Old Jerusalem

We entered the walls of Old Jerusalem through the Dung Gate. Not sure how it got its name, but the gate was built in the 16^th century. In the 20^th century it was enlarged to allow vehicular traffic. The plaza for the western wall is a short distance inside of the gate. We were visiting the portion of the western wall known as the Wailing Wall. It was the Sabbath, however, so no photography was allowed. We also needed to write down any prayers on slips of paper in advance. Men and women were in separate sections.

One of the other women in my group and I walked over to the wall and placed our hands on it while praying. We both swore afterwards that we could feel a vibration coming from the wall. We asked a few others if they felt it, but they said they didn’t. Tol said that he has had others say they have experienced the same thing. Usually just a few within the group.

We walked from there up El Wad Road to the Third Station of the Cross. We were unable to gain entry to where the first two stations were located, so we started with #3. Although I did take photos at each station, there really wasn’t much there other than a disc marking the location. Can’t say that they make for fascinating photography, but I have included one of them here with the Via Dolorosa street sign. The Ninth Station is just outside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with stations 10 through 14 inside of the church.

As we progressed through the stations, we seemed to pick up a few more people here and there along the way. By the time we reached the church, we had a pretty good crowd. Inside of the church, it was once again supremely crowded. After Bethlehem, I was prepared for that and knew I needed to concentrate on what I was doing in order to keep safe. I don’t recommend this for children. As a short adult, it was very easy to get shoved around. Staying on my feet and being able to breathe when sandwiched between two much larger people were my goals. For the most part, people were fairly respectful of where we were. But then there were those who definitely were not. These were the ones doing most of the pushing and shoving as opposed to just quietly waiting their turn as the crowd inched along.

As we climbed up towards the summit of what is believed to be Golgotha, we could see the actual rock through the glass, including the split, which took place at the moment of Jesus’ death. Despite the reflection, I did get a photo. At the top was another star that we needed to crawl to and place our hand inside. After that point, the crowd eased up a bit until the tomb. Then it became crushing again.

A project to refurbish the tomb took place a few years after my visit in 2010. During that refurbishment, the archeologists involved found that there was a second marble slab beneath the one that had been visible since about the 1100s. The mortar for this slab was dated to the 4^th century. Beneath it was the original limestone slab upon which the body would have been laid out. This slab and the remnants of the rock-hewn cave around it (which remains enclosed within the shrine, but with the top sheared off) were dated to the 1^st century. So this means that the dates are correct. It seems that Hadrian built a pagan shrine over this too, which was there when Constantine’s mom, Helen, arrived to try to find it. The location of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was outside of the city in the 1^st century.

After leaving the church, we walked through the Jewish Quarter to the Armenian Quarter. Then we went through the Zion Gate to Mount Zion where we visited the Upper Room. Unfortunately this location has been found to not be old enough (12^th century) to have existed at the time of the Last Supper. However, it is likely near the original site and it is above what is considered to be King David’s Tomb (although it is hotly debated by some as to whether the tomb is here or in Bethlehem).

I have always liked David. He made a lot of mistakes and was far from perfect, yet he loved God and God loved him. I was really looking forward to seeing the tomb. But, there were separate sections for men and women. The men could view the tomb head on, while the women were to the side of the tomb and gated off from it. I wanted to get as close to the gate as I could and didn’t notice the step just in front of the gate. I fell off the step and smacked into the gate, bruising my hand. I had a dollar bill in that hand to buy a bottle of water when we returned to our coach, which shot from my hand and landed on the floor just in front of the sarcophagus.

Once Tol determined that I hadn’t seriously injured myself, he began to tease me about it. For the rest of the time we were in Israel, whenever the subject of David came up, he would say something like, “Trisha tried to join David in the tomb,” or “when David wakes up (when the Messiah comes), he’ll have a dollar for a bottle of water,” or “now other tourists will think you’re supposed to toss money into the tomb.”

Because of the Sabbath, we had lunch at a kibbutz just outside of Jerusalem. Then we visited the Mount of Olives to get a panoramic view of the city. There was a camel hanging out there who was relatively friendly. I did not try to pet him, however. Although I was tempted, I restrained myself. We could look across the Kidron Valley and see where David’s son, Absalom’s tomb was located.

When we came down from the Mount of Olives, we visited the Garden of Gethsemane. I was glad to see that part of it was still a garden with olive trees. Some of the trees were really old too, which added to the atmosphere. Inside of the church is what is called the “Rock of the Agony”. This is the rock upon which it is believed that Jesus prayed on the night of His betrayal.

The House of Caiaphas is an ongoing archeological dig that is located partially under the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu, which was built where Peter denied Jesus three times. The House of Caiaphas was where Jesus was imprisoned before standing trial. We were able to go down into the dungeon and to the cell where Jesus was reportedly held. We were also able to walk on some 1^st century steps outside of the house where Jesus most likely walked when he was brought there and taken away later.

Next time – more of our adventures in Jerusalem.