Back in April I began posting about my trip to Israel in April of 1999. I was in such a hurry to write about the first few days in country and left off as my tour group returned to Jerusalem from visiting the Dead Sea area, the Sea of Galilee area, and the Mediterranean Sea coast. The rest of the trip was spent largely in the greater Jerusalem area and, after a two month break I will continue my posts about the trip.
The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Jerusalem is of a rather unique design. Sitting on the side of Mount Scopus, northeast of the Old City, most of the floors are below the main floor, somewhat in the fashion of steps. There are other buildings among the seven hills that make up greater Jerusalem that are similar in architecture.
East of the hotel on top of Mount Scopus is the Hebrew University. On campus is a tower that almost defies description. It rises with four yellow-white sides, but it is the top that is so strange, black on three bigger sides.
A little to the south of the university is the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center. BYU students come here for a semester to study and learn about the Holy Land. The center was designed by the same architects as the Hyatt Regency and is of a similar step design in the side of the hill.
Further south is the Mount of Olives where several churches mark traditional sites of the Garden of Gethsemane. Across from these churches is the Temple Mount in the Old City. Today the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque occupy the area.
On the morning of Friday, April 16, 1999, our tour bus took us to the western wall of the Old City and the Jaffa Gate. It is here that we entered the Old City for the first time. We walked along narrow streets filled with merchant shops -- the shops were closed since it was so early on a Friday.
Often considered the busiest gate in Jerusalem, the Jaffa Gate was built by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the 1500s. In 1898, the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, could not get his horses, wagons, and decorated coaches through the gate. It was traditional with most gates to have a sharp left turn as a way to slow down intruders in the case of an enemy attack. The Kaiser solved his problem by tearing an opening in the wall next to the gate.
The gate was restored by Israel after 1967. It still contains the typical oil chutes and loopholes used to defend the city during the Turkish occupation. Loopholes are slits in the very thick wall that broaden out toward the inside so that a soldier has enough maneuvering room to shoot out.
The Old City is divided into five sections; the Christian, Armenian and Jewish Quarters; the Moselm Section; and the Temple Mount. In the Christian Quarter is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which marks the oldest traditional site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ. A newer site, discovered in the last 200 years, is the Garden Tomb just up from the North Wall and the Damascus Gate (In the interest of full disclosure, I am more partial to the Garden Tomb than the Church of the Holy Sepulcher as the burial site of Jesus).
First built some 300 years after the death of Jesus, control of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is still argued by the following Christian denominations: Armenian, Catholic, Coptic, Greek Orthodox, and Syrian Orthodox. Relative peace between the groups is achieved by each church being allowed a turn at using some of the religious relics and places within the church, such as the Place of the Cross, the Rock of Unction, and the Sepulcher itself. The priests bring their own carpets, wall hangings, and lamps, as well as different colors and styles of vestments for worship. As soon as the shift ends they remove these things and their temporary ownership over.
In 1927 a major earthquake hit Palestine and severely damaged the church. The repair work was held up becuase of the conflicts of ownership claims. As soon as one group started repairs another group would object and assert their ownership. There was always someone to object as repairs could imply possession, and therefore, ownership. After 1967 the Jews and Arabs both stepped in to make or oversee repairs as neutral parties.
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is actually several buildings built, and pinched together, over centuries of construction. The center of three little archway chapels is built over the place where it is believed Jesus Christ was crucified, another chapel is for the repentant prisoner crucified at the same time, and these two are beautifully decorated. A third, undecorated chapel, represents the the unrepentant prisoner on the third cross.
Close by and at the foot of the "rock" of crucifixion is the Rock of Unction, where tradition says the body was prepared and anointed for burial. As we stand here we see worshipers kneeling before the Rock of Unction, kissing it and praying.
To our left under a large dome is the Sepulcher itself. It is actually the fourth one built on this spot. We do not go inside the Sepulcher, but we are told that there are two chambers, a weeping or mourning chamber and the burial room. In the second room is a slab of marble, shown as the final resting place of Jesus.
As noted, there continue to be disagreement over ownership of the relics and places in the church. Currently the keys to the Sepulcher are in the hands of a Moslem and a quiet coexistence has been reached among the different denominations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. However, in the nearby alcove for the Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea a standoff between the Armenians and Syrians is quite evident as the room is in serious disrepair.
