Tanks and Towers

We don't get to see much of Jerusalem's secular history, so this past week I went with a group to Ammunition Hill. This was the site of some intense trench fighting during the Six Day War of 1967. Jordan was in control of East Jerusalem and the Old City. Israel simultaneously launched attacks on the Egyptian troops in the Sinai and the Jordanian troops to the east.  The visitor center at Ammunition Hill explained the events of the war by shining different colored lights on model of the city.

 

Of course the most photographed part of the site was the tank.  The signs were all in Hebrew, so hopefully none of them said "No Climbing."

 

This bridge does not go over a creek;it's over a 5-6 foot deep trench.  A maze of narrow trenches covers part of the hill and you can wander around to the different posts. This would be an awesome place to play capture the flag

 

Later that day we went to the Tower of David.  Ruins from every time period since the Canaanite times (Iron Age) are visible from this platform.

 

This is a minaret.  It was added to the tower complex during the Islamic period.

 

The Tower of David is attached to the Rampart walls.  This little hallway has alcoves with holes in the wall so you can pour hot oil and molten lead on your enemies.  Oil and lead will boil you dead.

 

The tower of David is next to Jaffa Gate, which is the border between East and West Jerusalem.  Here's a map for all of you visual learners.

Orisons on Mount of Olives

This is the week before finals and we don't have too much free time.  We were able to see the church of Pater Noster, which was founded by St. Eleni in the 4th century.  According to tradition, this is the place where the savior said the Lord's prayer.

 

The church has the Lord's prayer written in 80 different languages. There were some pretty obscure ones, like Cherokee and Basque, as well as braille in several languages.

 

Here it is in English:

 

The church has an orchard of olive trees behind it.  Some of the students decided it would be a good place to frolic through the flowers and take pictures.  My group left and got ice cream.

 Pop Quiz!  Guess the language of each image (Answers at the end).

 

Answers:  German, Chinese, Samoan.

Old Testament Occupations

Our most recent field trip was to Neot Kedumin, a Biblical Landscape Reserve where you can see how life was way back when.  Researchers went through the bible and identified most of the plants mentioned in the Old and New Testaments.  These grounds incorporate many of these plants.  This is an almond tree.  The almond is the first tree to blossom but one of the last to produce a crop.  It's a symbol for promise in the Old Testament.

 

This is a goat.  Jarom named him Frank.  For one of the activities we herded sheep and goats with our mad teamwork skills.

 

Our guide talked about how shepherds make good leaders.  Just count how many prophets were shepherds before their heydays. With a little direction, these students could be the next great leaders.

 

For part of our lunch we made our own pitas.  We built the fire, made the dough, flattened and cooked the pitas, and even washed the dishes.  They sure were tasty.  Good work Chef Kelsey.

 

This is an Archimedes screw.  This method of drawing water only takes one person and you don't have to be strong.  Seth is using the screw in this picture and he's only 9.

 

Here's what the inside looks like.  Check out Wikipedia for more info.

 

For our last activity we talked to a Torah scribe.  He talked about his job and showed us how to make ink.

Craving some Caving

Sunday we went to Soreq Cave Nature Reserve and took a tour of the subterranean area.  Sorek Cave is small but highly decorated.  This cave was found in the 60s, so it's been preserved from the ignorance of early explorers.  The inside of the cave was actually warmer than the outside air, so we took off our coats during the tour.

 

The national parks authority installed sensors to keep track of the temperature and humidity of the cave.  They even have sprayers to fix the moisture level.

 

The cave is really active and speleologists come from around the world to take measurements.

 

Some formations here have different names.  For example, the long hollow formations known as soda straws in the US are called macaroni stalactites here. (Notice the stalactite and stalagmite on the right half.  The top dried off before they could meet, so the guides call it Romeo and Juliet).

  

Pork is neither Kosher nor Halal, so cave bacon is renamed elephant ears (which are also tasty).

 

Here's a close up. Notice how wet it is.  According to the guide, water takes 30 years to reach the cave.

The Soggy City of Saul's Successor

Our field trip this week was inside Jerusalem, in the City of David.  This section of town is located just south of the walls of the Old City.  It's the original site of Jerusalem at the time of David, when it was much smaller.  Evcavations have uncovered some walls built to stabilize some structure at the top of the hill, possibly a palace or fortress.

