Tues, Nov 9

Today we decided to check out the Damascus gate, Shechem Nablus Gate in Hebrew. The modern gate was built in 1542 by the Ottoman ruler Suleiman. The gate has two towers. It is located at the edge of the Arab souk. The Muslim Quarter is to the left and the Christian Quarter to the right.

This is Hadrian's gate built about 60 years after the destruction of Rome.

Brian from Ireland joins us for our morning Gaelic lessons today. Approaching the gate and entering into the market area the first thing we notice is how filthy everything is. It's not all sparkling clean like the other Quarters. It's also dark because we are heading underground. The houses are above us.

Shops are opening getting ready for business. The shops are clean on the inside.

Just inside Jaffa gate is the Tower of David. It was built in the 2nd century bc to strengthen a weak point in the Old City. It was destroyed and rebuilt multiple times but the Christians, Muslims, Mamluks, and Ottomans. There are archaeological finds dating back 2700 years. Herod added three massive towers to the Hasmonean gate. The one that still stands today was named Phasael after his brother that committed suicide. During the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 ad, the Romans used the citadel as barracks.

Jaffa Gate, also David's Gate is the only one of the Old City gates positioned at a right angle to the wall. This is a defensive measure to slow on coming attackers. Both Jaffa Road and Jaffa Gate are named after the port of Jaffa where Jonah left from his Biblical sea journey. Pilgrims would have arrived in Jaffa and made their way toward Jerusalem along a rout that is now Highway 1.

The King David Hotel, just around the corner from the hotel we were staying in, housed the British Mandate as well as the Army Headquarters. In 1946, the Hebrew Resistance Movement planted explosives in the basement. Warning phone calls had been made to the hotel and the Consulates to evacuate but was not and 91 people died.

We headed out to the West Bank today.

We headed to Ephrathah, Micha 5:2 "But to you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel." Ephrathah means fruitfulness, rich in spiritual fruitfulness. Bethlehem means "house of bread" where the Bread of Life was born. It lies 6 miles from Jerusalem. 1 Samuel 16:1 "I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided Myself a king among his sons." 1 Samuel 17:12 "Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse." Genesis 35:16, 19 "When there was a little distance to go to Ephrathah, Rachel labored in childbirth. So when Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrathah, that is Bethlehem." Ruth 1:2 "Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi-Ephrathites of Bethlehem." Psalm 132:6 " Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of the woods. Let us go into His tabernacle; let us worship at His footstool." Chances are pretty good the Catholic church in Bethlehem that claims to have the spot Jesus was born in a farce since Ephrathah was just outside the main town.

That flat top mountain that looks like a cone of a volcano is actually a manmade hill. Josephus wrote: "within it are costly royal apartments. At the base of the hill are pleasure ground built in such a way as to be worth seeing because of the way in which water, which is lacking in that place was brought in from a distance and at great expense. The surrounding plain was built up as a city second to none, with the hill serving as an acropolis for the other dwellings." The palace called the Herodium was built on the spot where Herod was victorious over his Hasmonean and Parthian enemies in 40 bc. To commemorate the event, the king built a fortress and palace there. He also had a royal tomb built for himself.

This is an ancient tomb believed to be the burial place of Rachel. Muslims claim it as their own
and built a mosque over it.

Next we headed to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. The name comes from the verse: And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name (Yad Vashem) that shall not be cut off." It's located at the foot of Mount Herzel. It is the second most visited tourist site in Israel, the first is the Western Wall. Yad Vashem - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia You can read about it here. It was a pretty disturbing experience.

At the end of prism-like museum is a balcony with this view. It is a great place to pray and ponder.

Ronnie's normal answer.

The Holy Land Model of Jerusalem is a 1:50 scale model of the city of Jerusalem in the late Second Temple Period-about 86 ad. The city was at it's largest, 445 acres-twice the size it is now. A father commissioned the model to commemorate his son who died in the War of Independence. The model is based on mostly written works of Josephus, the Talmud, Mishnah, and the Gospels There was very little archaeological discoveries at the time. 90% of the major buildings were correct. Looking at the Eastern Gate of the Temple Mount. To the right is the Antonia Fortress.

The steps where we had the group picture taken.

The southwestern corner looking at Robinson's arch.

Where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre sits-on that little rocky area.

The Shrine of the Book houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and artifacts discovered at Masada. It is like walking into a clay jar.

Segments of a limestone water pipe found in Bethlehem from the Roman period. The pipe segments were part of the Roman water system that carried water from Solomon's Pools to Jerusalem. The segments are inscribed with the names of the commanders of the Roman military units responsible for laying the pipe.

The City of David at the lower right.

Amnon, our bus driver from Iraq-fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, and English.

The Knesset buildings-the Israeli government.

Looking east toward Jerusalem. There was a big beautiful sunset-like a big huge lollipop. You can actually see the green line-the Israeli side is more green than the Arab side.

The UN compund.

It was beautiful as the sun set and the city lights came on. The Old City is all lit up.