Walking Tour of Jerusalem

I'm a big fan of walking tours. Free ones are my favorite, but paid ones do tend to be better. 

On my first full day in Israel I signed up for a four-hour walking tour of the Old City in Jerusalem. Before the tour I walked around the city, mostly going in the wrong direction and getting lost. My map reading skills need some help. Along

the way I found this bakery bag. A real find since we've looked for Pillsbury baking things in grocery stores for decades. I took it to mean I was meant to be in that spot. I asked the people at the hostel where I could find a fresh one (after showing them my passport to prove that really is my last name), but to the best of their knowledge some use that company's bags, some don't. I did not see a bakery near where I found the trash/treasure.

Before the tour I meandered through the Mahane Yehuda Market. It was super quiet. At the end of the trip (midday on Friday) I walked the same area and it was PACKED. As I didn't need or want anything, I laughed my way

through it.

At the Abraham Hostel I met up with the pre-tour guide, a lovely 20-something from Ohio who decided to live in Jerusalem for a few months and get a job at the hostel. I didn't know such a thing was possible. She is going home in another month. She is not Jewish.

Our pre-guide led us to the Jaffe Gate. Back in the day, this was the main entrance to Jerusalem. Now it is a cool opening in the walls of the city. Two opening actually. The only gate with two openings, but that is a story for another blog post.

As is my habit, I took notes as I walked in order to help me remember what I was hearing. I also took pictures, but those will follow later. There were 37 on our paid tour, less on the two-hour free tour (which they divided into two groups). The free tour did not go inside the holy sites. While free to enter, the places have different schedules, and this way the guide was telling us what we were looking at.

The era dates back 3000 years (about the same amount of time as Tell Keisan, where we did our archaeological dig, finding pottery from the later part of his reign (9th century BC) to the era of the First Temple (7th century BC)) to the time of King David. His son, Solomon, built the first temple in the 6th century, which was destroyed in the 4th century BC. Our tour guide gave us a handy bookmark to help keep all this straight. The guide is an employee of Sandeman's New Jerusalem Tours.

Our guide, Orna, handed us each a cheat sheet of Jerusalem's timeline:

1948 BC Avraham 

1040-970 BC King David

970-586 BC First Temple

538-332 BC Babillonian

332-167 BC Hellenistic

167-63 BC Hasmonean

63 BC-324 CE Roman

324-618 CE and 628-638 Byzantine

618-628 CE Persian

638-1099 Early Muslim

1099-1291 Crusader

1291-1516 Mamluk

1516-1917 Ottoman

1917-1948 British

1947-1949 War of Independence

1948- Israel

There was a rebellion against the Greeks, afterwards they started to celebrate Hanukkah (I think this was shorthand for they converted to Judaism). In the 1st century AD the Romans destroyed the area. Constantine's mother, St. Helena, came to Jerusalem looking for signs of Jesus's birth and was the driving force behind the tourist mecca it has since become.

In 1538 AD Jerusalem's city walls were built. They look so much older than

nearly 600 years old. It was a very, very, very expensive project. 

In the 19th century the Jaffa Gate (where the tour started) was built. At the time Jerusalem was becoming way too crowded. In 1860 the first city outside Jerusalem's walls was built (Mishkenot). At first no one wanted to live in the 'burbs, but then the plague hit (dun dun dun) and the people outside the walls lived, suddenly suburbia seemed appealing.

During the plague the walls were sealed off to protect the people inside of them. Instead they suffered and no one outside of the less desirable neighborhood (outside the walls) got sick. People started to move there. 

1947-1949 was the war of independence between Israel and Jordan. Old City was part of Jordan until 1967 (19 years). Now 40% are Jewish, of which 35% are Orthodox. There are four quarters in Jerusalem: Armenian, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. Some live in other parts because of real estate. This is the Holy Land. This is where the Bible was written. Armenians live in a separate quarter that was never part of the Roman Empire.

The list then continues with different wars since 1948, but I'm already confused enough, and it doesn't pertain to this tour.

We talked about Mount Moriah -- the birthplace of monotheistic religions. The place where the entire universe was created (the Garden of Eden), where Abraham came to sacrifice his son, where Adam is buried, and where Jesus is buried. 

I spent much of the trip soaking up the stories and being in awe of the faith of others.

We toured the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. People stand in line for hours to touch the place where Jesus died. As the church was open until 9 pm, I returned later that night to stand in line for about a half an hour.

Jesus was born in the time of King Herod (also famous for building Masada, another place I visited on this trip). His family fled to Egypt for safety. When he was 7 years old King Herod died in 4 BC. He returned for Passover. Jews visit Jerusalem four times a year -- Passover (the Last Supper), Pentecost (Shavout), and Feast of the Tabernacles (Sukkoh).

Yes, this it the problem with not blogging as I go along, my notes make less sense as time passes.

