is a nicely planned community, including a regional playground and park.

We enjoyed our day together and will retain many warm (but windblown) memories of Beersheva.

Driving back to Jerusalem across the northern Negev, we saw the difference that water can make in an otherwise arid land.