Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Today was like two days in one, it was so packed with exploring Jerusalem. Our feet are feeling it now.
First we took a "free" (large tips requested) guided tour. We learned about the various quarters and some history of the city and saw some unexpected things, like Cardo, an ancient Roman road that was excavated. Then we had lunch in a small Arabic restaurant (sausage, fries, bread, hummus, salsa).
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| View of the Wailing Wall and Temple Mount on our Tour |
After that we bought a book to guide us and mapped our own route counterclockwise around and through the city. We saw the following:
1. Dormition Church - Where Mary died. While we were there a group of monks came in with a guitar and sang a foreign song.
2. King David's tomb - Women on the left, men on the right with heads covered.
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| King David's Tomb (the Men's Side) |
3. Room of the Last Supper - We thought it would be higher and smaller.
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| Room of the Last Supper |
4. House of Caiphus - Now under a church. We toured basement rooms where Jesus may have been imprisoned and scourged.
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| Church Above Caiphus' House |
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| Mount of Olives (South Peak) from Caiphus' House |
5. Garden of Gethsemane - A grove of olive trees that is one possible site.
6. Various tombs in the Valley of Kings leading to Kidron Valley
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| Fancy, Ancient Tombs in the Valley of Kings |
7. The Orson Hyde Garden - It is large, beautiful, and overlooks Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.
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| Orson Hyde Memorial Garden |
8. A sign on a church indicating that it is the birthplace of the Virgin Mary.
9. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (touted as the holiest site in all of Christianity) - Including the burial tomb of Jesus (covered and obscured by marble slabs), the site where Jesus' body was anointed and prepared for burial, the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, the hole in the rocks where the cross stood (??), the site where St. Helena found Jesus' cross (at about 300 AD), and many crosses carved in the rock wall by Byzantine pilgrims.
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| Crosses Carved by Byzantine Pilgrims |
Then we watched while a group of worshippers entered with supplies and were locked inside the church for the night with two oversized locks. They are not allowed to sleep, eat, or sing and must remain until 4 am.
South and East of Jerusalem are all downhill, so it was a tough climb coming up from Caiaphus' house. I imagined Nephi and his brothers having to make that trek "up to Jerusalem" several times.
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| The Lions Gate, East Side of Jerusalem |
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