A circle around the Jerusalem of Jesus's time
Trip Start
Jan 08, 2008
1
17
33
Trip End
Mar 18, 2008
Jerusalem,
Israel
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Yesterday we did a complete circle of the Jerusalem of Jesus' time. The current wall does not cover the area of the city when Jesus was crucified. The current wall was built by Suleiman in the 1500's. His builders left out the oldest part-the city that was occupied when David captured it. In addition, Mt. Zion was not included in the current wall. We began at the Damascus Gate on the north side of the Old City. We walked around to the east side of the city and went into the Kidron valley. Along this valley( it runs along the east side of the city) we saw houses on top of the valley, but in the valley it looked like it might have in Jesus' time. There are a number of olive trees growing there. This part of the valley, up to the Lions Gate, is part of the national park so it is kept natural and no homes are built in it. We came upon a sight we did not expect in that we saw two horses in a stable made out of the indentation in the rock face. It was a shallow cave with a wall built in front of it. We walked further along and came upon a church that some believe is the burial place of Mary the mother of Jesus. Just opposite of the Lions gate is the Church of St. Stephen. This is the place that the stoning of Stephen happened. You can see in the pictures that there are still to this day plenty of stones to carry out a sentence of stoning. If you look toward the Mt.
The Valley at the beginning of the walk
of Olives from St. Stephens you can see the path that Jesus took on Palm Sunday.We crossed the road and continued on our walk to the south side of the Kidron Valley. In the hillside are tombs from the first century. Buried in these tombs are members of Royalty. Walking in this part of the valley is truly walking were Jesus walked. He would have come from the Last Supper along the path we were taking and to the Garden of Gethsemane. We continued our walk and came across a small herd of goats. It was a surprise because they were heading for a busy road. The goat herder wanted us to pay him to have a picture taken with the goats. My beard has been long so I did not want a picture with me because you might not be able to tell the difference between man and goat! We walked to were the Kidron Valley meeting the Hinnom Valley. At this meeting point is the pool of Saloam. We were at this point a few days ago coming from the other direction. When we arrived at this spot we realized it would be shorter to go completely around instead of going back.. Our other choice was to go straight up. We did that two days ago and it was quite a climb. I would have hated to have been a soldier and be ordered to go up the hill and attack. By the time I reached the top, you could just blow and I would fall down. We walked in the valley of Hinnom until we reached the east end. In this valley, not to far from were the Kidron and Hinnom meet, is the place were the high priests bought a potters field with the 30 pieces of silver given to Judas. In this valley in very ancient times (well before the Jew's came there) child sacrifices were carried out. This valley is like a long park. Where the valley ends you can see Mt.
Olive trees in Kidron valley
Zion were the Dormintion Abby is located and the site of the Last Supper. Jesus might have left the supper, gone into the Hinnom valley and over to the Kidron valley, noticed it was too late to go on to Bethany and decided to spend the night at Gethsemane. Judas would have known of these plans so that he could go there with the Temple soldiers. Judas knew the place because Jesus and the 12 spent nights there before. We finished our walk realizing that we had just gone around the entire city that was there at Jesus' time. The buildings have all changed, but the rocks and hills are the same. Along with the need of the people for peace. We need to understand as we walk around the places that Jesus walked that He did not care about the building or the hill or the land - but He cared about the people and their well being. If we continue to care enough about the people we see everyday and to share the love of God with them, then we walk were Jesus walked wherever we are.Look for the new What is This?! today
Our Love and Prayers for all of you on this Ash Wednesday,
Michael & Jolene
Comments
thank you
Thanks for the good description and the pictures.
Will you be going to Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee? I am writing a screenplay of a story that takes place in the area of Capernaum in the 1st Century. I have a number of questions about the terrain and vegetation in the hills to the north, the shore (Is it beach or rocks or ? ), the design of the synagogues then, and I'm sure I can come up with more. I will be watching your blog as you travel.
Thanks again.
walking
looks like you picked the best time of the year to visit to be doing all the walking you are doing.. would be pretty hot doing that in the summer. our pastor is talking about nehimiah rebuiding the wall but i can't figure out if your walls are near the ones he rebuilt. prayers for you daily..rick&cyndi