Category: Centre

May 27, 2013

Christianity on the Mount of Olives and Mount Zion

Following two trips in the footsteps of the New Testament in the Galilee, it was now time to turn to the major Christian sites of Jerusalem, the majority of which are dedicated to events surrounding the final days of Jesus’ life and shortly after.

View over the Old City of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

Our day began on the Mount of Olives, a mountain ridge east of Jerusalem’s Old City, so called because of the olive groves that used to cover its slopes. It commands wonderful views over the Old City and Temple Mount.

At the peak of the Mount of Olives is the Chapel of the Ascension, the site from which it is believed Jesus ascended to heaven 40 days after his resurrection. Inside is a rock which many believe has an imprint of his foot left as he went up. As with many of the important Christian sites in Israel, it is built on remains of ancient chapels on the site dating to the Crusader period (1099 – 1291) and the Byzantine period (324 – 638).

Chapel of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives

Unusually however, a lot of the Crusader chapel remains in place. Under Mamluk rule some churches were destroyed, but as Jesus is also important in Islam some sites were preserved, but converted into mosques. This chapel is actually part of a mosque today and you can see the minaret standing next to it; there is also a mihrab inside (an alcove in the wall in the direction of Mecca). In fact, although Christian visitors are allowed to pray here, they cannot hold a mass except on Ascension Day, when the courtyard around the chapel becomes filled with different Christian groups taking part in the ceremony.

We continued a short walk down the hill to the Church of the Pater Noster. The earliest church on this site was actually called Church Eleona (Church of the Olives – named after the mountain) and was one of the four monumental churches constructed by Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, in the Holy Land. The church is built above a cave considered to be the site where Jesus would teach his disciples. Inside the cave are buried many important figures including Bishops of Jerusalem.

Church of the Pater Noster (Eleona) on the Mount of Olives

In the Crusader period the church was reconstructed and renamed Pater Noster (Latin for ‘Our Father’) as the tradition developed that this was the site where Jesus taught his disciples the Lord’s Prayer (which begins with the words ‘Our Father’). On hearing this I was whisked back to my primary school memories; for four years I would hear the Lord’s Prayer every morning in school assembly.

The area was later bought by a French noblewoman in order to construct a Carmelite convent in the 19th century; in the 1920s the French government excavated the old church and began to build a modern church on the site, but with the onset of war it was never completed. Some of the modern church is on the site however, including an altar (located above the cave), and masses can be held there.

Our next stop was about half way down the mountain slope at the Church of Dominus Flevit. This is owned by the Franciscans and as with many of their churches in Israel was designed by Antonio Barluzzi. The name of the church means “The Lord Wept” and it marks the site where on Palm Sunday Jesus prophesised the destruction of Jerusalem and wept. Barluzzi always tries to incorporate the story into his architecture and the roof of the church gives the impression of a tear drop. Inside the altar is situated in the west of the church; this is very unusual (altars are almost always in the east) but it means that visitors can look out through the window beyond the altar over the Old City of Jerusalem, imagine Jesus’ view and see the fulfilment of his prophecy.

Church of Dominus Flevit on the Mount of Olives

The church is constructed over old Byzantine ruins but also of interest on the site is the huge Jewish necropolis from the Second Temple period – over 150 tombs making it the largest such site in the Jerusalem area. Many beautiful ossuaries were discovered within which are now in the Franciscan museum.

We proceeded to the bottom of the Mount of Olives and entered the Church of Gethsemane. The name of this area comes from the Hebrew Gat Shemanim meaning ‘oil presses’ – this would have been an area for the manufacture of olive oil from the surrounding groves. The church actually has in its courtyard the oldest olive trees in Israel although I’m not sure they are still bearing fruit!

Inside the Church of Gethsemane in Jerusalem

The church here marks the site where Jesus came to pray after the Last Supper, accompanied by his closest disciples. Inside, next to the altar, is a large part of bedrock where it is believed he lay while praying. The church is also designed by Barluzzi and the interior has a dark, gloomy feel in keeping with the sadness of this night time scene.

Tomb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem

A short walk away is the Gethsemane Grotto, considered to be the site where Jesus came with all his disciples that evening before moving slightly further away with his three closest companions; later he returned here and was arrested. Next to this cave is the Church of Mary’s Tomb, a site jointly owned by the Armenian and Greek Orthodox churches which contains a cave considered the site of the Virgin Mary’s tomb. The building is largely the original Byzantine structure with some steps later added by the crusaders. On the way down the stairs you pass sites traditionally identified with the tombs of St Joachim and St Anna (Mary’s parents) and also St Joseph.

