We rise early (as usual) to get down to breakfast. Breakfast is beginning to have that familiar and comfortable feeling of routine. Few surprises anymore, I have scouted out several things I really like and have enjoyed them most mornings. Just don't fall for the "yogurt" in the familiar little containers with the foil top. It's not really yogurt, it's buttermilk but thicker. I kept thinking that a different label would be yogurt, but they are all the same. Not my favorite.
At breakfast the realization that our tour of Israel is quickly coming to an end begins to take hold. We have seen so much, experienced so much, met some new friends, how can this end? The thought is intentionally pushed aside as I think of what we are doing today, we will see Masada. I have wanted to experience Masada and the Dead Sea for so very long. I am so stoked to be able to realize this dream and it will be today.
We eagerly board the buses in anticipation of traveling to the southern region of Israel. Galilee seems so long ago. Jerusalem has been so intense, so much, so close, everywhere we have turned a new experience. The buses pull out into nearly empty Jerusalem highways, I guess this is earlier than most Israeli's get up. We head south.
The geography of Israel is fascinating. We do not drive very far when our guide, Eli, tells us that we will soon be seeing a distinct change in the landscape. It will be much more arid, less vegetation, more barren. Frankly, after leaving the region of Galilee I though Jerusalem was pretty stark in comparison. Sure enough, almost like crossing over a line on the road, we are definitely in a desert. The Judean Wilderness. There is virtually nothing green on the hillsides and no water to see.
It isn't until we enter this austere landscape that we begin to see bedouin people who herd goat and other livestock over this barren terrain. It makes you wonder what they find for their animals to eat. They still live a nomadic lifestyle in tents and sometimes shacks that look a little more permanent, like a home base.
What we cannot tell as we drive other than the diesel engines are almost quiet, is that we are driving downhill. When we come to the Dead Sea, we will be at the lowest point of dry land on the entire planet. We pass a sign that tells us we are at sea level. Since Jerusalem is 2555 feet above sea level, we have already lost a fair amount of elevation. We will lose 1401 more feet by the time we get to the Dead Sea. Since this lake is the lowest point, nothing drains away from it. Even though this is true, the lake is drying up. So much of the water from the Jordan river is diverted as drinking water to Israel's thirsty cities and so much is used for agriculture, very little actually makes it to the Dead Sea. Much more water evaporates each day than is replenished. Our guide tells us that the lake has been losing 10 feet of water every year for the past 14 years. If you look at the maps in the back of your Bible you will see the narrowest part of the lake just below the middle. The water level is so low that this narrow part is nearly all dry. The lake is almost two separate lakes at this point. This is rather interesting as it would fulfill biblical prophecy.
Because of the drying of the lake, there is some concern. There is some talk of putting in a water pipeline from the Red Sea which is only 80 miles away from the southern end. This seems like it would not be difficult as it would be downhill the whole way. The saline level of the lake is about 35% right now. Adding sea water would reduce the saltiness of the lake and perhaps bring new life to the lake, another yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecy of the Old Testament (Ezek. 47:9).
The Israeli's don't care for the name "Dead Sea", they have never called it that. I sympathize with this. How would we like it if we saw on Israeli maps of the USA such names of our national treasures like Mt. Rushmore - "Four Dead Guys" or the Statue of Liberty - "The Green Lady"? The name is a relatively modern label. "The Salt Sea", "The Sea of Arabah", "The Asphalt Sea", "The Sea of Sodom" are some of the names for the body of water in antiquity. The label "Dead" is not really accurate. There is actually some small fish that live in the lake, which is contrary to what I have always been told. There is also a huge amount of agriculture that takes place all around the lake. They grow bananas, and some of the largest vegetables anywhere right here.
The Israeli's discovered that growing fruit and vegetables in the brackish waters "distress" the trees / plants in such a way that they grow amazing produce. This totally messes with my mind. Pictures of huge melons, squash and other produce testify to this amazing contradiction. The acres and acres of agriculture on the north end of the lake surprise me as the highway drops to the valley floor.
