Jan 11, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
This is a newer site, found in the late 1800s I believe. This area was being excavated for something else until ruins were found here. The people that found it and subsequent scholars agree that it is maybe not the tomb of Jesus, but they can’t rule out that it could be, because it matches the text of the Bible as the description of Jesus’ tomb, too. There is a rock that resembles a skull there…
They say this is “Skull Hill”. See what you think.
This is the entrance to the tomb, which is a period tomb, with a trough right in front of the door for a large stone that would have been round and could be rolled away. Like this smaller version nearby…
The inside was a period Jewish tomb with an outer chamber for viewing and preparing the body.
And, to the right of that, an inner part that would have held 3-4 bodies.
With this marking on the wall. The guide that took us around the garden said that they don’t know if this is the tomb of Jesus or not either, but they make it available for people to come visit. It is run and kept up by a group from England. So for what it’s worth. It is a pretty garden. They allowed us to have a half hour church service there in one of their outdoor areas. It was raining, and the shelter was a beautiful place to have our service. The guys from the olive wood store/factory in Bethlehem gave us tiny cups of olive wood to use for communion, and the Garden Tomb people gave us bread like Jesus would have used for the Last Supper to use as well. It was a very nice service, we brought our devotional booklets and songbooks and pastor gave a short sermon as well. I looked at a few of the gals sitting behind me after the service and they were talking and crying. I lovingly told them that I didn’t know what they were talking about and I didn’t want to know…nothing personal, but I was in no mood to cry yet again. They chuckled and totally understood! So while the “wow factor” wasn’t there for me necessarily about the location, in comparison to what we’ve all seen, the service was very touching.
After this, we went back to the hotel and said our goodbyes to Mike. This was our last day with him. We also said goodbye to 13 of our crew who began resting and packing for their long journey home. Sixteen of us stayed on for a few more days, the hike extension, and got a new guide the next day, Eitan, and kept the same amazing driver, Hasim. I was grateful for the extra time to catch up on some blogs, and then sleep, as I was not feeling very well by this time. Tomorrow will be Day 8, and we’ll be leaving Jerusalem.
Jan 11, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
We went to a small area of the Israel Museum where the Dead Sea Scrolls are kept on display. Well, some of them. I am sorry to say that we were not allowed to take pictures of any of the scrolls that we saw because camera flashes degrade the parchment, so we weren’t even allowed to use our cameras at all inside the museum part with the scrolls.
There was a pretty cool 1:60 scale model of Jerusalem outside though. At this scale, people would be about as tall as a match stick. This is the southern steps of the Temple Mount. Very cool.
This is the pools of Bethesda north of the temple.
King Solomon’s temple and the Antonia Fortress with it’s 4 towers on the right…north end of the Temple Mount. This model really brings the city how it was in Jesus’ time to life.
This is the top/outside of the museum with the scrolls in it. I must say, seeing the actual scroll pieces was pretty impressive. The entire book of Isaiah was found in a jar, along with other books and writings about the Levitical code for worship and even some secular, non-scriptural writings. These were found at Qumran, if you remember from the earlier blog. We visited there, where they were found.
They had some other cool stuff on the grounds.
Trim work sculptures, neat.
Column tops.
This pic shows better the size of the 1:60 model. Very cool and helpful.
Next up is the Garden Tomb, the end of day 7.
Jan 9, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20, Uncategorized
Very near the Antonia Fortress is the Pools of Bethesda. Right next to the pools of Bethesda is St Anne’s Cathedral. This is one of the few cathedrals that was not destroyed by the Muslims after the Byzantine Era because they turned it into a school, and were particularly impressed by the acoustics. We tried to sing a song or two in there, despite the lack of song books, and with little luck remembering all the correct words. So I volunteered to sing the first stanza of “It Is Well” for our group. I was a little under the weather, but the acoustics were most forgiving and it was pretty cool. A favorite moment for me as it is maybe my favorite hymn. Here is a pic of the cathedral.
Here is a picture of the (now empty) pools with some of the archaeology nearby.
The pools were some 40-50 feet deep. Whoa! Next up is the Israel Museum and lunch.
Jan 9, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
Pontius Pilate judged Jesus in the courtyard of the Antonia Fortress on the northwest corner of the Temple Mount. At the time, the courtyard was open to the sky, while now it is covered over to be the foundation for housing above. Thankfully, they preserved the Roman courtyard pavement so pilgrims could see it. The head clearance was a little low for Evan, but I’m so glad we could see this place. It is up there with my favorites for sure.
So if you remember the cistern pools from under the Antonia Fortress from the other day when I blogged about the Western Wall, this is the other side of the same cistern. We went into a building that used to be a school that Mike went to as a child, and in the basement is this cistern. We walk around down there a bit, and then there is this small room with these tiny displays.
Hand lamps, a little bigger than in Jesus’ day.
Pitchers and urns found in the area. Pretty sure all of these would be Roman, but don’t quote me.
So on top of the box that is closest to the camera, there are animal knuckle bones. The little white paper in front of the box says that knuckle bones were used for games of the King. These are the kinds of games that would have been played to cast lots for Jesus’ clothes. Wait for it…
More game pieces and other objects from the area…ok, now check THIS out.
This is an area on the floor here that has been preserved because it is like a board for the Game of the King. This is how they cast lots to determine who would get Jesus’ garment. Whoa.
