Today started with a bagel, cream cheese and cappuccino. What else? When in Jerusalem do as the community does. And my mother taught us to love bagels.
After breakfast Stephen and I took the bus to Hebrew University. The bus gave us a great ride through town. (Steve has never been here before). I pointed out German Community, the Old City, The Government Center (roads to Knesset and the Israel Museum), We passed through an Orthodox neighborhood, and then did a roundabout at the Bus and Light Rail station. From that point the bus went up hill to the top of Mount Scopus. (2710 feet).
We entered the university from the bus terminal. We went through security, and looked for information. We ended up at the Library, where the security guard could not help us, but a librarian was just entering. She gave us an orientation, took us to the Synagogue and look out point of the University. The view was OUTSTANDING!! We could see everything with a 200+ degree view.
From the viewpoint of all Jerusalem we walked across the campus of the University to see the Biblical gardens on the east side of the campus. The gardens contain sections of plants from every area of Israel, which are all well labeled. As we walked through the gardens we came across a graveyard from the first century. The hillside was catacombed with tombs containing ossuaries (Boxes where bones are kept after the body decomposes). One of the graves belonged to Nicanor of Alexandria. Nicanor was the donor of the bronze doors of the Court of the Women in the second temple.
We continued through the gardens to the northern side where there is a vantage point in the Yitzak Rabin building looking north and east. We could see the Jordan River, Jericho, Mizpah, and Anathoth (where Jeremiah was born).
From the gardens we went to the Archeological Museum which was amazing. We saw painted walls from Dura-Europo, and findings from many other sites in Israel.
Following our exploration of Hebrew University we descended the hill through Tabatznik National Park Israel, which is part of the University. We had great views of the Dome of the Rock, and thought about what the area looked like to Jesus as he and the Disciples may have taken this path to the Temple.
We continued to descend into Emek Tzurim National Park, which contains “the king’s highway.” It also contains the Temple Sifting Project. In 1996 the Muslims illegally dug an entrance for Al-Aqsa Mosque, removing over 900 dump truck loads of soil. Although Archeologists cannot determine levels where artifacts are found, many treasures are found by people who help sift through debris to find remains of ages past from Temple Mount. We found nails, pottery, mosaic tiles, bones, glass and other items.
From our dig we descended, then ascended to the walled city of Jerusalem. We entered Herod's Gate and got lost. We wandered through the Muslim Quarter. We made it to the entrance of the Western Wall, but there was a long line to get in, so we backtracked. We paid a child 10 shillings to take us to the Jaffa gate, but he took us to the Damascus gate. I then pulled out my map, and we found the Jaffa Gate, crossed the highway and walked home. We were very tired
I ate a dinner of Mina Chicken Noodle Soup with Chelsea and Sarah and then went to bed.
