We continued by seeing the water system of the city. There has long been a natural spring which supplied water to Jerusalem. The Jebusites built a powerful defense of the water, but were ultimately conquered by the Israelites. Many years later, when then the Assyrians had conquered the northern tribes of Israel and were now threatening the southern tribes led by Judah, Jerusalem would surely be attacked, and the water supply needed to be protected. Indeed, if the defenders had water and the invaders did not, the siege would be broken easily. Under the direction of King Hezekiah, the wellhead was covered and hidden, and a very long tunnel was created to a part of Jerusalem almost half a kilometer from the wellhead. The tunnel brought water to the Jews in Jerusalem, and the siege was short-lived and broken.
The 533 meter water tunnel still exists. We were able to hike through it! It is totally dark in the tunnel; we needed flashlights to see the water and the path below, and the ceiling above. I was walking behind Rita (illuminating is from the flashbulb). When we exited, we were at an extension of the walls around the Temple Mount. It is well-known that at the Western Wall, people often write down prayers on paper and cram them in cracks in the Wall. The picture below shows that some people use this part of the wall for this purpose also.
A walk through another tunnel took us to the southwest corner of the Temple Mount (that is, the area immediately below it). The part of the Western Wall which is most commonly visited (and which we visited shortly afterwards) is north of this corner. This part of the wall contains two important locations: The newly-opened access to the wall for mixed groups of men and women, and the area under Robinson's Arch which is often used by women for Bat Mitzvahs or other ceremonies.
We saw pictures showing what the area looked like before 1967. The street level was much higher. In the time since then, archaeologists have dug up a great deal of the dirt and debris, so that much more of the wall is exposed, along with smaller structures that were totally covered in 1967. We could see where Robinson's Arch was at one time connecting the Wall to a smaller structure; it was destroyed many years ago and only vestiges of it exist (second picture). The third picture shows the Southwest corner of the wall. And the fourth picture shows a replica of a stone that probably was at the top of the wall 2000 years ago. It contains an inscription indicating that a trumpeter should play at the appropriate time. In fact, other sources have told us that a trumpeter would play before the city gates closed for the day, warning people outside to come in soon. Unfortunately, the stone is broken off in mid-sentence, so its exact meaning is unclear.
As noted earlier, Jerusalem was rebuilt by the Romans in the form of a Roman city, and was inhabited until the fall of Rome and the early Moslem era. One of the features of a typical Roman city was a long main street called a "Cardo". Archaeologists have identified the remains of at least one and probably two such streets in Jerusalem. They were aided by an enormous mosaic found elsewhere in Israel that includes a map of Rome. Here are some pictures showing the Cardo:
Our guide Asaf pointed out to us that the part of the Western Wall that is most commonly visited - the northern end - is most important because on the top of the Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock currently exists, is closest to the location of the Holy of Holies - where none but the High Priest ever entered, and him only once a year.
And so, our next stop was towards this most sacred location. Since we had already been close to the wall on Friday night (see earlier posting), we did not approach it again - but here is our group picture:
After seeing a few more sights, lunch, and some shopping, we went to the last part of our visit to the Old City - the Via Dolorosa.
We saw pictures showing what the area looked like before 1967. The street level was much higher. In the time since then, archaeologists have dug up a great deal of the dirt and debris, so that much more of the wall is exposed, along with smaller structures that were totally covered in 1967. We could see where Robinson's Arch was at one time connecting the Wall to a smaller structure; it was destroyed many years ago and only vestiges of it exist (second picture). The third picture shows the Southwest corner of the wall. And the fourth picture shows a replica of a stone that probably was at the top of the wall 2000 years ago. It contains an inscription indicating that a trumpeter should play at the appropriate time. In fact, other sources have told us that a trumpeter would play before the city gates closed for the day, warning people outside to come in soon. Unfortunately, the stone is broken off in mid-sentence, so its exact meaning is unclear.
As noted earlier, Jerusalem was rebuilt by the Romans in the form of a Roman city, and was inhabited until the fall of Rome and the early Moslem era. One of the features of a typical Roman city was a long main street called a "Cardo". Archaeologists have identified the remains of at least one and probably two such streets in Jerusalem. They were aided by an enormous mosaic found elsewhere in Israel that includes a map of Rome. Here are some pictures showing the Cardo:
Our guide Asaf pointed out to us that the part of the Western Wall that is most commonly visited - the northern end - is most important because on the top of the Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock currently exists, is closest to the location of the Holy of Holies - where none but the High Priest ever entered, and him only once a year.
And so, our next stop was towards this most sacred location. Since we had already been close to the wall on Friday night (see earlier posting), we did not approach it again - but here is our group picture:
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| Ron, Rose, Rita, Bob, Penelope, Debbie, Michel, and Asaf |
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