I am beginning to feel the heat of the outside warm the bus. This may be the warmest day yet. I wore my cargo pants with the zip-off legs in anticipation of it being hot today. So far, the legs have stayed on the pants the whole trip. If I find it necessary to zip them off it will justify purchasing them in the first place.
We drive on and on by the shore of the lake, rugged mountains on our west side not far away, the lake and the country of Jordan to the east.
It is interesting that it looks like there are communities on the far side of the lake from us. Sure enough, they are Arab communities on the Jordan side. I wonder where they get enough drinkable water to make life possible here. The land of Israel continues to amaze.
We pass the community of Qumran, near where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.
We pass the Kidron Valley where it begins and goes clear up to the Temple Mount. We pass En Gedi where David hid in the caves from King Saul.
Finally in the distance I see it, the destination I have been waiting for, Masada!
We walk a short ways to what looks like a residential neighborhood in a inner Jerusalem sort of way. We enter a tall building that supposedly is a museum but to me looks like a regular office building.
A little history here is rather interesting. After the 6 day war that Israel fought for control of Jerusalem, it was the first time that the Jewish authorities had ever had an opportunity to do archaeological excavation in Jerusalem itself. Here, right by the city wall in the 1970's they located an extraordinary find. Space inside the city wall being scarce, it was decided that a museum would be built directly over this excavation instead of the archaeological excavation taking up a lot of room and it's fragile discoveries being exposed to the elements.
I will say that if you "google" "The Burnt House" many interesting sites will come up that show better pictures than my inferior camera was able to record.
So we enter the museum and begin to descend into the basement of the building. As we enter this rather large area, we are told that what we see is mostly the lower floor level of a large home complex, a very elite home of someone very influential, rich and Jewish.
There are many rooms in this house, frescoes on the walls, mikvahs (ritual baths) in many locations. Many of the found artifacts are placed exactly where they were found, pots, lamps, and even an iron spear which speaks to the last moments of violence that befell the residents of this place.
One of the most effective methods of dating a archaeological dig is to find the latest dated coin. Of the many coins found in the burnt house, the latest dates to 68 A.D. The burnt house is a unique time capsule from when the Roman general, Titus sacked and burnt the second temple and the rest of Jerusalem with it. The evidence shows that the upper stories of the house were substantially of wood which burned and collapsed on thew lower floor preserving it in a thick layer of ash which lay undisturbed for over 1900 years. Like the rest of Jerusalem, intervening generations rebuilt over the top of the burnt house sealing it intact.
There is an elaborate walk way system suspended above the dig from which one can see this is no ordinary place to live.
Our tour organizer, Dr. Marc Turnage explains many aspects of the house, some aspects that are unique to this very house. It is very clear that who ever lived here lived in luxury that is normally reserved for royalty.
From the abundance of Jewish ritual baths and other evidence the owner of the house was a very high raking Jew of the priestly class.
He builds his case slowly by long explanations and scholarly insight but at length Dr. Turnage reveals that he believes strongly that this is the house of Caiaphas, the High Priest who led the plot to crucify Jesus.
One of the rooms we are led to was very large and lavishly decorated in fresco style, most likely a banquet room (there are two kitchens nearby).
The owner of the house was most likely in cahoots with the Roman authorities and entertained them in this very room. It would have been unheard of for a Jewish priest to have the kind of wealth this one obviously did without being tied in with the Roman authorities in some way.
I quickly review the gospel accounts of Jesus being tried at night by the Jewish Sanhedrin the night of Jesus' condemnation to be crucified on a cross. The mock trial took place at the house of Caiaphas (Matthew 26:57). In the third verse of that same chapter, Matthew actually calls the house of Caiaphas a "palace" which lends to the belief that this very unique lavish Jewish home could have been what we are led to believe.
As I stand contemplating the banquet room, I wonder if the illegal trial held for Jesus could have taken place in this very room. I don't know if Caiaphas lived until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., but it is very likely if this was his home, that it would have passed to his descendants in the 40 or so years after Jesus was crucified.
Not all of the burnt house could be excavated as some of it still lies under existing homes and buildings next to this place. One can only wonder what intriguing relics and evidences would be found. We spend some significant time here before at last we are told we have another destination, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
We emerge from the cool, dark basement of the museum into brilliant and blinding light. I don my sunglasses and protective hat. We set off across old Jerusalem walking up and down smooth and narrow stone streets.