Having been on foot for most of the day we now returned to our bus for a short drive over to Mount Zion, beginning at the Dormition Abbey. We talked here about the name Zion, it’s historical association with different areas in Jerusalem and eventually its use to refer to the whole of Israel (hence the term Zionist).

Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion

Today’s church is not on the same outline as the ancient church and is largely dedicated to the assumption of Mary’s soul to heaven. According to tradition, she did not die but rather fell into an eternal sleep at which point Jesus took up her soul; the meaning of the name of the church is ‘Church of the Sleep’. In the crypt is a statue of Mary at the site where it is believed this took place. She would have then been taken down to Gethsemane for burial, hence the site of the previous church.

We moved on to the site of the Last Supper room (also known as the Cenacle or Cenaculum – Latin for dining room), marking the venue of the Last Supper and also later the Pentecost. As with many sites in Jerusalem, this has a complicated history. It existed in Byzantine times as part of the Hagia Sion church, and then later the Crusaders made it a separate building, combined with King David’s tomb. In 1333 the land was purchased by the Franciscans and it was their base in Israel – they have been here ever since but were exiled from the site by the Muslim rulers who made it a holy site for them (the mihrab is still inside the Last Supper room) because of the site of King David’s tomb.

Sculpture inside the Last Supper Room (Cenacle) in Jerusalem

As if this was not already complicated enough, the site is important also for the Jews as a result of the location of King David’s tomb, and became even more significant when after the War of Independence in 1948 this was the closest Jews could get to the Old City. Today, the site is controlled by the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The tomb operates as a synagogue and the Last Supper room is largely empty; mass is not allowed at the site except on Pentecost and also on visits by the Pope.

View over Jerusalem from Mount Zion

Our final stop was slightly down the hill out the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu, which commands impressive views eastwards of Jerusalem. This is considered the site of the home of the High Priest Caiaphas, to where Jesus was taken from Gethsemane after being betrayed by Judas, for interrogation by the Jewish leadership. Excavations at the site have revealed evidence of wealthy Jewish homes from the Second Temple period.

Church of St Peter in Gallicantu on Mount Zion

Gallicantu is Latin for ‘crow of the cockerel’ and refers to Jesus’ prophecy at the Last Supper that Peter would deny him three times before the cock crows. This is the site where this denial would have taken place. The church is very beautiful and based on three levels; each one becomes darker with a more sombre atmosphere. In the crypt is the dungeon believed to be where Jesus was interrogated and also the pit where he would have stayed the night.

Outside the church are excavations showing steps down the hill which have been dated to the Roman period of rule. The steps lead down to Gethsemane from the direction of the Last Supper room; it is therefore reasonable to consider that Jesus would have himself passed along these steps twice; once from the Last Supper down to Gethsemane to pray, as a free man; once in chains being taken from Gethsemane to the home of Caiaphas.

Steps leading down Mount Zion towards Gethsemane from the Roman period

We concluded a long and intense day (this has been a long blog!) but it really was fascinating to visit these sites and marvel at the thought put into the construction of the churches and their beauty. Next week, we travel the Via Dolorosa.

April 29, 2013

Jerusalem: First Temple and Second Temple Periods

We have a whole day dedicated to Jerusalem in the First Temple period, and a whole day dedicated to Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period, but it’s still not enough time to cover the vast amount of material, so this week’s trip was about filling in some of the gaps.

Roman Kiln at the Jerusalem ICC

We began in Binyanei Hauma, also known as Jerusalem International Conventions Center. This venue more normally hosts concerts and conferences than tour groups; I was somewhat surprised then when we entered and stopped in front of a display case showing artefacts from the Roman period, which I had never noticed previously. It turns out there was a big camp here for the 10th Legion of the Roman Army, we then headed downstairs and saw the remains of a kiln; it seems that it was quite a big centre for the manufacture of clay pots, roof tiles, bricks etc, all with the 10th Legion’s imprint. There was even an imprint of a sandal in one of the cases, a reminder of a sloppy soldier around 2000 years ago. I will be back in the Convention Center next month for the President’s Conference and will look forward to sharing my knowledge with the other delegates!

King David’s Tomb

We continued to David’s Tomb on Mount Zion. Here we discussed the history of the site and why it is considered to be the location of the tomb of King David (and also why some argue it is elsewhere). The site also houses the room which is considered to be the location of the Last Supper, but we shall return to visit that on our trip to Christian Jerusalem later in the course.

We moved on by foot into the Old City to the Western Wall Tunnels. The famous image of the Western Wall that is exposed above ground is actually only a small section of the wall’s full length and height. Through the tunnels it is possible to walk much further along the wall, to get a greater idea of the grandeur of the building that was – the Western Wall of today is only an outer foundation wall for the podium on which the temple was built.

