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We spent a couple of days exploring Jerusalem. The following list represents some of the places we saw: Day 1 - Generally east and south of the walled city.
* The city of Jerusalem
Day 2 - Generally west and southwest of the walled city
* Around the western wall
We apologize that our pictures are not complete and may have inaccurate captions. We saw so many sites in one day it has been very difficult to make sure we remember what each picture shows. We would appreciate your letting us know of any errors (big or small) so we can correct them. brinkje@plu.edu. Thank you. |
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We toured the area around the western wall. |
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Above: Some excavations.
Right: These excavations are from the first temple period. This picture is a panorama created from 2 pictures. |
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This is the entrance to the plaza where the Wailing Wall is located. At the right of the building on the center-right we see some excavations. On the left, in front of the Dome of the Rock, we see a "L" shaped covered walkway to the gate in the wall. The Wailing Wall is to the left of the gate. The entrance to the Western Wall tunnels is by the arches in the far left of the picture. (This picture is a panorama created from three pictures of the area.) |
Above: The Israelis refer to the "Wailing Wall" as the "Western Wall". It is the closest (above ground) place in the wall to the location of the former temples. Right: The men's area of the wailing wall |
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This 24 caret Golden Menorah is the first reconstruction since the destruction of the second temple according to the research conducted by the Temple Institute. |
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The Western Wall Tunnels or Rabbinical Tunnels are just outside the west wall of the Old City. In them one can view part of the wall Herod built before Christ was born. Much of the above ground portion of the wall was destroyed when the Romans destroyed the temple. Just a couple of points to keep in mind. The wall was built without cement or mortar. The blocks had to fit together exactly despite weighing 5 tons each. (Some corner blocks weigh 10 tons.) The foundation of the wall was 100 feet deep down to bedrock. The entrance to the tunnels is near the Wailing wall and the new exit is to the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim Quarter. They have used a number of different color lights in the tunnels. That explains some of the strange colors in the pictures. A link discussing the tunnels: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
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The following sequence of models helps you get some idea of the work involved in building the temple and walls. It will also give you an idea of how the tunnels were originally constructed. This was the temple mound when Herod began his work. |
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Herod first leveled the top of the mountain. This involved removing the highest points on the mound and building major retaining walls in the low points. |
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Then he built the temple on the location of the first and second temples. (The model is not built to scale and ignores other buildings on the temple mound. The foreground is the western wall of the temple mound.) |
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Moslems built the Dome of the Rock on the location of Herod's temple. |
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They also built a town west of the temple area at the same level as the temple grounds. To do so they had to raise the level of the ground. They did this by building arches and then covering the area with dirt. At some time the arches were completely filled with dirt. The tunnels were rediscovered by archaeologists who had to remove the dirt by the spoonful.. |
| The entrance into the tunnel. |
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The excavation continues deep below the tunnel. |
Work continues in the tunnel. |
Notice the enormous rock in the wall. It "weighs 570 tons and is 44 feet long, 10 feet high and 12-16 feet deep." Biblical Places No one knows how it was put into place. |
Some of Herodian blocks (blocks installed by Herod) are shown on the right part of the picture. Notice the edging on the blocks. All the blocks were edged even in the 100 foot deep foundation of the wall. Also notice that there is no mortar between the rocks. |
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This large reservoir was discovered in the last few years. The stairway was added only recently. It goes to a new exit from the tunnel directly to the Via Dolorosa in the Moslem quarter. Previously one had to retrace their steps to exit the tunnel. |
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This model of Herod's Jerusalem is located in the tunnels. It shows the wall and temple as they were at Jesus' time when viewed from the west. The section on the left was for the Roman garrisons. On the right is the Royal portico that ran the length of the southern wall. In front of the wall, we see two bridges to gates in the wall. |
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In addition to the temple area where the Dome of the Rock now stands, there are many religious sites, shops and homes. The area is divided into 4 parts: The Jewish, Armenian, Christian, and Moslem Quarters. (For a map, you can click here.) The Via Dolorosa is just one of the roads in the area.
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| While probably not precise, this model gives a good impression of what the Old City is like. It is at the store where we boarded the bus to Bethlehem. |
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Left: The Catholic Church of the Flagellation commemorates Jesus being scourged
and crowned with thorns (Mark 15:16-20, Luke 22:63-65, John 19:1-3). Below: It contains beautiful stained glass windows and paintings. |
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Above: The Ecce Homo Arch over the Via Dolorosa: Originally there where three of these arches. Right: Scenes along Via Dolorosa. In addition to churches, there are many shops along the street. |
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Some other churches along the Via Dolorosa. |
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Two views of the Church of the Redeemer, a Lutheran Church. |
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Some believe the Catholic Church of the Holy Sepular contains the tomb of Jesus. Even if we are not sure about that, we would appreciate the beauty of its dome. |
A chancel in the Church of the Holy Sepucler. |
Some believe that this is Jesus' Tomb. |
A giant mosaic in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. |
A close up of a section of the mosaic. |
A market in the Old City |
Some excavations found near the end of our walk |
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Steps to a purification bath. The dividers in the center were there to help ensure that the cleansed coming out of the bath didn't touch the unclean going in. |
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Some may wonder if the traditional 14 Stations of the Cross were marked along the Via Dolorosa. They were. They were also listed on this sign along the Via Dolorosa. We crossed off 4 of the stations because they have no Biblical basis. Because many feel that the 14 stations omitted the most important one, the sign added a 15th station. |
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We feel to be fair, we must mention that the problem with the traditional 14 stations is recognized by
Pope Benedict XVI. On Good Friday, 2007, he led a meditation using a revised 14 stations, each with a Biblical
basis.
