Jerusalem: Holy City in Time and Imagination

Our farewell dinner on Saturday night in the “Olive & Fish” restaurant in Jerusalem was delightful and delicious (we ate very well during our time in Jerusalem!). Each student was asked to say a few words about his or her impressions of the trip and what had impressed them most. Then our tour guide David spoke. He could not say enough nice things about our fabulous students and how much he enjoyed traveling with us these nine days. He even brought his wife and youngest son on our hiking tour in Ein Gedi. It was difficult to say goodbye.

Approaching Istanbul.

The bus arrived at our hostel Beit Shmuel at 3:50 am on Sunday morning to drive us to the airport in Tel Aviv. Checking in went smoothly, and we even had time for a quick breakfast before the two-hour flight to Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. There we had a four-hour layover to get ready for the long, thirteen-hour flight back home to Houston. We arrived at around eight in the evening local time on Sunday, exhausted, but very happy, full of impressions, and a bit anxious about papers and assignments from other Rice classes that are due all too soon.

Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.

Now we are very fortunate to have five more weeks together in the classroom to reflect on our impressions of Jerusalem and to deepen our understanding of Israel. Three guest speakers will come and talk to our group throughout the remainder of the semester: Dr. Chad Spigel from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, a professional archaeologist; film director Nir Baram, who will discuss with us his recent film A Land Without Borders; and Ambassador Edward Djerejian, the Janice and Robert McNair Director of Public Policy and Founding Director of Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, who will talk with us about the current political situation in the Middle East.

Most importantly, we have each other, to continue the conversation, to share photos, laughs, and impressions, and to learn from each other. It is clear that our trip has deeply impacted our students and will continue to spur them to critical thought and analysis. Before long, students will begin to make their own plans about when and how to return to Jerusalem, that most fabulous city in time and imagination.

Our last day in Jerusalem began with a guided walking tour through East Jerusalem, and specifically the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. We had requested a Muslim guide and were happy to see Ibrahim Ghazzawi again, who had already guided us on the Haram al-Sharif, or the Temple Mount.

The Paulus House/Schmidt School.

In spite of the rain and cold, gusty wind, the students were very cheerful. We began the tour on the rooftop of the Paulus House/Schmidt School, just outside the Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem, which offers a fabulous view of much of the Old City. From there we walked through the Muslim Quarter, marveled at several Mamluk buildings that had just recently been renovated, and enjoyed coffee in a local coffee shop (see picture).

Coffee in the Old City.

After a quick lunch on the go it was time to say goodbye to Ibrahim, and our bus took us to the Israel Museum, where we met David, our “regular” guide. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem is one of Israel’s finest museums, with elaborate permanent exhibits on topics including ancient archaeology, synagogues from around the world, and modern Israeli art. David showed us an impressive, large-scale model of Second Temple Jerusalem, which was an ideal way to review many of the places we visited throughout the week. Then we went into a part of the museum known as the Shrine of the Book. It was built specifically for the Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered in the first Qumran cave in 1946/47 and now houses several of the famed scrolls. The students had an hour and a half to roam the museum on their own before the bus took us back to the hostel.

Tonight we will have our festive farewell dinner at a local restaurant. Our bus will pick us up at 4am from the hostel to bring us to the airport for the long trip home.

During our week in Jerusalem we have seen many different aspects of the history and present of Israel. We have explored two-thousand-year-old ruins; important religious sites like the Dome of the Rock, the Western Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher; modern destinations like Yad Vashem; and everyday spaces like the Machane Yehuda market.

Today we discovered another aspect of Israel: its natural beauty. We spent most of the day on a long, challenging hike through the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, a site mentioned in the biblical story of David and enjoyed to this day by hikers and nature enthusiasts. Here are some impressions of our fabulous day.

The Northern Palace at Masada

Today is the first of our two days at the Dead Sea. At 7:30 this morning we left rainy Jerusalem, which sits 750 meters above sea level, to drive through the Judaean Desert down to the Dead Sea, which is about 430 meters below sea level. Our first stop was Masada, a mountain plateau on the western side of the Dead Sea, which King Herod built out into an impressive palace (see picture). Masada was later occupied by the last of the Jewish rebels in the Jewish War against the Romans. The rebels held out on the mountain top from 70-73 CE, when the Romans finally had enough and stormed the mountain. Instead of taking the cable car, we hiked up the steep mountain on the snake path. David guided us to the most important places and read to us parts of the riveting story of Masada as told by the first century Jewish historian Josephus.