One big takeaway from this tour was that in 326 (AD) Queen/Saint Helena (Constantine's mother) made it her personal mission to identify all of the places important in Jesus's life. The Church of Aphrodite was destroyed, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built. It was then destroyed in a 19th century fire. Helena claims to have found "the True Cross." It is the site of Golgatha, where he was crucified on said True Cross. Three hundred years is a blip in history to someplace as old as Jerusalem, just as it is an eternity to someplace as young as the United States.

We saw the place where Jesus's body was laid, the column where Jesus was

whipped, the holes were Jesus was chained while he waited to be crucified, and Jesus's tomb (which was recently refinished). 

When Jesus died here he descended into Hell and touched Adam (of Adam and Eve) and saved the world from sin. Even my Catholic-school educated daughter had not heard about that.

We walked along the Via Dolorosa (cue Dr.

Trineice singing the song on Good Friday). I had chills thinking about Jesus's last days as I passed different stations of the cross. In my mind I could hear St. Ann's students singing the many verses of "Where you There?" Good Friday lessons flashed (literally) before my eyes. 

Station IV: I had heard of Saint

Veronica through Ashley's Catholic school education. She gave Jesus a glass of water then wiped his face. Left on her cloth was the true image of Jesus. Later (this is the part I did not know) she became the patron saint of photography and was healed from her diseases. We saw the column where she lived.

Station V: Jesus fell a second time. Simon was ordered by the Roman soldiers to take up Jesus's cross and

carry it for him. The stone where Jesus touched later became part of a house.

Station VII: inside a Russian church.

I know we passed other Stations of the Cross, but the tour was crowded, and four-hours long, spent mostly on our feet.

A non-sequitur: every building in Jerusalem has white limestone. You had to pay extra for red or black limestone. I found it soothing, reminded me of walking around Paris and seeing buildings of a similar style, including height and color. It is easy to identify a picture as having been taken in Jerusalem by the style of building.

The tour continued to The Western Wall. First we

went to a small section that could be visited by both men and women at the same time. We took pictures and talked about this history. I am lacking notes as I was spending my time looking around and placing prayers in nooks. 

We then passed through security to the real Western Wall. Over the years I have seen pictures of it, but nothing captures the feeling as being there with the men on one side of the wall

and the women on the other. It was not as much of a barricade as I expected, plus the area was a lot larger than I anticipated. I returned a couple of days later to be able to stay as long as I wanted. 

Up and over the Western Wall we took the wooden bridge to The Dome of the Rock. Only Muslims can enter the sanctuary. The rest of us are only allowed on the grounds during certain hours, and only if we (by we I mean mostly women) are covered from neck to wrists to ankles. The guards checked to make sure my ankle-length dress did not include a slit. Men could wear long shorts and t-shirts. People not deemed appropriately dressed were loaned ugly cover ups. I was fine.

As were were about to enter the holy site, I saw my only ice machine in all of Israel. In hindsight, I'm surprised I did not take a picture of it.

The Temple of the Mount was destroyed by an earthquake in 1927 and later rebuilt. It is also called the Temple of Solomon and the Temple of the Lord. It was a Crusaders structure that was later turned into the mosque. It is against the law to do archaeological digs here. Imagine what they might find if they were allowed to dig. It is the stuff that archaeologists dream about.

Someone asked about the bread seen on stones. The story goes there are 12 loaves of bread that were made as an offering to God. A week later the bread was replaced. The old bread was given to the poor. The tradition started with the Jews, then moved to the Christians, and then to the Muslims. People believe you should not throw away bread, to this day day they cannot throw away bread. 

The Temple of the Mount is holy to Christians, also, as it is believe to be the place where Jesus ascended to heaven.
 
We then walked to the Golden Gate/Gates of Mercy where the Messiah entered Jerusalem. Jesus's grandparents (St. Ann and St. Joachim) entered through this gate. I first learned about St. Ann when Ashley started to attend St. Ann School. She is not listed in the bible, but Catholics all agree on her name. Nine months after they passed through that gate, their daughter, Mary, was born.

We took off our borrowed clothes and left as the Temple of the Mount was closing for the day and continued on to the first and second stations of the cross.

Station I: Jesus condemned by Pilate.

Station II: The Romans laughed at Jesus and made him wear the crown of thorns (the same one Saint Helen found more than 300 years later). It is now a 19th century church, that is a mosaic symbol of Roman culture. Check out the golden messiah on the ceiling, and the third crown that is a symbol of Jesus as king of the universe.

Station III: Jesus sees his mother. He also sees Mary Magdalene (the prostitute, who did not cover her head, and colored her hair) here. 

We saw the place where it is believed Jesus was held in prison. The prison has two sections, one for common criminals, and a second with individual cells for dangerous criminals. Jesus was crucified as if he was a dangerous criminal. His legs were put into two holes in a solid piece of rock and chained so he could not escape. Chilling to see.

There, on that less than happy note, our tour ended. Our guide led us to a friend's restaurant. He was friendly while the guide was with us, after she left he stopped giving us the promised food. What do you want for a $15 fixed price meal?