Inside the Western Wall Tunnels

It was an incredible feat of engineering exemplified by the quite frankly massive stones that were involved in its construction. The largest that has been found is 14m long and the experts at the Technion have calculated its weight at 570 tonnes. And it is about half way up the wall, so they would have had to have lifted it there. There was a short and very illuminating film illustrating how they would have put these stones into place.

The Western Wall (the Kotel)

We continued down the tunnels, past the closest point to the Holy of Holies, walking along an original 2nd Temple period street and into a Hasmonean period water channel, before exiting into the Muslim Quarter. We returned to the Western Wall, known as the Kotel, where our guide told us about some of the legends associated with it explaining why it was not entirely destroyed like the rest of the temple.

Excavations in the Western Wall Plaza

Afterwards, a small treat. Facing the Kotel are some archaeological excavations which are complete and ready for the public but for some reason not yet open to them. But somehow our guide had obtained a key and we went down to see what was the Eastern Cardo (a shopping street) in the 2nd Temple period and also the remains of a First Temple home. It was nice to get this advance preview (although the excavations are visible from above, you can see more up close).

Mausoleum in Nachal Kidron (Valley of the King)

We then exited the Old City and walked down into Nachal Kidron, also known as the King’s Valley. Here are three ancient and imposing mausolea, two of which are often attributed to Avshalom (King David’s son) and Zechariah respectively, but in fact they are from the Second Temple period, i.e. a very long time after these personages would have lived. The architecture is interesting due to the unusual mishmash of Doric and Ionic columns together in the same structure; you can tell we’ve been learning about classical architecture in class!

Our next stop was at the Menachem Begin Center, located on Ketef Hinnom. I was wondering what Menachem Begin had to do with the ancient temples as we breezed through the centre, exiting out of the back, going up some stairs, and being confronted with a First Temple period burial site. As with the morning, it was fascinating to find this juxtaposition of ancient and modern at a venue which I had visited several times previously for various events, completely unaware of what lay just a few meters away.

First Temple Period Tomb at Ketef Hinnom

It was interesting to look at the excavated tombs and learn about the burial methods; even more fascinating was to learn that in one of the tombs excavators had unearthed some tiny rolls of silver. Written on them was the priestly blessing of the Cohanim, the oldest existing example of biblical text found outside the bible. The scrolls are now in the Israel Museum.

We exited the Begin Center and walked down the nearby valley, referred to as Gei Ben Hinnom. Here we heard about the Judaean King Achaz’s worship of the god Moloch; part of the ritual involved sacrifice of first born baby sons and would have happened in this valley. Somewhat unsavoury stuff.

View into Gei Ben Hinnom

We then branched off a bit from the ancient period, looking at the cable going from across our heads over to Mount Zion opposite us. In the 1948 war this was a secret way of getting supplies over to troops isolated in the mountain – a replica cable car was above our heads. As we wondered down further into the valley more surprises were in store – a Karaite cemetery where we paused to briefly learn about this religious group who only keep the laws of the first five books of the Bible without the later exegesis. We enjoyed the view down the valley leading to Nachal Kidron (whence we had come) and returned to our bus for the return home.

February 12, 2013

Jerusalem in the First Temple Period

“If I forget thee, o Jerusalem…”

So reads the famous psalm, but you might think that we had forgotten Jerusalem, given that here we were over three months into the course and yet to visit the country’s capital; holy city for three of the world’s largest religions; a place which apparently 3.5 billion people (I imagine the figure has been extrapolated from a statistically appropriate sample) would like to visit at least once in their lifetime.

Finally, however, the day was here, and it was with a certain amount of excitement that we ascended route 1 into the Judean mountains and entered the city limits. This is a city with so much historical and religious significance that I think around 13 of our 80 field trips will be spent here. It is certainly a place which we will have to become very familiar with in our future lives as tour guides. And here it all begins.

View north over Jerusalem from the Haas Promenade

This excitement was supplemented by a certain amount of nostalgia as we began the day looking over the city from the Haas Promenade viewpoint in East Talpiot. Many years ago, I spent four months living next to this promenade in a place called Kiriat Moriah (I was excited to note that our guide even pointed it out!) while a participant on the Jewish Agency’s leadership training programme for youth leaders from the Diaspora. I have many fond memories of philosophical conversations shared on this promenade while gazing over the tranquil landscape of Jerusalem. Indeed, from this vantage point, the city is extremely calm, belying the many religious, political and economic tensions that are ever-present here.

With our guide’s assistance we surveyed the view before us and identified key points of interest; some we would visit today, many we would visit in the future.