Owls on top of Masada

After a lunch break at the base of Masada we got back into the bus and drove along the western shore of the Dead Sea to Qumran, the site of the ancient Jewish community that left us the famed Dead Sea Scrolls. Having just come from Masada, which is arguably one of the most impressive archaeological sites in all of Israel, if not in the world, the ruins of Qumran may seem small, even insignificant. But Qumran is significant not because of its archaeology but because of the scrolls. David told us the story of the discovery of the first scrolls in 1947, described the small Jewish community who lived here in self-imposed exile at the turn of the common era, and pointed out some of the more impressive features of the site, such as the sophisticated water system and the many ritual baths.

Floating in the Dead Sea.

Our final stop today was at the Dead Sea beach at Kibbutz Kalia. The weather was cloudy and cool, but most of the students took the opportunity to enjoy the unique experience of “swimming” in the Dead Sea. Due to the high salt and mineral content, it is really only possible to float on the surface, but our students had fun experiencing the extreme buoyancy of the water. The water’s unusual chemistry is said to be good for the skin and for healing all kinds of ailments. Finally, we headed to the lovely hostel facing the sea at Ein Gedi, refreshed after a long day outdoors.

In Yad Vashem

Our day began with a visit to Yad Vashem, Jerusalem’s Holocaust museum and memorial. The new exhibit hall, built into a hillside, opened in 2005. David gave us a brief introduction to the significance of the Holocaust in modern Israeli society. Then students had two and a half hours to go through the winding exhibition halls by themselves. For some of our students, this was the first time they learned about the Holocaust in such graphic and personalized ways.

Halva

After Yad Vashem we needed to refuel, so we gave students over two hours to explore Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market, an open air bazaar where vendors sell everything from vegetables, fish,  and pastries to phone cases and clothes. Our students loved the atmosphere and the food. They all had lunch in one of the many restaurants and sampled fruits, halva (picture), and nuts, while stocking up for our hike in the Judean desert on Friday.

Then we got back on the bus to go to Mount Scopus, the hill that separates the city of Jerusalem from the Judean Desert and that is home to the Hebrew University. Adi Livny, a graduate student in the history department who is currently writing her dissertation on the history of the university from 1925, the year in which it was founded, to 1948, the founding of the State of Israel, gave us a tour of the beautiful campus. Even though it is a relatively young university, it has a rich and interesting history that is intertwined with the history of both the state of Israel and Jerusalem itself.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Then it was already time to return to Beit Shmuel, our hostel. Most evenings we have heard from guest speakers, local residents who come to speak to the students about various aspects of life in Israel today. It is usually one of the highlights of the trip for students. Last night we hosted Mikhael Manekin, a political activist who mesmerized our students with his thoughtful and eloquent reflections about the current, pre-election political climate in Israel. Tonight we enjoyed a presentation by Karin Lindner, a woman came to Palestine as a child prior to the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, and who for years has been active with an organization called Machsom Watch.

Tomorrow morning we depart for a couple of days in the Judean Desert.

Learning about Israel’s most recent history.

Today we moved away from the distant past and focussed on Israel’s present situation. Our lesson on geopolitics began with a tour of neighborhoods in areas of municipal Jerusalem that lie outside the 1949 armistice lines, in areas that Israel considers part of its territory but are considered to be occupied under international law. From there we could see the security barrier that Israel has built roughly along the Green Line, as the armistice lines are known. David introduced us to some of the history of the neighborhoods and settlements in the area as well as the security barrier.

Rachel’s Tomb.

From there we made the short trip to Bethlehem, passing through the barrier on the way. In Bethlehem we visited Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity, built at the site where Jesus is said to have been born. We had planned to meet with the mayor of a nearby settlement called Efrat, but after some mechanical trouble with the bus delayed us we unfortunately missed our meeting. Instead we stopped at the site of Rachel’s Tomb on the outskirts of the city, an important Jewish pilgrimage site, especially for women.