Source: Vatican News Services. The scriptures listed are from the meditations given on that site. |
1. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, (Luke. 22:39-46)
2. Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested, (Luke. 22:47-53) 3. Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin, (Luke 22:66-71) 4. Jesus is denied by Peter, (Luke 22:54-62) 5. Jesus is judged by Pilate, (Luke. 23:13-25) 6. Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns, (Luke. 22:63-65) 7. Jesus takes up His cross, (Mark. 15:20) 8. Jesus is helped by Simon to carry His cross, (Luke. 23:26) 9. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem, (23:27-31) 10. Jesus is crucified, (Luke. 23:33-38) 11. Jesus promises His kingdom to the repentant thief, (Luke. 23:39-43) 12. Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other, (John. 19:25-27) 13. Jesus dies on the cross, (Luke. 23:44-47) 14. Jesus is laid in the tomb. (Luke 23:50-54) |
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Just to the southwest of the Old City on Mt. Zion, one can find traditional sites for the Upper Room and the Tomb of David. They share a building. David's tomb is on the first floor and the Upper Room is above it. There is considerable doubt that either are the actual site. Many refer to these sites using wording like they "commemorate" the tomb of David and the Upper Room. Some links about these sites: Sacred destinations: Tomb of David, Dormitio.net: Dormition Abbey, and Sacred destinations: Upper Room |
| As we walked towards the building with these cites, we caught a glimpse of the massive Dormition Abbey which serves as a Catholic Monastery. |
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We also passed a statue of David. It is just across the alley from
a Jewish synagogue. Despite their love for David, conservative Jews have a major problem with statues
because they could be idols. You may be able to see that most of the strings on David's harp have been
broken.
The sign on its base contains the verse: "I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.". Psalm 103:33 |
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Despite serious doubts about its being authentic, this site is revered by Christians, Jews, and Moslems. The
building has separate men and women's reading rooms. I Kings 2:10 says that David was buried in the
"City of David". What is now recognized to be the ancient "City of David" is a little east of this site.
The picture shows the cenotaph (or tomb) of David which is very large and draped in a red cloth embroidered with Hebrew text. The cloth was probably added in the 16th century. Wherever it might have been, David's tomb was a well known location in Jesus' time. Peter mentioned it in his sermon after Christ ascension in which 3000 were saved. In Acts 2:29 we read "... David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day." (NIV). |
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The traditional Upper Room (Mark 14:12-15) is just a large room with just a few mementos. It is called the "Coenaculum" or "dining room." It is located over the room containing David's tomb. Because of its architecture, many believe the current building was built by the Crusaders. It may have been built on top of the ruins for the original room and/or an early 2nd century church. Moslems used the room after the crusader period and the windows were designed by them. |
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We recall that Joseph of Arimathea got permission from Pilot to take Jesus' body and place it in his own tomb. A large stone was rolled in front of the door. (Matthew 27:57-61, Mark 15: 42-47, Luke 23:50-54, and John 19:38-42) The account in John includes "At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden, a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid." (John 19:41 NIV) The Garden Tomb has many of the requirements of being the site of Jesus' tomb. Whether it is actually the right site is subject to debate. But as the English guide at the Garden Tomb said. "It doesn't make any difference. He is not here. He is risen!." Whether it is the actual site or not, it has a number of appealing qualities. Unlike the Church of the Holy Sepulcher it is quiet and peaceful. Our Jewish guide for the Israel portion of the tour told us he likes to come here for prayer even though he is not a Christian. He said he was a Jew even though he treated the Old and New Testaments as one book and loved Jesus as his Rabbi. But he was not sure that he was the promised Messiah. Some on-line references: The Garden Tomb web site and Bible Places |
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Golgotha: Notice the right two caves that resemble eyes and the protrusion between them that could be the nose. 
The picture was taken from the garden so it satisfies John's statement "At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, ..." |
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Views of the gardens at the Garden Tomb. |
This is an example of the rolling stone that was used as a tomb door. In the picture of the tomb below, you will see the track in which a stone could be rolled. |
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The empty tomb and burial place. On the right, the grave carved from rock in the tomb where the body would have been lain. |
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After viewing the garden and the tomb, we had communion at this site. |
When studying the history of the Holy Land, one often see references like "during the Byzantian period". We were confused by the term. What does it mean? It refers to the "Byzantine Empire" (or "Eastern Roman Empire") that was sometimes called the "Roman Empire" during the middle ages. Depending on the era, it did not actually include Rome and part of time, its capital was in Constantinople. Some helpful links: Wikipedia: Byzantine Empire and Encyclopedia Britannica: Byzantine Empire
Jerusalem, Day 1
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Copyright 2010 James and Danielle Brink. Permission is given for non-commercial use.
Last revision: 3/31/2010. Updated link: 7/19/2018