View from the top of the City of David over South and East Jerusalem

From the promenade we journeyed to the limits of the Old City and circled the walls before descending into the City of David. This site (Ir David, in Hebrew) showcases the archaeological remains of the city of Jerusalem at the time of the First Temple, which mostly was outside what are now the Old City walls. The ruins are on a slope running down from the Temple Mount which was the ritual and probably also governmental centre.

Our guide had assured us that this would be the most complex field trip of the course and he fulfilled his promise by taking us through the historiography of the many archaeological digs on the site; with each new dig more was uncovered, shattering previous theories and establishing new ones.

After a short break with a rather cheesy but cute and certainly informative 3D film about the site we continued down past various sites of significance (and their historiography). We noted signs of the Babylonian destruction and heard the story of the discovery of around 50 bullae in one of the digs. These bullae are clay seals for documents; two of them contained names of senior officials mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. It was one of the most significant finds in the whole of the country; corroborating some of the biblical narrative.

Inside the water tunnels in the City of David

We continued into a tunnel in the rock leading to an ancient reservoir watched over by a large guard tower. The current thinking is that these structures are from the pre-Judean rule over Jerusalem and were used to channel water from a nearby spring closer to the city where it could be protected and used for its inhabitants. We wandered through a further tunnel which was probably used to take the water to irrigate crops before heading out of the site. As this field trip was focused only on the First Temple period, we left some of the site for a return visit.

“The Broad Wall”: remains of Hezekiah’s 7 meter wide northern defensive wall in Jerusalem

After a lunch stop in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City we continued our exploration of the First Temple period, stopping to see part of the large 7 metre wide ‘broad wall‘ that was built (according to the bible, by the King Hezekiah) to fortify the city against eastern imperial advances. It was at this time that the city walls expanded to include areas which are now the Jewish and Armenian quarters; prior to this archaeologists believe this area was inhabited by refugees from the northern Kingdom of Israel which had been laid waste by the Babylonians and indeed one can see remains of buildings which lie outside the wall.

Remains of the gate tower from Hezekiah’s wall around Jerusalem

We continued, entering a building which contains in its basement the unearthed remains of a gate tower from this northern wall; this was the cities most vulnerable point and indeed it seems that it may have been where the Babylonian’s made their eventual breach as Babylonian arrow heads were found in the excavations.

Model of Jerusalem in First Temple times at the Ariel Center

From this Israelite gate tower we popped across the street to the Ariel Centre which has a few small exhibits related to the First Temple period together with an engaging film giving an overall summary and a model envisaging what the city looked like in this early time. The visit to the centre takes about an hour, is guided by its in house team and I think provides a very good overview of the period, for those interested.

With the First Temple era now witnessed in the flesh (or rather, the stone), and delightfully summarised, we returned home, with many more visits to Jerusalem to look forward to in the future.

January 29, 2013

The Biblical Judean Lowlands (Shfela)

After exploring the biblical Negev region on our previous field trip, this week we were staying in the biblical period but moving our focus to the area of the Judean Lowlands (the Shfela, in Hebrew). This is an area of hills and valleys that runs roughly from Mt Hebron westwards until meeting the flat coastal plain. Its main city is Beit Shemesh. In biblical times it was a border area between the tribe of Judah and the Philistines, hence it witnessed quite a lot of tension.

We began our day with a drive through the Tzora forest along the so called ‘Sculpture Trail’. This was a project run by the JNF and encouraged mostly local residents (many new immigrants) to make sculptures in the forest. I don’t think I would particularly go out of my way to see these sculptures in the future, but we did also go up the Tel Tzora (you may recall by now that a Tel is an archaeological mound), where we had a commanding view of the area from which to take our bearings, and where we were able to visit the site traditionally associated with the grave of Samson and his father Manoah.

Samson’s Tomb on Tel Tzora

Our guide took this opportunity to regale us with the story of Samson from the bible, which took place in the area of the Judean lowlands, pointing out key sites from the viewpoint. And then some members of the group took the opportunity to visit the tomb which is considered a place to pray for strength.

Sculpture Garden in Beit Shemesh

Continuing our artistic opening to the day, we made a brief stop in the Gan Golan sculpture garden in the historical centre of Beit Shemesh. Golan Peli sadly was killed during the first intifada; his parents were artists and used this space next to their house to create sculptures and place them there in his memory. The sculptures all represent traditional ancient life or stories from the bible. It is a small garden, but if one is in Beit Shemesh anyway, it is a nice place to visit.

Inside the ancient cistern at Tel Beit Shemesh

We pulled out of the modern town of Beit Shemesh and returned to biblical times, visiting Tel Beit Shemesh, the site considered to be the location of the biblical city of the same name. Here we read from the book of Samuel, hearing the story of the Philistine capture of the Ark of the Covenant and its return to the Israelites at Beit Shemesh. Our guide pointed out the route it would have taken as it was brought up to the city on a wagon from the Philistine territory. As part of the excavations they have discovered an ancient cistern and we brought out our torches to have a quick wander inside, which brought a small sense of adventure to our enterprise.