 

Some archaeologists think this is an ancient toilet seat.

 

The next photo is of a tomb located inside the city walls.  This is unique because the Jews usually buried their dead outside the city walls.  (Dead things are considered unclean). Jarom and SarahBeth decided to climb up and look for a corpse.  No dice.

 

The last part of the field trip was to Hezediah's tunnel.  This passageway was created in 701 BC to supply the city with water during the Assyrian seige.  The tunnel is over 1,600 ft long and the water is about 2 feet, 4 inches at the deepest points. (The majority of it was maybe a foot deep).  Here we see Carrie modeling the staircase down to the tunnel.  Slippery when wet.

 

Hezekiah's tunnel is not lit, so you need a flashlight or headlamp to see.  This is what it looks like in the dark.  As you can see, it is narrow and the ceiling isn't very high.  Do not go if you get claustrophobic.

 

Here it is in the light. While the walk was wet, the tunnel was well warmed.

Levant Lemur-ick

There were some students from Jeru

Who wanted to visit the zoo.

They gawked and they stared

At lemurs and bears

And photos they took not a few.

Sundays are free days at the Jerusalem Center, so I went with a bunch of students to the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens (aka Biblical Zoo). The visitor center was a great work of ark.

Check out these fluorescent scorpions under black light.

You otter see this exhibit at the zoo.

This red panda was out for his morning walk.  All of the animals were more active in the morning.

The leopard found a good spot to rest.

And remember, when life gives you lemurs, make lemur-ade.

All Students Enjoy Getting Letters

This field trip was to the Shephelah, which is the landland region between Israel's mountains and plains. The Shephelah had five valleys:  Aijalon, Sorek, Elah, Guvrin, and Lachish.  If you want help remembering them in order, just remember "All students enjoy getting mail"  (hint, hint).  It rained that day and it was muddy, but as you can see, the rain makes things quite lush and green.  Temporarily.  This view overlooks the plains where David fought Goliath.  Later in the day we actually practiced using slings but it was too wet for taking pictures.

 

This is the what remains of the city Lachish (la-keesh).  This place is famous because archaeologists found a seige ramp and some letters written on pot shards.  The letters talk about the defeat of Beth Shemesh at the hands of the Israelites.

 

The last stop was Maresha in Beit Guvrin National Park. This city was built underground into limestone, which is soft and easy to carve.  Here we see dove cotes.  Doves were used for food and sacrifices.

 

The caves where the people lived were built like a maze.  Deep cisterns collected water in the wet season and had to last the whole year.

Here you can see a couple levels down.

 

This is the cave of tombs.  The walls are nicely painted and there are plenty of alcoves for photo ops.

"First I was afraid, I was Petra-fied"

I wrote my site report on Petra but I'll keep it brief here.  If you are in desparate need of a cure for insomnia, I can send you my paper. This is the main siq (pronounced "seek") leading into the valley.  It's pretty narrow and the walls are high, so it's easy to defend.

 

The Romans only succeeded in taking over by poisoning the water.  If you look towards the bottom of the left wall, you can see where the water would have flowed.

 

This is the treasury, the most famous building on site. The ruler who commissioned it incorporated styles from other countries so people would feel more at home when they came for trade.  Indiana Jones rediscovered this site in the 1940s on his search for the Holy Grail.

 

This is Jen on a camel.  She looks pretty happy for how tight she's holding on.

 

Here are a bunch of tombs.  The Nabateans who lived here were big on death.  Some researchers think they settled in this area because the sandstone was easy to carve into tombs.

 

Romans like to have theaters wherever they go.  The Nabateans built the original theater but the Romans cut away some of the structures in the back to make room for more seating.

 

The valley is full of all sorts of buildings carved into the sandstone.  I didn't have time to see these ones but I think one of them is a church.

 

This is part of the trail up to the Monastery. See the road in the back?  We walked in on that.  The trail had something like 800 steps, so not all tourists make the trip.  It took us an hour to go up and 20 minutes to get down.

 

This is the Monastery at the top of the trail.  As you can see it's a lot bigger than the Treasury.You used to be able to climb up behind it but now the trail is blocked and there are "No Climbing" signs all around it.

 

Here's what it looks like from the base.

 

In conclusion, even though we were only there for a few hours, I would highly recommend Petra to anyone traveling to Jordan.