As we leave the Church of the Holy Sepulcher behind and enter the Armenian Quarter to the south, many of the shops are beginning to open. We are on a very thin street, it seems like more of a hallway under the overhanging roofs above. Each shop is more like a little hole in the wall. After a meat carving demonstration by an Armenian butcher we move on to the Jewish Quarter to the east.
From 1948 to 1967 the Jewish Quarter was without any Jewish residents. The area was besieged in the 1948 War of Independence and every Synagogue was destroyed. After the eventual surrender of the Jews the Quarter became a slum. But in 1966 King Hussein of Jordan ordered the Arab squatters out of the area. Then came the Six Day War of 1967 when the Jewish Quarter was liberated by the Israeli Defense Forces. What they found were ruins and hovels. Since 1967 the Quarter has been tastefully rebuilt and excavations begun of ruins dating back as much as 2,700 years.
One such excavation is of the Burnt House which belonged to a Kathros family. The Kathros name is known in Jewish writings as one of the corrupt priestly families of the first century. When the excavation was completed the Wohl Architectural Museum was built around it.
Nearby this was an excavation of a wall that may have existed during the reign of King David. As we exit the Jewish Quarter the courtyard of the Western or "Wailing" Wall opens before us. Already their are Jews gathering to pray and worship at the wall. But we turn right, pass through a security checkpoint, and exit the Old City by the Dung Gate, so named because it is likely that the city's refuse was channeled through the gate.
From here our bus took us over to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, where we spent a mere hour and a half. I would have loved to have had more time.
Next on the agenda was a park where we each planted a tree. In 1999 there were two hundred million trees in Israel and the government was encouraging the planting of even more to replenish the land. Any group that plants a certain number of trees will have their name on a plaque at the site of their planting.
The Ensign Foundation is one group that has committed to a certain number of trees, and it was on behalf of that foundation that our tour group planted trees in Isreal. We planted four on our own, one for my mother, one for my wife, one for me, and one more that my wife and I did together.
After the planting, we had a picnic lunch with Isreali street food, a deep pocket of bread stuffed with lamb, lettuce, sauce, and even fries. I loved it. I thought I had heard them referred to as falafels, but I have since learned that falafels are something completely different. I have visited a few restaurants in the Salt Lake area since that trip, but have have been able to find anything like what we had in that park.
After lunch we went to the Model City of Jerusalem. This is an accurate miniature of the Jerusalem of 2,000 years ago. It was built as a memorial by a father to the son he lost in the 1948 War of Independence. Great effort has been made to re-create the physical features as they were in the days of Herod the Great and the model is constantly being updated as new archaeological discoveries are made in Jerusalem.
From there it was on to Bethlehem. Like many urban areas, the cities here run together, and though Bethlehem is five miles from the Old City, it seems as if we have merely crossed into another part of town. Our destination is Nativity Square, a large open space with the Church of Nativity to the east and a mosque to the west. A mosque has been built near almost every Christian church in Israel.
The traditionally accepted birthplace of Jesus is in a Grotto located underneath the Church of Nativity where a gold star now adorns the red stained floor where it is believed Jesus was born. As with the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, there is a dispute over ownership of the Nativity Church, this time by just three denominations -- the Armenian, Catholic, and Greek Orthodox. Here, too, the churches rotate in their use of the grotto, bringing in their own decorative carpets, curtains and other accouterments.
In 1989 an Australian priest of the Armenian church was sent to direct the Armenian Bethlehem facility. He immediately made friends with the Catholic and Greek Orthodox priests and the centuries old conflict over two chapels was resolved.
As we were on our way back to the bus we were surrounded by Arabs. We are practically mobbed!, but fortunately they were only trying to get us to buy their merchandise. Outside of many historical and tourist spots there are Arabs selling such things as postcard books of the site you have just visited (especially nice for buildings you are not allowed to take photos in), camera film, pictures, bags, wood carvings, jewelry, etc. But these guys at Nativity Square were the most aggressive that I experienced.
After this our bus took us to a shepherds field. We were directly north of Nativity square on the other side of a ravine. Here we read the the book of Ruth, the Christmas story in Luke, and visited with Arab children. We also sang "Near, near at hand on Judea's hills, shepherds of old heard the joyous trills. . . ."
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