The Israelite fortress from the period of King David at Khirbet Qeiyafa

A short journey down route 38 took us to Khirbet Qeiyafa, another archaeological mound. As recently as 2007 excavators here discovered a fortress in the Israelite style. The site has become important as carbon dating of olive pits unearthed here date the site to the period associated with the rule of King David (although as with most archaeology in Israel, this is majority but not consensus opinion). Various other evidence corroborates that it was a Jewish settlement. This would therefore be an extremely important site; the only site we have from this time period. But it remains fairly unknown to the public; excavations are still taking place and it is not signposted at all from the road. To visit, I recommend finding an appropriate tour guide!

View over the Judean Lowlands (Shfela) from Tel Azeka

Close by we visited another archaeological mound: Tel Azeka, which is in the midst of the Britannia Park, a JNF forest funded by donations from the UK (hurrah for the UK!). We ascended the tel and enjoyed a commanding view of the region. Our guide read to us from the story of David and Goliath and pointed out where various elements of the story took place. There is something very powerful in hearing these stories one grew up with in one’s childhood in situ. One begins to envision the tale taking place before one’s eyes; it becomes much more real.

View over the Judean Lowlands (Shfela) from Tel Lachish

Our final visit was our most southern, Tel Lachish. This site is mentioned a huge amount in biblical and non biblical sources from the time, and was host to a large complex of temples in the Canaanite period and the second most important Judean city in the Israelite period. The Assyrian king Sennacherib laid waste to it on his war campaign in 701 BCE and a relief of his battle is exhibited in the British museum in London. We made do with a copy and our guide explained the details of the battle; we were able to see the ramp that Sennacherib’s troops built in order to go up to and rout the Tel. It was a major victory but Sennacherib did not make it to Jerusalem; the bible says that his troops were struck by a plague; his memoirs say that he returned to defend a Babylonian invasion.

The Israelites did return to Lachish eventually but the city was attacked and destroyed again during Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion in the 6th century BCE. A somewhat unfortunate bunch, it seems. The ruins are extensive and the site also commands an outstanding view of the Judean Lowlands over to the coastal plain. It was with this view in our minds that we returned home to Tel Aviv.

January 6, 2013

The Jordan Valley

As we move into the winter months the Jordan Valley was a welcome itinerary as it is well known for having somewhat warmer climes. We left Tel Aviv and ascended up to the Judean Hills into a dense fog, we were enveloped in an ambiance of mystique and perhaps slight foreboding as we crossed over the Green Line and headed to the town of Maale Adumim, and the Martyrius Monastery.

Dining room at Martyrius Monastery

The Monastery dates from the 5th Century (the Byzantine period). Today we would learn about the movement of monks in the Judean desert which is said to have begun with the arrival of Chariton in the year 337. This was an extremely significant movement numbering 20 000 monks spread across 60 monasteries by the middle of the 6th Century. The first monasteries were called laura and consisted of a central cave for the head monk with smaller caves around it. They then evolved (often on the same site) into built structures for communal living known as a coenobium.

This monastery, named for the monk who was at one time Patriarch of Jerusalem, was a large structure housing around 250 monks and also offering lodgings to pilgrims on the Jericho-Jerusalem trail. As we wondered around the ruins our guide explained about how the monks would live in the desert conditions.

We then drove down the hill to the St Euthymius Monastery which has been excavated in the heart of the Maale Adumim industrial zone. St Euthymius inherited Chariton’s mantle as the major monk in the area of the Judean desert having come here from Armenia. He moved around several times but died and was buried in the site upon which the monastery was built. Much of the structure is original although some was restored at the time of the crusaders. In order to prevent his bones being removed by pilgrims St Euthymius left special instructions about a final to be placed above his tomb for them to anoint themselves on. We found the funnel, but sadly his bones were removed at some point in history and are now somewhere among the relics held by churches in Europe.

Inside a vast cistern at St Euthymius Monastery

Particularly impressive was the vast cistern (one of two of this size) used to capture as much rain water as possible to survive the desert heat. We climbed down to the bottom and gazed up at this incredible structure hewn into the chalk rock. An extremely impressive feat of engineering, it even used techniques to protect it from earthquakes (which evidently worked).

To add to the ambiance, our guide played the song “El Borot Hamayim” (to the water cisterns) and handed out sheets with the lyrics. A nice sing along was had.

