So today we had our first field trip outside of the JC. This is what they called a 3/4 trip because we were back and done by about 3pm. We have full day ones coming, as well aas some 16 hour field trips from what I hear, so yeah, great times. The purpose of the trips this time was to help get us oriented to the land around Jerusalem, trying to see some of the other Bible locations that are around this area. We made 5 stops on this trip, each to a historical location, or a place where you could see sites from history. This was also one of the few trips that we get to take into the West Bank, so we treasured our time here since we don't get to come very often.
Our first stop was the 7 Arches Hotel Overlook and which you can see the Old City from the south east corner. Probably the most impressive thing about this view is the cemetaries that cover this part of the Mt. of Olives. There are so many people that are and have been buried here. For the Jews this is an 'active cemetary' which means that after a while, the bones of a person are removed from thier grave and a new person is laid to rest there. The bones are taken then to a common family tomb elsewhere. This is called being 'removed to your fathers' and is a way for many people to get the chance to be buried on this sacred spot of land. On Mt Moriah just across the Kidron Valley is another cemetary, but this one is muslim. It stands right in front of the Temple Mount and was put there by the muslims to keep out the Jews since walking through a muslim cemetary would make them unclean. What a way to live eh?
We then went to Augusta Victoria, a church/hospital which was built by Kaiser Wilhelm and named after his wife. This is an amazing Byzantine style church with a tower that overlooks much of the land surrounding. This is built as an ascension chruch, although it is the least likley of any of the ascension churches around. It is on the highest part of the Mt. of Olives and there are 210 steps to get to the top of the tower. It is one of the three towers that you can use to orient yourself to directions around here. The church has great mosaics that cover the ceilings and an altar ment to symbolize the place of the Holy of Holies in Solomon's temple, even to the point where noone is allowed to step on the last step of the altar except the priest of the church. The bells ring at noon and harmonize with the 2 other german churches in the area, making for quite the sound anywhere in the Old City at lunch time.
Our third stop was at a place called Nabi Samwil, or the place of the prophet Samuel. As such a place, it is claimed by both Jews and Muslims and each has a holy place inside this old crusader church, one each with it's own cenotaph to worship at. This is also why is is not kept up very well, because noone knows who is supposed to take care of what, so nothing gets done. This church stands upson Mt. Joy, called this because it was the first place that people making the pilgramage during the crusades could see the Holy City. There is quite the view from the top of this chruch as well. You can look into the Benjamin Plateau where there are many tells (remants of the original ancient cities) such as Tell Gibeon. From this view you can also see the Ailjalon Valley where Joshua made the sun stand still so that he could finish fighting! It was amzing so realize how close all of this stuff happened to one another. I don't know if Joshua realized that he was only 5 miles away from what would later become the capitol of his faith. Anyway, that is what was cool about here.
Fourth was Deir Mar Elyas, or the Elias Monastery. We did not get to go in this building, but we went on the hill behind which is called Sheperds Hill. This had a neat overlook becuase on the one side you could see Jerusalem, and then to the south was the city of Bethlehem. The hill that i was standing on could have very well been one of the hills that angels apeared to shepherd on during the birth of Christ. Also in sight of the hill was the place where David was born (of course) and the begining of the story of Ruth was here. It was quite the inspiring sight and a little odd too since Bethlehem is on the other side of the separation wall in the West Bank, so we only get to go there once. The experince here was helped alot by the fact that our teachers had aranged for a real shepherd to come and meet with us! He had a little lamb that the girls loved to hold, and the guys put over thier shoulders, just like you see in all the Jesus paintings! I also got a photo with the shepherd guy and all of his sheep. It was a pretty awsome experince.
To wrap up the day we ended with one of the more spiritual stops, at least for our group. To the south and east of Jerusalem there is a place called Haas Promenade Overlook. This vantange point is unique because you have the Kidron Valley coming striaght at you, and so on the outside the wall closest to you is the City of David, or what would have been Salem. The little villiage would have been just south from the peak of Mt. Moriah. As we enjoyed the view from this point (and this was in the West Bank as well so we will never go back there) our teacher had us open to Gen 22. As we read the account of Abraham going to sacrifice his son Isaac, we realized that this was the very spot from which Abraham saw the mount "from afar off." This is the first place to look into the valley from the direction we was coming, and thinking of that, the fact that this was the place he would have left his caravan as he took his son to be a sacrifice in obedience to the Lord, was an awe inspiring thought. It was very humbling to stand where one of the great patriarchs would have stood.
Anyway, that was the great chunk of our day. I need to get to class, this day is not going to be the most exciting, that's for sure, but there is much to learn!! Love you all!
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