All along the way there are little signs marking sites, mostly religious in nature, that are significant to someone. "The House Where Mary the Mother of Jesus Was Born", "The Via Dolorosa", "The Site of the Founding of the Armenian Church" and others, we take no time to note them, we are on a mission and we are walking fast.
One of the things I find about walking about in Jerusalem is that you can feel like you sort of know where you are and then suddenly you are completely lost. It's a good thing there are so many of us and we are connected by our little transmitters by which our tour guides keep us in the loop of where they are and what is going on. Our route seems to follow more conventional streets than the market passage ways. I don't know why I think about getting lost so much, Indiana Jolie and I will eventually get really lost but that's another blog installment.
Before too long, we are in line at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, again, many people from many different nations make up the crowd waiting to get in. The church dates from byzantine times like most of these sites seem to.
They really expended a lot of energy in those pre-industrialized days building some amazing structures. The main entrance to the church is fronted by a somewhat smallish square which is bordered on three sides by walls of the church and the back is bordered by some kind of wall that is the boundary of the Arab Quarter. Many people pass along this back wall on to who knows where. It is interesting to me as well that there is rarely a fee to enter these places. Maybe the fee has already been paid for us, but I see no discussions of the kind taking place.
The transition from outside the church to inside the church again takes us from brilliant sunlight to almost complete darkness. Maybe I assumed they would have updated the place with some kind of electric lighting in the past 100 years. Apparently not. As we peer into the murky dark, we see lots of scaffolding assembled and canvas sheeting draped around. Must be doing some maintenance on the church.
We see dimly huge but very old paintings with the iconic style of people portraying biblical scenes, many of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.
The centuries of candle soot and the grime of time have coated many of these pictures, it is difficult to see them, especially in the dark. We sort of trudge along in line through the very long "narthex".
The Gothic arches soar over our heads and the beautiful inter tie of all the arch beams in the domes is exquisite. The exteriors of these landmark churches give no clue to the beauty on the inside.
In comparision, the outside looks just like another ugly building.
Our eyes begin to adjust to the dark and just in front of us we enter the room (area?) that is much larger than the large entrance. In the middle of this room is the chapel that is built over the sepulchre itself. The profuse entanglement of adornment that is draped up and over and across again and again is surprisingly a real turn off to me. I feel the same sense of ambivalence as I did at the Church of the Holy Nativity. I didn't expect this.
This church again belongs to several (rival) branches of Christianity; Orthodox, Armenian, Catholic and Coptic. I don't think the Assemblies of God is represented. Our General Superintendent Dr. George Wood was probably just a little guy when they were handing out owner shares. Anyway, they all somehow share the same building and do their special thing with their area. It looks like the Orthodox folks have the sepulchre chapel as their spot as the stern looking men in black robes are milling about like some kind of changing of the guard. In the confusion of it all I approach the chapel and like at the spot of the nativity, there for one moment there is no one in front of or in the chapel and I am ready with my camera to snap some quick pictures.
This won't happen again for hours as there are literally hundreds of people lined up to pay homage to the sepulchre. I decide that I am not going to wait in that long line and begin to walk about.
An interesting fact that was shared with us helped make the decision to skip the long line. That is, there is virtually nothing left of the burial cave that Jesus was placed in, just a spot on the bare ground. There was centuries ago a very small cave that served as a tomb. In the many centuries of pilgrims coming to this very place the cave was essentially destroyed until nothing was left by relic hunters and souvenir collectors. I was told by Amy Turnage, the wife of Dr. Marc Turnage that in some of the lower levels of this church are ancient graffiti left by pilgrims of many ages ago, as far back as 300 A.D. One inscription that Amy described was one of several people in a boat and the words (in Latin) "Lord, we have come." I would have very much loved to view this, but apparently this area is not open to the public. The Turnages are both Ph.D's and can gain access to many things because of their scholarly pursuits.
