Jetlogged: Bethlehem Field Trip

Shalom!

Last week we went on a field trip to Bethlehem! It was so great!

Our first stop was the Herodion (or Herodium) which is one of Herod's palaces and also his burial place.

This is a model of what the top of the mountain would have looked like when Herod had finished building the Herodion

This is the Lower Herodion--notice the circle shape in the large square shape, that is a swimming pool that had a little island in the middle. It would have been way expensive to have water in there--especially in the summer (when this complex was in use) which would have showcased Herod's wealth.

Lindsay giving her site report--she rocked it ;-)

Rachel and myself standing in what was the dining room area, but during the Bar Kokbah Revolt was turned into a Synagogue.

Myself and Rachel inside a giant cistern...

Sawyer pretending to be MJ...

Myself and Lindee enjoying the view from the Herodion

Chaille, Hunter, and Taylor pretending to be cool... ;-)

Next we headed to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem which is the traditional place where Jesus Christ was born.

This is the entrance to the Church of the Nativity. It is obviously small. The original door was the size of the beam up top, then they made it the size of that arch and now it is that little rectangle. (I think they changed it in the Ottoman and Crusader periods?) Partially this was done in order to prevent people from bringing their animals into the church, and also it forces people to stoop or bow in reverence as they enter the church.

inside the church

candles in the church--I believe they symbolize prayers going up to heaven (the smoke and flame)

Check out these Crusader-era mosaics--The church has not been remodeled or refurbished (or re-anything) for four hundred or so years because it is co-run by three different churches, and so they only do something if all three agree and so far, that has not happened... so many of the mosaics are not well preserved because they just sit there...

The three churches that run the Church of the Nativity are Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian Apostolic. They have the church (kindof) divided into thirds...

This is the spot where Jesus is supposed to have been born. (in actuality, it doesn't matter WHERE He was born, this spot was chosen by Emperor Constantine's mother Helena who claimed it was this spot...I don't exactly know why she has the power to know where the exact spot of His birth was, but whatever... Knowing where Christ was born is not as important as knowing Christ and allowing the redeeming power of His atonement make you whole.) But still, it is nice to have a place to remember and celebrate the birth of Christ :-)

Also in the church is the chapel of Jerome, which is a cave in which St. Jerome translated the bible into Latin, which is pretty cool.

Also in the caves beneath the church is the tomb excavators found remains of a ton of small male children, and they are pretty positive that this was the tomb of the children murdered when Herod killed the babies in Bethlehem at the time of the Savior's birth (see Matthew 2)

This is apparently the place where Joseph was sleeping when he received the revelation to take Jesus and flee into Egypt to save his life.

the outside of the church of the Nativity

Outside of the church, there was a guy selling baby blankets out of his van. Apparently, he is a member of the LDS church in Bethlehem. He got great business the day we were there--everyone wanted to buy a white baby blanket from Bethlehem!

Manger Square--I bought some Bethlehem Christmas ornaments and postcards :-)

So Obama was in town this week, and there was graffiti around (Bethlehem is in the West Bank)--this one says "No Welcome Obama" apparently, in Ramallah (according to our tour guide in the church) there was a piece of graffiti that said "Obama, don't bring your iphone--we don't have 3G yet"

Next, we went to three different places that commemorate the Shepherd's fields where the sign of Jesus' birth appeared.

This is a Greek Orthodox church to commemorate the shepherds

the inside of the Greek Orthodox church

Greek Orthodox churches are so beautiful :-)

Katie and I in and in front of the Greek Orthodox church...sidenote: we bought those scarves together when we were in London visiting the Sowell family when we were about 10 years old...

the supposed remains of the Shepherds...

I believe this is a Catholic church celebrating the Shepherd's fields

love this artwork in the Catholic Church

check out my politically conscious photo...Sidenote: we saw a nativity for sale in Bethlehem that was normal on one side (except with no shepherds) and then on the back half, there is a wall and the three shepherds are standing there unable to get to the manger...