It’s hard to read, but the sign shows it a little. This is amazing guys.
This sidewalk or road with these kinds of grooves in it is for sure Roman from the time of Jesus. This mosaic is nearby.
This is the courtyard area where Jesus was judged by Pilate, for sure. We had a devotion and quiet time here. This area is also where the Stone of Flagellation would have been taken from (and placed in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.).
This is absolutely Roman stone, dated to the time of Jesus.
I would have to say this is probably on my top 5 favorites. It’s really hard to choose, but even when we were sitting around talking the other day as a group, many said this was one of their favorites from memory. It was breathtaking.
Next up, St Anne’s cathedral and the pools of Bethesda.
Jan 6, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
After we went back outside of the church by the ladder no one will move, we went through another doorway and entered a deserted courtyard.
These tiny green doors are entrances to the rooms of the Coptic monks that live here in the church. They open up into larger rooms, we’re told, but what a completely different feel. This place was silent and no one was there.
From here we could also see the tower to the Lutheran church, which is the tallest spire in the city.
From here we continued into a corridor that had one of the stations of the cross, number 9, I believe.
The stations are denoted throughout the way in the city streets with this kind of marker.
This rock is traditionally a place where Jesus stopped, and Joseph of Arimethia took over carrying the cross. It looks like a handprint. Like this.
Another station. Into the Armenian Quarter now. On our way to St Anne’s Church and the pools of Bethesda from John 5, but first, the basement of the Antonia Fortress. This one gets it’s own blog….but I think it will have to wait as it is time for bed. I feel a little better today (Day 9), but I still need some good sleep. Goodnight all!
Jan 6, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
This is going to be a marathon. I may have to break it up into components because there is so much here. Choosing pictures to narrow down to is almost impossible because of the richness of the content. I’ll do my best.
We start early in the morning by walking through the Jaffa Gate, past the tattoo place again (the tat is fine and healing nicely), and we come around a corner to this.
This church was built by Constantine and his mother Helena and it is incredible. I mean INCREDIBLE. There are different religions that lay claim to it and they all have to agree when things are done to the church, which can be problematic. Note the ladder in the picture headed up to one of the upper windows. The story goes that there was someone trying to bring food to hungry people, either taking it in or out I’m not sure, but they couldn’t agree who would take the ladder down, so it’s been up there for well over 100 years. The courtyard in front of it is open, a respite from the sidewalks that have buildings/walls several storied high on either side, which is a very hemmed-in-and-nowher-to-go feeling. First thing as we go in, Mike notices that the line to see the place where the cross was is empty, so we make a bee-line for that area quick. We go up a steep staircase and see such beautiful artwork.
The oldest mosaic. On the ceiling. So cool.
Then we ducked under this altar to put our hand into a hole and feel the stone where the cross stood. Whoa.
From around the back it looks like this.
And this. Very cool. Then we go down steps and start to walk down a hallway a few steps. Mike keeps walking, but Evan, who was at the church earlier that morning with pastor, pulls me aside and shows me this.
This is the stone directly below where we just were, Golgotha, the place of the skull…and this is the crack in the stone hill right below the cross. This is one of the ways they identify where Jesus’ cross was…the earthquake when He died…it cracked the rock below the cross. This is one of my favorite spots in the whole tour. This is another…right down the hall from this…
This is the Stone of Flagellation. It was moved here from the Antonia Fortress where Jesus was sentenced and punished. Yep, this is the stone they bound Him to when they whipped Him. I cried. I am again now as I type this. It’s just powerful.
We then walk down into another area of the church, a chapel.
Along the walls of the steps, we see thousands of crosses carved into the rock, like this.
THOUSANDS of them. These crosses date back to the Crusades. Crusaders who made it to Jerusalem carved a cross here to mark that they had made it. It was amazing to see them everywhere in this staircase. The staircase went down to the chapel, and then another went even further down yet, to this.
This is a statue of Mary with the cross. This is where they found the cross of Jesus, when the Roman took Jerusalem. They took the cross back to Rome with them and carved it up into littler pieces and distributed the pieces to many different churches. It was said that the cross had healing properties. This art shows the spot.
We then go back upstairs and see the Jewish tomb area. The place they believe was Jesus’/Joseph of Arimethia’s tomb has been destroyed over and over. There is a Jewish tomb a few steps away that is intact, and we got to see that one.
And inside, which isn’t a great picture because it was pitch black.
This is not far at all from Golgatha. A very short walk. 
This is the dome directly above the tomb area.
This building inside a building around the tomb. Not far from this was a new portion that just opened, even pastor hadn’t seen it before it was so new. This is a place that would have held Jesus as a prisoner. His legs would have been put into the holes, and bound underneath so He couldn’t escape. Also near Golgatha and the tomb.
Sorry, the picture is upside down. The lit circles are for His legs.
One more thing before I wrap up this particular blog…right below the cross, and between it and the tomb, is the Rock of Anointment. This is where Jesus body was laid after it was taken down from the cross to prepare it for burial. It was a bit smaller than a twin size bed, just big enough to lay a body.
Pretty amazing. Right behind me as I’m taking this picture is the most beautiful mosaic depicting the cross to the tomb story.
My pictures do not do it justice. It’s really beautiful.
Next we went to another part of the church, but I’ll break the story here for the next blog entry.