Inside the church at the Monastery of St Gerassimos

We moved on past Jericho and headed North up route 90 to our final monastery of the day, that of St. Gerassimos. He, like Martyrius, was a disciple of St Euthymius and was credited with pioneering the establishment of monasteries in the area of Jericho. The site was restored over the past 30 years by the Greek Orthodox church and there are now lodgings there for pilgrims together with small mosaic and candle making factories. The church has been refurbished and there are beautiful paintings of various saints and scenes from the bible, together with a brand new home made mosaic floor. The surroundings are very peaceful and shady in the desert sun although sadly they offer no respite from the desert flies.

From this monastery it was a short trip to Qasr el Yahud, an old deserted crusader period monastery on the site of a church dedicated to John the Baptist and built on the orders of Helena (mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, who also ordered the building of various churches in Jerusalem including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre). Just a few meters further and we found ourselves at the bank of the Jordan River at the site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus, effectively founding a new religious movement. There were many groups of pilgrims from around the world quietly praying or singing hymns together; it was a very special ambience.

A pilgrim collects water from the Jordan River at the site of Jesus’s Baptism

The site is also important in Jewish history. It is here that the Israelites entered the Land of Israel for the first time, and where they spent their first Pesach as a free people. It was also the site where the prophet Elijah passed on his leadership position to Elisha before being whisked away to heaven in a chariot of fire. It is a site associated with new beginnings.

Jordan Valley Monument

After a spot of lunch our trip took a more sombre turn as we visited the Jordan Valley monument. Designed by the artist Yigal Turmakin and constructed from old parts of armoured vehicles, tanks and guns, it serves as a memorial to the Israeli soldiers who died in the area, particularly as a result of the period known as the period of pursuits. Once Israel took control of the West Bank in the 1967 Six Day War, Palestinians began to infiltrate from Jordan and carry out attacks. Many soldiers lost their lives to this guerrilla warfare and they are commemorated here.

The site also commands an impressive view over the Jordan valley and into Jordan itself. Our guide pointed out the sites of former strongholds of the Jewish Hasmonean kings in the area together with modern agricultural settlements.

View over the Jordan Valley at the Jordan Valley Monument

From the monument we took the winding road known as the Alon Road (after Yigal Alon, a former army commander and politician) deep into the Samarian hills. The scenery was stunning although it was also a little eerie; much of the area was deserted. Occasionally we would pass small villages or other signs of human life such as olive tree groves and a herd of goats with their shepherd. As we went through our guide pointed out sites mentioned in the bible or of significant excavations. There is a great deal of history in these hills.

Eventually we reached our destination at the Mabua spring in Nachal Perat. The spring is unusual as due to its unpredictable flow. There is an underground cave which fills with rainwater seeping down through the rock. When the water reaches a certain level in the cave, due to a sort of U-bend eroded in the work, the water bursts out into the spring.

Remnants of Hasmonean Aqueducts at Ein Mabua

As dusk fell we walked into the Nachal noting the remnants of what used to be a vast system of aqueducts across the desert, carrying water from the various springs to the Hasmonean fortresses. Now they are in ruins and merely serve as a playground for rock squirrels. We concluded with a little more of group sing song by the spring and with the sound of music in our ears it was time to return home.

December 23, 2012

Tel Aviv Museums

This week, a later start (meeting at 8am, an extra 90 minutes of sleep!) as we were not leaving the confines of Tel Aviv. There are many museums in the city and several of them are concentrated around the university campus, located close to the northern suburb of Ramat Aviv. Today, we would be visiting some of these sites, partly to bed in some of what we have been learning in the classroom, and partly because these are important sites for us to be able to guide in the future.

The day began at the Zoological Gardens. Having studied Zoology in class, this was an opportunity to get relatively up close and personal with the various species of bird, mammal and reptile found in Israel. Our guide, a PhD student at the university, took us around the various enclosures, showing how the animals camouflaged themselves in their environment, explaining about their hunting or survival techniques and their distinguishing features.

Pelicans at the Zoological Gardens in Tel Aviv

There was a huge range of animals (as might be expected in a Zoological garden). The most interesting were those you don’t normally get to see up close; the wolves, hyena, wild boar and wild cats. Also the snakes. Although I don’t like snakes. And there are quite a few poisonous ones in Israel, it turns out. The advice was: a black snake in the centre of the country is not poisonous, a black snake in the South is likely to be either a black python or mole viper, and these are definitely best avoided. I’m not a big fan of snakes, truth be told. I was happy to return to the flamingos. Got to love flamingos. Apparently they are not pink naturally; it’s to do with the way their bodies break down the enzymes in the algae they eat. And they only mate when they’re in a big group (so the garden has mirrors around it to try and persuade them that they are more numerous than they actually are).

