An Unexpected Adventure

Our day began with Dave and I puzzling over our map of Jerusalem, trying to find out how to get to the City of David.

Now, to get the picture straight in your mind, think about D.C. traffic...to the 10th power. Now imagine all that traffic in a little town like Annapolis, with its narrow roads. Add passionate Mediterraneans intent on getting to where they're going by any means possible. Any. Means. Possible.

Yes.

Now add two befuddled tourists.

So a guy calls out to us, "Hey, where are you going?" And we met Yusuf, an Arab Christian, born in Jerusalem, who acts as a tour guide. He took us places we never thought of going!

First we went to the Church of the Ascension, and saw the stone traditionally attributed to where Jesus rose up into heaven.

Next was a panoramic view of the temple mount where we saw the Dome of the Rock, and the beautiful Church of Mary Magdalena. And Absolom's tomb!

As we came down the hill we went to the Church of the Pater Noster where Jesus is said to have looked out over Jerusalem and prayed about His longing to gather them as chicks under His wings. The stone where he stood praying has a cross chiseled into it marking the place where, if you look just right, the cross of the Pater Noster and the cross on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre align.

Next was a trip to the Garden of Gethsemane with a 2,000 year old, living olive tree. Inside the Church of the Agony, right next door, was a great limestone rock traditionally seen as the place where Jesus prayed.

Then off we went to the West Bank, through the Arab/Israeli checkpoint to see Bethlehem. While there we visited a Greek Orthodox church built over the traditional site of Jesus' birth. The 'Smiling Madonna' is uniquely associated with Bethlehem because it's where Jesus was born. The 'Sad Madonna' is associated specifically with Jerusalem because that's where Jesus died.

During an earthquake some of the paving stones were tumbled around and a much more ancient church with lovely mosaics was revealed underneath the current building.

Next was the Church of the Nativity where the yearly Christmas service is broadcast around the world. Dave stood next to the depiction of King David in bronze of Jesus' family tree.

Afterwards we went to the Shepherds' Cave, where it is said the angels sang 'Peace to All People,' informing them of Messiah ' s birth.

We also spent some time with Yusuf and his friends in their co-op of nearly sixty Arab Christian families who now carve olive wood, and produce other arts and crafts for their livelihood. We were glad to do all our Christmas shopping there, and contribute something to their well-being.

We heard first hand how hard it has been for them, once "The Wall" was erected, abruptly cutting them off from family and friends in Jerusalem, as well as their jobs. Very few people are allowed through the check point, and the guards gave Dave and I a good long hard look before they waved us through.

We headed on from there back to Jerusalem and completed our day at the Garden Tomb. This is a different site than the more traditional Church of the Holy Sepulchre. A couple hundred years ago two reverends / archeologists saw what they were convinced was a skull motif in a low hill. The looked for and found an empty tomb nearby, chiseled into the living rock and were sure they'd discovered Golgotha and Joseph of Aremathae's tomb.

It was a sweet place and we're glad we went.

Caeserea pictures

Basically, this is just a tiny smattering. Check out the marble lined jacuzzi, right? The cross embedded in one of the column capitals (definitely a Christian addition from the 5th century), remnants of the private harbor, a part of the huge chariot racing track, a small sampling of the gorgeous mosaic floors all throughout, and the last block carries the name "Pontius Pilatus"....

The arched ceiling is the entrance the Crusaders built for their version of the site. Randomly, there was a sleeping kitty tucked away on a column, and from the many pictures we took of the signs throughout the site, the one here depicts what the circus would have looked like.

The floor with a circle - shaped hole in it is the great hall where Paul gave his testimony to the dignitaries of his day. We also went to the see the famed aqueducts which supplied the entire Herod Ian complex with copious amounts of running water--it's the picture which looks like a bridge.

Caeserea

We devoted the while day to walking through the enormous Caeserea site . This is where Herod the Great built a ginormous palace and ground complete with an Olympic sized chariot race course with a huge oval arena of seating all around. Reportedly,  Herod also had gladiators, wild animals, and Christians battle it out in the arena.

On the grounds were several sumptuous palaces, an extensive bath house, granaries and other storage buildings, a synagogue, and a private wharf and harbor. A great earthquake toppled the entire complex which was later built over 9n the 4th century A.D. for a while, but then only sparsely populated.

Later, when the Crusaders arrived, they were totally unconcerned about the ancient ruins. They just used treated it as their private able quarry and re-purposed the magnificent pillars and other stonework to their own ends.

It was electrifying to stand in the very hall Paul stood in, in Acts 23;33--27:2. We marveled at how Paul had spent over 2 years in Ceasarea, mostly in the dungeons below. So many famous people came to hear from him. Though it doesn't look very big, nor like much at all today, Paul's fate hung in the balance e those two thousand years ago on that very spot. We also stood at the most likely place his ship took sale from, headed for Rome.

All throughout were magnificent mosaics, and stunning marble halls. Herod had wealth and wealth and wealth!

Afterwards we drove to Jerusalem and we're delighted to discover the YMCA is like a palace in itself. To our very great surprise and joy the car rental drop-off was right next door. Thank You, God.

Pictures from Capernaum, Chorazin, and Magdala