[Twinkletoes]

Hello again from Jerusalem! It rained much of the day, so we changed our schedule and traveled down, down, down to many feet below sea level, so it was much warmer.

Visited the two Jericho ruins. I hadn't realized there was an Old Testament Jericho and a New Testament Jericho. Jericho is an oasis and is lush with palm trees and crops. You can see for miles and miles -- we could actually see a little bit of Amman, Jordan from where we stood.

I collected a few pottery shards from the newer Jericho, as it had just rained and they were easy to find. There was a deaf boy who used his bare hands to get us a small branch from a thorny bush, similar to that which would have been used to make the crown of thorns for Christ. We each gave him $1.

I don't know my history and don't retain what the guide tells us, but I did learn that whoever destroyed the temple here in Jerusalem (Tiberius??) actually did burn it. But it is made of limestone, so how can that be? Well, apparently limestone has moisture in it (like popcorn, I suppose) and when they'd build fires around the large stones on top of the temple, they'd eventually explode and fall to the ground far below. The temple I speak of is the same temple that has the Western/wailing wall.

We got to tour a place that Jews aren't allowed to go, as it is run by Muslims, I believe. Just another part of the temple, which is about the size of a small city, with many stairs and tunnels that wind around and around.

We visited the site where it is believed that Jesus would have been placed in a dungeon. I thought it would be similar to a prison, but it is much worse. There was a hole in the bedrock (the rock around here has many natural cave formations) where a person had a rope tied about their waist and lowered into the dungeon. The dungeon was filled with "mire" or sewage/waste, so that the prisoner had to stand all the time. There was no way to escape; nevertheless, there was a ledge where a guard could watch the unfortunate souls in the dungeon (a very small room) while at the same time keeping an eye on the prisoners, who were located in an area maybe 10' above the dungeon level.

Also, we walked through the city of Bethany to the tomb of Lazarus, who was raised from the dead by Jesus Christ. A very treacherous winding staircase with stones made slippery by the rain/wet feet led to a room, which then led to an even smaller room (maybe 7'x7') that you had to actually crawl to get down into it. That was where Lazarus was entombed, and then appeared at the entrance (the original entrance had been changed into a solid wall) still dressed in his mummy-like strips of cloth when Jesus arrived.

I'm still learning the basics of haggling/bartering with the locals. I bought some coins this morning from the toothless old gentleman who sets up his shoeshine shop right outside the hotel here. I found out that our guide, Jim, adds to his ancient coin collection whenever he comes here, because he brings Kiwi polish to exchange with him! The man had taken advantage of the rain-soaked earth to dig up some coins. I guess they are all over, because they were of no value to the next group of people who took possession of the city. Also, the people were rich and (like us) didn't bother to bend over to pick up a penny!

Did I mention that I bought a a tiny clay oil lamp from the Byzantine period? I paid a pretty penny for it, but it has lots of detail and is authentic (according to our guide). Today I bought some myrrh oil so my Sunday School class can smell the aroma. And some small pods that contain hundreds of teensy-tiny mustard seeds. You could fit at least a dozen on the period at the end of this sentence -- maybe more.

A good local drink is freshly squeezed pomegranate and orange juice. There is a special squeezer to accomplish this, but I didn't have room in my suitcase for it, lol!

I feel so much better today than yesterday at this time. I actually came to the hotel earlier than most of the rest of the group, who went to the Holocaust Museum. Not that I don't care about those unfortunate souls, but I can't rid myself of those haunting images. Also, I was exhausted and took a 2 hour nap, ate dinner, went to a concernt, then slept for maybe 8-9 hours. The concert was a string quartet at the BYU Jerusalem center, which overlooks the city. Oh, and Vonn, you should have seen the quilt art exhibit there! Such vibrant colors and creativity! The string quartet was top notch -- composers have even written and dedicated their music to one of the violinists, a woman. I was sorry I couldn't manage to keep my eyes open for the whole hour, but what I heard was brilliant and flawless music by Haydn, Bat and Schumann. They only get a small compensatory sum of money for appearing at the BYU Jerusalem Center, but it is an honor to play there. We were requested to leave a generous tip, and we were happy to do so.

Oh, and I meant to mention that following my 15-20 minute soak in the Dead Sea (a few days ago), my body felt better for awhile. My knees worked much better without complaint. As you probably know, many people go there for therapeutic benefit of psoriasis and arthritis.

Well, when we first got back about an hour ago, the occupants of the entire 7th floor (our entire group) had to return to the front desk and get their plastic keys re-swiped, as they did not work. So I need to go do that -- I walked over to the computer instead. And I just checked my time -- you can only buy 1 hour segments, and it had run out. So now I have to purchase another hour or I will lose this entire post!

Good fortune! I found the other (previously missing) paper with part of another hour on it, so didn't even have to leave my chair.

