Today we began Chelsea’s Summer program with Hebrew Union in Jerusalem. They invited families to come, so Sarah and I are welcome also as long as we are in Jerusalem. (The time here is drawing to an end much too fast.) The program was informative and took us places we have not visited before.
We started the day with breakfast (wouldn’t miss!) at Aroma Coffee. We walked to the closest shop, which is only about 5 minutes from the school at a place called the Mamilla Mall.
We then walked to Hebrew Union where we were met by Dr. Jason Kalman (the Rabbinic Literature professor from Cincinnati) and Dr. David Ilan, head of the school of Archaeology in Jerusalem. I was quite impressed by him.
Dr. Ilan began our time together with introductions, followed by a lecture on the geography of Israel. He looked at trade routes, climate zones, and currents in the Mediterranean Sea. We dissected the country in zones West to East and then North to South. He carefully explained each zone. He showed us where the sand came from, what the word Shephlah means and why it is important, the importance of the watershed and the Patriarch highway, the rift valley, and the Jordanian highlands.
We took a break during the lecture to look around Hebrew Union on our own, get snacks, and later took another break for lunch at noon. Chelsea, Sarah, and I ate at Ben Sira Hummus near Ben Yeudah Street. We had cauliflower hummus and pita, falafel, and pickles. The lunch was great!
We then went back to the school, where we met at David Ilan’s office to set off on our adventures for the afternoon.
We went to the Haas Promenade, an overlook to the south of Jerusalem, where we could see everything in the city. Dr. Ilan pointed out the old city, East Jerusalem, and West Jerusalem. He showed us major points in the city and he also showed us the older part and newer part. He pointed out the hill upon which the city rests, its water source, and forms of defensibility. We saw where the Palestinians live and Jewish communities. He shared information about plants and birds in the area.
We walked along the hill to the place where we could see the old Roman Aqueduct, which provided water through the time of the Ottoman Empire. He shared about gravity and syphon style aqueducts.
We also saw Jordan from this height.
After the Promenade we traveled to a memorial along the old border with Jordan on the property of Ramat Rachel Kibbutz. This is a piece of artwork by Ran Morin called Olive Columns. There are three live olive trees on the pillars (possibly for the desire for peace between the three world religions). The monument was huge.
From the site we could see the wall along the West Bank, bunkers, and communities of Jews and Palestinians. We saw Herodian and Bethlehem. We could also see the Dead Sea and Jordan.
We continued on the ridge to Ramat Rachel, an ancient archeological site on the main road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The vantage point of this location is outstanding, which made it a fortress in the 6th Century BC, when the Assyrians were attacking Jerusalem. Many seals have been found bearing King Hezekiah’s mark at this location.
The site began as a watchtower on the high hill which could easily observe the central ridge road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Then a palace was built at the site with a large courtyard. The building was made of finely cut stones and contained royal columns. The Assyrians, who controlled the site for a time, built a hanging garden in the palace. The site went through various transitions through the Babylonian, Hasmonean, Roman and Byzantine periods. In the Roman period there was a large home there which was part of a farming estate. Later there was a Byzantine church built on the site.
We looked at building styles, cisterns, pottery, and other artifacts left at the site.
With that the program was finished, and it was time to go home. We went into an exclusive kibbutz hotel next to the site to get a Coke and decided to call Shlomo, who was our guide on previous trips to Israel, to see if he was available for dinner. He was, and in fact his wife had a meeting at the kibbutz an hour after we had called. He and his wife met us and we drove to Jerusalem’ s First Train Station, where we ate dinner at the same restaurant we had eaten breakfast at the day before.
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