Jerusalem Overlook Field Trip

Hello all!

A note about Facebook: I am not going to post anymore (or for that matter: look anymore) on facebook. It is blocked on the JC wireless (they have had too many issues with students in the past). Before I was using a proxy server, but as far as I have been able to tell, they have now blocked all of the proxy servers readily available on the internet. SO, I can get on facebook from the city (and I'm not going to spend that precious time on the internet) or I can go to Hebrew Univeristy (the campus is right next to the JC) to use their internet. I probably won't do that often, so for now, I am going offline. I will continue to keep this blog, however. and if you have and iphone and have the app heytell then we can communicate that way or imessage  :-)

This past Monday (the 14th of January) we went on a field trip to various overlooks around Jerusalem to see the city (and surrounding cities and land formations) from various perspectives. It was really cool. Also, a lot of our stops were historically significant. Let me tell you about them :-)

The Jerusalem Overlook:

This is a view of the temple mount (the walled large rectangular area). The Dome of the Rock is a Muslim Mosque believed to be on the spot where Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac and ended up sacrificing the ram instead. The temple mount is significant for the Jewish and Christian because it is where Solomon's temple first stood. 

To the right of this picture, you see the wall of the Old City (and right out of view is the temple mount). The area where this outer city now sits was the original Jerusalem (for those of you who are LDS--this was the Jerusalem for Nephi and Lehi) 

Here is our group taking pictures at the overlook

me looking out...

Bus ride! Spencer and John were sitting behind me on the bus ride

Our next stop was the Augusta Victoria church of the Ascension 

This church is located on the Mount of Olives, which is believed to be the spot where Jesus Christ ascended into heaven. There are several churches that commemorate that act, including this one. This church also has a hospital and a school attached to it.

The tower (we climbed up and looked at the amazing view)

Inside the church--This Bible has the handwriting of Augusta Victoria in it. She was the wife of Kaiser Wilhelm who had the church built and named it after Augusta Victoria. 

The church is beautiful!!!

With Eden on the balcony of the church

The view of Jerusalem from the tower

Brother Judd explaining what we can see from the North, South, East, and West sides of the tower

This tower in the distance is a Russian Orthodox church

You can see the separation wall in this picture (the other side is the West Bank, which is Palestine but the State of Israel still controls it)

The bells in the tower :-)

Our next stop was Bethlehem (an overlook above the city)

I love the signs here that are all in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. 

Behind me are the fields of Bethlehem (that the shepherds would have been in when they saw the sign telling them that the baby Jesus was born) Behind the fields (sorry--it was a hazy day) is the city Bethlehem.

Without me in it--the fields are just beyond the hill we are standing on and the city is in the haze.

The hazy town of Bethlehem

Photos at the Bethlehem overlook :-)

Along the hills there are many naturally formed caves (this one has a manmade wall to close part of it off (to the right of the picture)). A "manger" is a food trough for animals. These caves were used to shelter animals (sheep). They were also often used for "overflow" housing when relatives would come to town. It is most likely, therefore, that Jesus was born in one of these caves (probably not this exact one) rather than the stable that is so often depicted at Christmas. 

John, Me, and Rachel inside the cave. You can see the stones to the right of the picture that are manmade, but the rest of the shelter is natural (caused by erosion and other natural factors). This one was clearly recently used to shelter animals as there was some sheep poop in the bottom...

There are olive trees everywhere in this area! Lindsay, Jen and I posed by a really cool looking one :-)

Our next stop was Tayelet:

Abraham would have come from this direction (the direction from which the photo was taken) when he went to Mount Moriah to sacrifice Isaac. Tayelet is the first place coming from this direction that would allow Abraham to see Mount Moriah, so this would have been his (geographical) first view as he and Isaac neared the place where the sacrifice would take place. (you can see the dome of the rock to the top left of the picture... The dome is on the Temple Mount which is where Mount Moriah was located).

Me and Tori overlooking Jerusalem from Tayelet

Next up was Nabi Samwi:

This is a picture of Nabi Samwil. It was wrongly believed to be the burial place of the Prophet Samuel (identified originally by the Byzantines). However, this building contains a cenotaph (an empty sarcophagus that honors someone) for the prophet Samuel. Because of the significance of Samuel in both Jewish and Muslim religions, there is a Muslim Mosque on the top floor of the building and a Jewish Synagogue in the basement. 

This is taken from Nabi Samwil--This would have been the Crusader's first view of Jerusalem (from the North). During the Crusades, the church at Nabi Samwil was used as a Crusader base.

Outside of Nabi Samwil there are some ruins that would have probably been housing and these areas have troughs, so they would have been used for animals. 

We then gathered to look out on Gibeon (I think this is the view from the west of Nabi Samwil). and talk about Joshua (Joshua chapter 10 in the Old Testament). 

The close town in this picture is Gibeon

The farther town is Ramallah which is in the current West Bank and is the capitol of Palistine

See Joshua 10:12-13 

As we were leaving, we saw a Jewish Wedding beginning on the grounds of Nabi Samwil, and this car was in the parking lot :-)

Our final stop was at Hebrew University. This campus is directly north of the JC (the JC is on the Mount of Olives, and Hebrew U is on Mount Scopus).

The following are some pictures of Jerusalem from Hebrew U (a little bit of a different view than what we have at the JC)

We also looked at this tomb on the Hebrew U campus. Brother Jackson is down there explaining that this would have been the same kind of tomb that Joseph of Arimathaea provided for Jesus to be buried in (see Matthew 27:57-60). This tomb has the top removed so that you can see inside of it. Basically, a body would have been laid out on the table (in the middle--you can barely see it in this picture) for about a year. Once the body decomposed sufficiently, the bones would be collected and put into a "bone box" and then stored in the window-looking cubby holes in the tomb. five or so boxes could fit inside one of the holes. Obviously, Jesus was resurrected, so his body did not undergo this process, but it is very interesting to learn about the customs of that time! 

Love you guys!!!

-Erika