Botanical Gardens in Tel Aviv: Mediterranean Shrub

After a good dose of fauna it was time for some flora; the Botanical Gardens were right next door and we headed over to meet our Botany teacher. Again, it was a case of seeing what we had learned in the class, in the field. It’s one thing to see the plants, but also interesting to hear some of the stories and legends behind them. The Hairy Thymelea (I kid you not) is considered to be the plant that Samson was bound with when he was captured by the Philistines. The appropriately named Christ’s Thorn Jujube is thought to be the plant that was used to make Jesus’s thorn crown. And the Judas Tree has a pink blossom because it is embarrassed by its treachery. Most fun was when our guide spotted a chameleon in the bushes and proceeded to lift it up and show it to us while telling us that we should never do such a thing. So, we got in a little bit of Zoology in the Botanical Gardens too.

Chameleon at the Botanical Gardens in Tel Aviv

We enjoyed a lunch break strolling around the university campus (where there was a lunchtime rock concert…a hard life these students lead) and then it was time to visit the Palmach museum. The Palmach was the elite force of the Haganah, the pre-state defence force for the Jewish population of the British Mandate; many of its members played very important roles in civilian life, most famously Yitzchak Rabin and Moshe Dayan. In addition to learning how to fight, they also had to work the land. Hence the emblem of the unit had a sword together with two ears of wheat.

Palmach Museum

The museum is a walk through experience which follows the story of a group of Palmachnikim who join the unit and end up playing an important role in the War of Independence several years later. Unlike many museums there are no displays or exhibits, rather one moves through rooms and watches, hears, sometimes even smells the story of the Palmach through the eyes of this small group. It really is an amazing story; teenagers as young as 16-17 signed up and trained themselves with very limited weaponry; they then played an important role in defeating the five armies that invaded Israel when it declared independence, although sadly many of them died along the way and they are remembered in a touching memorial at the museum’s end. The museum is in Hebrew but a headset providing an English translation is available.

Diaspora Museum, Tel Aviv

Our final stop of the day was the Diaspora museum which is actually inside the university campus. Founded in the late 70s by Nachum Goldmann and Abba Kovner, the museum was designed to answer the question of how the Jewish people managed to (largely) maintain their religion and culture in 2000 years of exile. Sadly, the museum seems a little dated; it seemed much the same as I remember it from 10 years ago and has not taken advantage of the advances in technology and museum design. But it still provides a good introduction to Jewish life, ritual and rites of passage; insights into communities outside of Israel and perhaps most interestingly, a collection of model replicas of synagogues from around the world of historical significance. Although I felt that Bevis Marks, the oldest synagogue in Britain, should probably have been featured, and wasn’t. Which hurt my national pride a little. Still, it is an important museum, I remember that my visit to the museum was the first time I really heard in detail about Jews who were from a radically different background to mine (the UK community is quite homogenous). And it’s quite amazing that despite being so spread out over such a long period of time, the core aspects of the religion remained the same everywhere. And on that positive note, it was time to head home.

November 28, 2012

The Sharon Plain

When people ask me for recommendations about what to see and do in Israel, the region of the Sharon coastal plain does not tend to feature in my replies. Stretching from the Taninim stream in the North to the Yarkon in the South, or in city terms from just North of Caesarea to the Northern border of Tel Aviv, it is a very important area for Israel. It has the highest concentration of inhabitants. It contains several cities of note, a lot of important agriculture and a plenty of history. But, with the exception of Caesarea, the famous Herodian port city, it does not contain a huge amount of stops on the regular tourist trail. It’s also part of the coastal plain, so it has some nice beaches and cliff tops, but is rather flat, which does not make for particularly exciting scenery.

However, the guiding course covers everything, so we were to spend a day in the Sharon region. And I was pleasantly surprised by what we discovered; not necessarily enough to warrant a detour by a first time visitor to Israel, but plenty to interest the more seasoned traveller in search of something a little different.

View over the Sharon Coastal Plain from Tzur Natan

We began our day at a viewpoint in the small moshav of Tzur Natan, right next to the Green Line. Technically we were not in the Sharon, rather in the foothills of the Samarian mountains, but we did have a good view over the Sharon in all its flatness. Here we learned about the history of the region; the name Sharon is an Akkadian word meaning forest, and indeed until quite late in the Ottoman period the area was covered with forests. This, together with the large amounts of swamps (which attracter malarial mosquitoes) meant that in fact it was one of the least inhabited regions of the country. It was only when the Zionists began to successfully drain the swamps that people began to settle here in there masses, due to the proclivity of water and the ease of building on flat land.

