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| View of Mount of Olives. |
This morning we made perhaps the most daring trek of our trip. (I exaggerate, of course, but it's something we weren't even entirely sure was going to happen. We walked on the Temple Mount and got as close as any non-Muslim can ever get to the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque (meaning we could walk up to it but not go inside). Until the start of the Second Intifada in September of 2000, these sites were open to the public, but no longer. Now one must recite a fundamental Islamic tenet in order to enter, and saying the text of said tenet makes one a Muslim even if they weren't before. In short, as it has been said "They play for keeps over here" so this is not an area one should ever consider messing with. But we were awed enough at simply seeing it up close.
The Dome of the Rock was built, it is believed, directly over what was the Holy of Holies from the period of the two Temples, and was in fact, meant to be a gesture of victory of Islam superseding Christianity and Judaism. (It was also built using Byzantine architects and styles, in another attempt to show up those they had conquered when they decided to erect the monument. Jews are not even allowed on the Temple Mount right now, though not entirely for the reason one might expect. Orthodox Jews, who still tend to run the show when it comes to the religious sites of the Old City (though the Christian sites are run by the Franciscans) believe that since we don't know exactly where the Holy of Holies actually was, any Jew who enters the Temple Mount runs the risk of desecrating it by stepping on the Holy of Holies.
It is, interestingly enough, one of the few areas where there is actually some security cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and Jews and Muslims in general, because both have a vested interest in ensuring that violence does not break out in this area. The security is truly amazing--you need to go through airport-style security to get into both the Temple Mount as well as the Western Wall plaza. In any event, the Dome of the Rock is the third holiest site in Islam (with Mecca and Medina being the first two) and built to commemorate the ascension into Heaven of the prophet Mohammed. It is, of course, a Mosque, but contrary to its grand appearance, the worship space is rather small, thus necessitating the accommodation of many more worshipers than it is capable of holding, thus the later construction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the other end of the Mount, which has a smaller dome, but more worship space. (Father Michael has seen both from the inside, as his leading of these trips predates the Second Intifada, so he was able to give us a bit of a virtual experience).
It is, interestingly enough, one of the few areas where there is actually some security cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and Jews and Muslims in general, because both have a vested interest in ensuring that violence does not break out in this area. The security is truly amazing--you need to go through airport-style security to get into both the Temple Mount as well as the Western Wall plaza. In any event, the Dome of the Rock is the third holiest site in Islam (with Mecca and Medina being the first two) and built to commemorate the ascension into Heaven of the prophet Mohammed. It is, of course, a Mosque, but contrary to its grand appearance, the worship space is rather small, thus necessitating the accommodation of many more worshipers than it is capable of holding, thus the later construction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the other end of the Mount, which has a smaller dome, but more worship space. (Father Michael has seen both from the inside, as his leading of these trips predates the Second Intifada, so he was able to give us a bit of a virtual experience).
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| Site commemorating the Last Supper
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We next went into a building commemorating the Last Supper (referred to as the "Upper Room." This is another one in which the archeological evidence is a bit sketchy, as is the case with the St. Peter in Gallicantu church, which is one of the four possible places in which Jesus may have been imprisoned before being sentenced by Pilate. The dungeon-like area below the church has an outline on the wall that seems to possibly suggest a body chained to it or suspended by strings from the ceiling.
Either way, we know we were in the general vicinity of where the events leading up to the passion took place, and we even saw a staircase that is pretty well proven to date from those times and likely was the actual staircase down which Jesus would have walked on the night of the Last Supper. This was another site that several of us wanted to sanctify our objects by touching them to the steps, which became a bit of a comical sight since the steps are roped off and we had to contort ourselves a bit to lean far enough over the rope to just barely touch our objects to one of the stairs.
We then went into the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, which is mostly residential but we did see from the outside the newly reconstructed synagogue that had been built along with Dormition Abbey but was destroyed in Israel's War of Independence in 1948. This is in the main square of the Jewish Quarter. It was getting rather crowded and noisy, thus, difficult to do much explaining of the sites (and the main site in the Jewish Quarter is the Western Wall, which we have already done--the retaining wall around the Temple Mount , considered today to be the holiest spot in Judaism).
So Father Michael ended the day of touring a bit early and gave us some free time, which several of us used to do some souvenir shopping and people watching in the Jewish Quarter. We learned that the crowds were in anticipation of Jerusalem Day tomorrow. This is a festival commemorating the reuniting of West Jerusalem with the Old City (technically part of East Jerusalem), which was under Jordanian control and Israel had no access to until the 1967 Six-Day War. This is obviously still a contentious issue, (not with Jordan any longer, but with the Palestinians) but several people assured us that nowhere is security better than in the Old City (and there were indeed soldiers nearly everywhere you looked) and that attacks are generally in the less guarded areas of the modern city of West Jerusalem. We aren't even going to be in Jerusalem tomorrow, as we will be taking a side trip, to be explained tomorrow.
So Father Michael ended the day of touring a bit early and gave us some free time, which several of us used to do some souvenir shopping and people watching in the Jewish Quarter. We learned that the crowds were in anticipation of Jerusalem Day tomorrow. This is a festival commemorating the reuniting of West Jerusalem with the Old City (technically part of East Jerusalem), which was under Jordanian control and Israel had no access to until the 1967 Six-Day War. This is obviously still a contentious issue, (not with Jordan any longer, but with the Palestinians) but several people assured us that nowhere is security better than in the Old City (and there were indeed soldiers nearly everywhere you looked) and that attacks are generally in the less guarded areas of the modern city of West Jerusalem. We aren't even going to be in Jerusalem tomorrow, as we will be taking a side trip, to be explained tomorrow.
After dinner several of us decided to take a night time walk back into the Jewish Quarter to get a taste of the night life there and it was really quite wonderful. We went back into the Kotel (Western Wall) complex and saw lots of festivities, singing and dancing, again in anticipation of the events tomorrow. We ended the night in a cafe back in the main square by the aforementioned synagogue doing a little more people-watching and contemplating our good fortune at being here. All is wonderful here, and we are starting to dread this experience coming to an end. Still a few more days though, and more memories to be made. Good night everyone, may God be with you.....
Alex
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