For many reasons, the Turnages believe this is in fact that authentic burial site of Jesus. One of the many contributing evidences of this belief is the long tradition of pilgrims coming to this site. The more well known site that you and I are much more familiar ("Gordon's Calvary") was only "discovered" in 1928. There was no evidence of any pilgrimage there ever. Even the phrase "the place of the skull" is more likely a reference to a graveyard than the idea that the face of the cliff looks like a skull. This is very interesting to me as I somehow picked up the idea that most of these churches were built over fraudulent sites to entice gullible pilgrims to spend their money there. That is sometimes the case, but not always.
I wander this huge edifice. Because of the profusion of censers, candles, paintings, frescoes, mosaics and icons I didn't pay attention the structure of of this large room. Immense columns with Corinthian capitals rise up and up maybe 30 feet or more to the next floor where more columns rise to the next floor and then more columns and more...It boggles the imagination that such things could have been built when they were built.
We didn't try it, but it might take 4 or 5 people to stretch their arms around one of these ground floor columns. The floors are more of the smooth tile stone that has been polished slick by centuries of pilgrim feet. There are numerous stairways and passages that lead to who knows where.
I can easily imagine men with medieval armor and belted swords clanking around on the stone floor. Everywhere there are sad faced iconic paintings, a few brilliantly colored as if they were new or restored.
I come around the back side of the sepulchre chapel and meet our tour guides. They motion us to one of those numerous passages that are so mysterious. It is an arched door with a pointy top (byzantine), that leads to a hallway which leads to a small room which leads to another room with what looks like a chiseled stone hemispherical ceiling and it has what looks like a dilapidated mostly wooden throne or very fancy chair in it. The ceiling like so many of these places is dark with soot. The room is pretty much round and since I am early I take my place on the perimeter of the room which is not more than 20 feet across.
I am to the right of the chair/throne and directly across from me is a small, very old painting that is hanging above a low opening which I did not immediately see when I came in because the chair/throne was so interesting. The painting must have been hanging there a very long time as it is so darkened that I can barely discern the subject. There is one small light bulb fastened to the ceiling and powered by an exposed cord that is tacked into the rock and leads out the door. I am wondering what this room is all about. The space fills quickly with mostly our group but others that disappear into that low opening come and go. Soon I am backed up against the wall with my chest to the back of the person in front of me. Indiana Jolie is next to me. There must be over 60 people in the room that can possibly hold adequate oxygen for a maximum of 10.
We are now told that this is the tomb of Joseph of Aramathea! The man who gave Jesus his own new tomb on the night Jesus died on the cross! How interesting. I never thought about a tomb like this. The low opening is the entrance to the antechamber off of which three finger like tombs extend further back. The dead were placed on a mat in one of these "fingers" and after a year or so their bodies were pretty much gone and then their bones would be collected and put in a box, stored elsewhere and the tomb was ready for someone else. We are told that the antechamber is very small and probably not more than 4 people at a time should try to fit in, but we are welcome to go in there. I am already ready to make an exit from the room as the air feels very used up at this point. I tell Indiana Jolie that I am not going to try to go in that antechamber and get stuck so they will have to call the fire department to get me out. Since I am easily two of most of the people in the room I feel there will be some awkward crawling around in there. Not for me.
They never do explain the chair/throne thing. Must not be that important. If this is a typical church, the chair is probably just being stored from some Christmas pageant of eons past that never got used again and no one can bear to throw it out. I know the story very well, "my uncle Maximus made that chair for the children's Christmas pageant and he spent untold hours making it just so...."
As much as I would like to stay, my need for fresh oxygen is greater than my need for learning at this point so I make my exit as soon as a little space opens up between me and the next anxious pilgrim. I wonder how many other unadvertised features this mammoth church holds. I am sure one could spend a month just going room to room, floor to floor, passageway to passageway and not see it all.
It is difficult to imagine, but before all this church and columns and whatnot was built, this was a field with small caves in which people were buried. Were it not for the byzantine peoples building these edifices over these sites, they might have disappeared hundreds of years ago. I honestly don't know which would have been better.
The day is pretty much spent and I feel like I have received so much. I am looking forward to the hotel, some Israeli dinner and call it an early night. Tomorrow will be a different kind of exciting. Masada, the Dead Sea!
