So today I got up and I wasn't feeling all that great. Not really because of my burn, but I think that I am getting a little bit of a sinus infection thing... tolerable, but not fun. I took a nice cold shower though and got woken up so that I could go on this great field trip, a local one, to the City of David. Now this doesn't mean Bethlehem (that's next Monday) but this is the original city that King David dwelt in after taking it from the Jebusites near the beginning of his campaign as King of the United Monarchy. Today this site is a national park area just to the south of the Old City in the Arab town of Silwan. Silwan is actually named after one of this area's main attractions (archeologically anyway), the Pool of Siloam.
After a very nice 3D movie that introduced the site to us, we first got to go down and see the remains of what they are pretty sure was the palace of King David. This was a little crazy for a few reasons, first of all, this is the palace of King David, the other, well, you could totally see the view that David would have had looking out over the city, and where he would have seen Bathsheba. Not too much
has changed over the centuries, and so just to think about standing where these people would have stood is an amazing experience. Actually, the only major difference is that today one of the major valleys that existed in Biblical times is gone, filled in throughout the centuries, so we don't quite get the sense of isolation that the city would have had, just being on the top of this hill with the huge valley's on either side, but other than that, it works!
has changed over the centuries, and so just to think about standing where these people would have stood is an amazing experience. Actually, the only major difference is that today one of the major valleys that existed in Biblical times is gone, filled in throughout the centuries, so we don't quite get the sense of isolation that the city would have had, just being on the top of this hill with the huge valley's on either side, but other than that, it works!
We then got to see the walls that they uncovered in a place called 'Area G' which showed a few of the houses that they would have had here, as well as supports for the walls since it was built on a steep hill. These were the same walls that Nehemiah repaired to prepare for the Assyrians attack and we could see where the enemy was camped across the valley when the Lord slew them in the night to preserve His city. Just crazy things that went on there, so m uch history in one spot! We also went to one of the more exciting parts which was Warren's shaft and Hezekiah's tunnel.
Warren's shaft is the place that they believe that Davids general, Joab, used to penetrate the city and open the gates so that David's army could take the city from the Jebusites. This was used as a well by the Jebusites and the entrance was located outside the city walls, a serious mistake if you ask me (or them!) but it would be quite the travail to get up that thing, it's not very pleasant for a shaft to climb. But yeah. Right below that is the source of the Gihon Spring which Hezekiah had a tunnel built from there to the place of the Pool of Siloam in order to get the water they need for the city at that time. The cool part is that you can go and actually walk the length of the tunnel, with the water still flowing around your feel out into the city for use today
! It's a lot longer than i thought it would be at 1/3 of a mile, and some parts are kind of small, but it was so much fun to walk through this narrow little tunnel that they built, we sang "Lead Kindly Light" among other hymns as we all turned out our flashlights and just felt our way along.
! It's a lot longer than i thought it would be at 1/3 of a mile, and some parts are kind of small, but it was so much fun to walk through this narrow little tunnel that they built, we sang "Lead Kindly Light" among other hymns as we all turned out our flashlights and just felt our way along. It was neat too because in a place that is that dark, it doesn't take much for you to be able to see, and at one point, our teacher at the front was the only one that had his light on, and even though he was about 50 ft in front of me and was around turns at some points, the light coming from him was enough to see the tunnel by so that I could navigate safely. I couldn't help but think of the world today, how dark and oppressing it can be with all the different options that we have and choices we could make. It was also be overwhelming to compare the amount of good in the world to that of the dark, but really, there doesn't need to be that much light in order to lead a great many people, and the Light of the Savior is bright enough to keep us from stumbling along the path.
After coming out of the tunnel, there was this little pool where the water collected and we had a fun time getting each other, and our beloved teacher Bro. Manscill, all wet! It actually felt really good to be that soaked because it was really hot outside, yes, very hot. It was only a short little jaunt over to the actual Pool of Siloam but before we got there we got to see some cool things that they found in the excavation, like a women's toilet, and the tunnel that the Romans used to dig from the pool area up to the temple mount during the siege of Jerusalem. It's a really small tunnel, and maybe they haven't found the bottom yet, but yeah, that was quite the feat for sure! The Pool itself is only partly excavated bec
ause most of it has some guys garden over it! It is a recent excavation (relatively) and so they don't really have all of the area for all of the things that they would like. But the fact that they found it is neat since it is under about 10 ft of dirt! But yeah.
Anyway, it was a lazy day after that. We got back for lunch, and then I ate lunch, and then I took a nap for a long while (4 hrs ish) so that I would not get sicker and then I woke up and started to work on my Palestinian mid-term. It's a joke... so not helpful to my education, but oh well, we once again bow to the rule of the teacher! Here's to tomorrow!
After coming out of the tunnel, there was this little pool where the water collected and we had a fun time getting each other, and our beloved teacher Bro. Manscill, all wet! It actually felt really good to be that soaked because it was really hot outside, yes, very hot. It was only a short little jaunt over to the actual Pool of Siloam but before we got there we got to see some cool things that they found in the excavation, like a women's toilet, and the tunnel that the Romans used to dig from the pool area up to the temple mount during the siege of Jerusalem. It's a really small tunnel, and maybe they haven't found the bottom yet, but yeah, that was quite the feat for sure! The Pool itself is only partly excavated bec
ause most of it has some guys garden over it! It is a recent excavation (relatively) and so they don't really have all of the area for all of the things that they would like. But the fact that they found it is neat since it is under about 10 ft of dirt! But yeah.Anyway, it was a lazy day after that. We got back for lunch, and then I ate lunch, and then I took a nap for a long while (4 hrs ish) so that I would not get sicker and then I woke up and started to work on my Palestinian mid-term. It's a joke... so not helpful to my education, but oh well, we once again bow to the rule of the teacher! Here's to tomorrow!
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