Sheikh Musharef Tomb & Remains of Samaritan Synagogue

We moved on to the nearby Ottoman period tomb for the Sheikh Musharef, a local holy man. The tomb was built on top of a Samaritan synagogue (you can tell as it faces Shechem/Nablus, and not Jerusalem), from the 6^th century. We could identify the mikve (ritual bath). We paused in the site to learn about the geology of the Sharon area; its formation, the types of rock etc. All useful background for the rest of the day.

Alexandroni Memorial at Kakun

We descended to the coastal plain to the Kakun reserve. Here we paused by the memorial to the Alexandroni brigade who overcame the Iraqi army who had reached this point in the 1948 War of Independence. I find stories about the 48 war particularly interesting as the odds were so massively stacked against the nascent Israeli country. Daring and bravery, together with a significant chunk of good fortune, won the day.

Crusader Fortress Ruins at Kakun

We then climbed the hill to the ruins of the Crusader fortress which used to stand at this point with an overview of two very important ancient roads: the Sea Road (Via Maris) which did not actually go along the sea shore, rather along the valley where you can now find route 6; and the road that ran from Caesarea to Shechem. We wandered around the ruins and admired the strength of the structure which had endured for so long.

It was time for a hike. We were dropped off by the turtle park at the Alexander stream. We learned about the habits of these soft-shelled turtles which have been enabled to flourish in the stream thanks to an extensive programme to clean it from various pollutants which had been killing off the wildlife. The project is a joint project between Israel and the Palestinians, as the stream source lies in Palestinian controlled land, and it was even awarded a prize in Australia as a result of its great success in cleaning up the stream. Heart warming!

Nachal Alexander

We enjoyed a pleasant stroll down the stream, concluding at the Khirbet Samra ruins, where our guide illustrated how the building had passed through different peoples (Arabs, Turks, British and Israelis) through history through a remarkable feat of rapid costume changing which certainly made the story much more entertaining. Good inspiration for our future guiding experiences.

Steam Powered Water Pump at Cheftzi-ba Farm

Our bus met us at the hike’s end and we travelled north to the Cheftzi-ba agricultural farm. This land, just outside Hadera, was bought by an association called the Netaim (planters) at the turn of the 20^th century. The idea was to make it into farmland and sell it to new immigrants who were interested in farming but didn’t want to start from scratch. To water the fields, they had Israel’s first pump (steam powered) which drew water and pushed it around the farm. Sadly a poisonous cocktail of locusts and the outbreak of WWI led to the collapse of the enterprise. The farm is now run by the national electricity company who refurbished it, partly to make up for the massive power station located at Hadera, and you can visit the old buildings, watch a surprisingly interesting film (these tourist site films used to have very low production values, but are rapidly improving) about the farm’s history (subtitled in English) and, in migration season, view some of the 2 million (yes, million!) cormorants who pass through on their way from Sibera to warmer climes.

View North up the coast from Apollonia Ruins

Our penultimate stop took us back to ancient times as we toured the excavations at Apollonia (also known as Arsuf). Located next to Hertzliya Pituach, on the coast, this site has only been opened relatively recently for tourists. It contains the remains of a crusader fortress and also a very impressive Roman villa, together with some limited remains from the original Phoenician village where they manufactured glass along with the valuable argaman and techelet dyes. As if the archaeology was not interesting enough, the site commands wonderful views from a cliff top above the Mediterranean Sea; on a clear day Jaffa is visible in the South, Netanya in the North. We heard the story of the different generations of settlement in this place, together with the story of its violent destruction by the Baibars. Mind you, I’m sure the Crusaders would have been just as unpleasant to the Baibars, had they had half the chance. Given the proximity of this site to Tel Aviv (around 20 minutes drive), it’s definitely worth a short jump out of the city if one has a couple of hours free and wants to get a taste of ancient history from among the hustle and bustle of the modern metropolis.

Sidna Ali Mosque

We concluded the day just a short drive away from Apollonia at the mosque built around the tomb of Sidna Ali, a great local leader of the 11^th century; legend says that he could always tell the truth and people would come to him for judgement of disputes. Once he died he was buried here and to settle disputes people would come and walk towards a stone with their eyes closed. The first to touch the stone is the one who is telling the truth. From this peaceful location we learned about the Mamluk policy of building holy pilgrimage sites along the coast to ensure a constant flow of pilgrims who would be able to keep an eye out for any future Crusader attack. Whether or not Sidna Ali is buried here is up for discussion – there are two other sites in Israel which also claim the honour. The British banned Muslims from visiting this site as punishment for their rebellion in the 1930s, and it fell into disrepair. Recently, the Waqf (the Muslim religious authority here) petitioned the government for the land, and successfully took over the site and restored it. It really rather picturesque.

So, it seems the Sharon was able to throw up a fair amount of positive surprises. Somewhat off the regular tourist trail, it is true, but with some sites that are well worth a visit.