One of the differences between Jordan and Israel is the vehicles. While in Jordan, it seemed that 50% of the vehicles were those old 1987ish little Nissan trucks. They were ubiquitous there. Here in Israel, the traffic looks much like our own -- many newer cars. The people in Jordan were nicer, I think. I guess it was just so easy to warm up to the Bedouin people with their smiling faces and sparkling eyes.

I've seen Bedouin camps here in the hills, but haven't met any of those people. They herd their sheep and goats on the mostly barren hills here. BTW, this city is every bit as hilly as San Francisco! Jesus Christ and John the Baptist, who both walked these hills, would no doubt have had very strong calf muscles! I am glad we get to ride in a nice bus to save our legs.

It is nearly time for dinner and I only have 10 min. computer time remaining. NT timed out and I've had to re-post this. I wish I had time to read the other threads. I do hope you are all well. If you have any questions, please ask and I will answer as best I can.

Good-bye until next time!

[SallyC]

Wow, Twink....just Wow!!!!

[Kitty]

Twink, what a wonderful time you're having! Thank you, thank you, thank you for including us all in your journey. This is the closest I'll ever get to that part of the world. Being in the same place Christ once stood.....simply amazing. Stay safe and enjoy your adventure. I envy you all the wonderful memories you'll have from this!

[barb02]

I am really enjoying following your journey. Thank you for taking this time for all of us!

[Jappy]

Twink, can't say it any better then Sally did


WOW!!!!!

Jappy

[Debbie D]

Sounds like an absolutely wonderful experience...glad you're enjoying it...

Thanks for the reports!

[Judy2]

Thanks so much twink, for including us in your amazing journey. What an experience!!!! Looking forward to the next installment, so have a wonderful time and stay safe!

[pud's friend]

Thanks for thinking about us on your trip Twink. Always nice to hear about something and somewhere new. Hope you're having a fab time.

[Twinkletoes]

Joseph of Aramathea was a rich man and we visited what is believed to be his garden today. It was lovely! Because he was rich, he had a cistern that held water enough to fill half an Olympic sized pool. Also, the tomb where Jesus was placed was not a cave, but also carved from existing stone/bedrock. All told, it was about the size of two very generous walk-in closets, with a dividing wall between.

The flowers in the garden were the kind we're used to seeing at the florist shop, because they don't grow in most of our yards. Quite a few hardy geraniums and dozens of potted plants on steps. Such a lovely oasis in the middle of the busy city.

You can walk to the opposite end of the garden (its maybe 400 to 500 feet long) and see "Golgotha" or, the "place of a skull." It is a remarkable natural formation in the side of the bedrock that has two caves that look like the eyes, and used to have a black mark/cave for the mouth, but the bus parking lot was raised and now covers that part.

It is so noisy in the lobby right now that I can hardly think! People moving chairs around and foreign talkers chit-chatting and laughing behind me. Ugh. I am so tired and still have to finish packing.

Walked thru Hezekiah's tunnel today. Not something you'd want to undertake if you are the least bit claustrophobic! It is about 1/3 mile long and only shoulder width. The height varies -- at times you have to hunch and other times it is quite tall. It was dug from opposite ends in a hurry and there is a kink in the middle where the workers finally met. You walk in water the entire distance, with the depth varying between calf-height to above the knee for short periods.

They are still doing archealogical work on it. When we emerged from the end, we came out at the place where they believe is the Pool of Shalom (or something close to that). I hadn't realized that in Biblical days only the women carried water for their families. The only instance a man did it was when he didn't have a woman to do it for him.

Who was the man in the Bible that sent his servant to find a wife for him (can't think)? That's why it was easy for the servant to find the man carrying water (as directed by revelation), because the rest of the people getting water from the pool were women.

There are thousands of sepulchres? or whatever they are called that they bury their dead in. One side of the valley is designated for the Jews, the other for the ummmm, Christians or Muslims -- my haid is too tired and I didn't take very good notes. I was too busy taking pictures and keeping track of my umbrella.

Tomorrow before breakfast our bus leaves for the Sea of Galilee. We change hotels -- been at this one for 6 days and hate to lug my bags to the next one. But at least they are extremely nice hotels, so can't really complain. The food is all Kosher. Weird stuff for breakfast, like salads and tomatoes and hummus. The bread is always good and I will really miss that. We had lunch at a restaurant today and everybody ordered hamburgers and fries. Well, they were actually lambburgers, but that's okay. They were pretty good. Not exactly sure what milk I've been drinking, but I guarantee there's no cows around here. Lots of goats, though!

Issa, the local shoeshine man, always has a pocketful of ancient coins. I bought a handful today for quite a bit of $$$, but our guide said that one was worth $100, so I felt better about that. Also, I found a small vessel today to match my virgin's lamp, which is very small. Its not Herodian, but I like it anyway. Its not hard to see why the virgin's couldn't share their oil. The vessel was to re-fill it so it could burn another 3-4 hours once the Bridegroom came.

Okay, I'll say goodbye for now. Thanks for your nice posts -- my family won't respond back. Grrrr! DH has only written me one email the whole time I've been gone. Take care everyone!