Looking at the Security Barrier.

On the Temple Mount.

Now that we are over our jet lag, our guide David decided we were ready to start even earlier today, so everyone grabbed a quick breakfast and hopped on our bus by 7:30. All this so we could beat the crowds to the Temple Mount, also known as the Haram al-Sharif. A special guide, Ibrahim Gazzawi, met us on the ramp leading to the Haram and led us around the compound, which includes Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Everyone got to explore the expansive space and marvel at the intricate designs and beautiful gold of the dome.

St. Ann’s Church

We exited the Temple Mount platform near the Lions Gate, and continued our exploration of the three Abrahamic religions with a visit to St. Ann’s Church, a Crusader structure said to be the site of Mary’s birth. After a beautiful serenade by some of the students in the church, which has great acoustics, we met another special guide, Jad Abu Saed, who led us on a tour of the Via Dolorosa, the stations of the cross. The last few stations are located in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where we ended that part of our tour.

Finally, our regular guide David led us back to the Jewish Quarter for a tour of some Second Temple Period ruins that were discovered in the 1970s after the state of Israel took control of the Old City from Jordan. The Jordanians had destroyed the Jewish Quarter after the 1948 war, leaving it in terrible condition for habitation but prime condition for archaeological excavations.

Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Tonight we will go to the Tower of David, a Herodian structure now used as a museum, to see a sound and light show projected on the walls of the ancient structure, a perfect way to end our day of exploring the conjunction of Jerusalem old and new.

The Dome of the Rock

Owls on the Mount of Olives.

Today we started at the top of the Mount of Olives, looking out over the panorama of the city below us. We then walked down the mountain, visiting the Dominus Flevit church, where we saw a First Temple Period burial area and ossuaries; the Garden of Gethsemane and the adjacent Church of All Nations; and Mary’s Tomb. Along the way David explained why the Mount of Olives likely became Jerusalem’s primary burial ground: the prevailing west-to-east winds carried the smells of the cemeteries away from the city.

Visiting the Western Wall.

After a brief stop in the Kidron Valley we visited the City of David, a small hill to the south of the Temple Mount. According to extensive archaeological excavations, this is the oldest part of Jerusalem, the place where the city was founded. It was inhabited by the Jebusites, one of the Canaanite peoples, until David conquered it and made it the capital of his new kingdom. Today, the City of David sits in the middle of an Arab village called Silwan.

Our final stop was the Western Wall and its tunnels, which have been extensively excavated. Walking underground along the Western Wall at the level of the streets in Roman times, David explained to us how King Herod was able to move the enormous stones that weigh several hundred tons.

Listening to David.

After the bus brought us back to the hostel and we had a short break, we hosted our first evening speakers. Two representatives of the Parents’ Circle – Families Forum joined us to tell us about the organization, which fosters understanding and reconciliation between Jews and Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories. They also shared their personal stories of loss and friendship.

After a long trip with a five-hour layover in Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, we arrived in Jerusalem in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Although exhausted from the trip, everyone was happy to be in Jerusalem.

Looking at the map of the Old City with our guide David.

After a few hours of sleep, our guide David came to the hostel to pick us up for our first day in the city. Because today was Shabbat, the Sabbath day, most shops and restaurants are closed and the city is very quiet. David gave us a first introduction to Jerusalem and took us across the Hinnom Valley to the Jaffa Gate.

As we entered the Old City we were immediately immersed in the city’s  delightful chaos of religious traditions, as priests in cassocks, Orthodox Jews wearing festive clothing, and merchants pushing carts of bananas passed in the streets around us.

Standing on the rooftops of the Old City.

David then guided us through narrow alleyways onto the rooftops of the Christian Quarter of the Old City, from where we had a fantastic first view of the Mount of Olives and the Temple Mount. We also got a taste of the four quarters of the Old City — Muslim, Christian, Armenian, and Jewish — and how each of these quarters  is a microcosm unto itself. Then we literally had a taste of the Old City as we took a break for lunch.

After lunch we left the Old City again through the Zion Gate to visit the Dormition Abbey Church and David’s Tomb. After crossing the Valley of Hinnom again to see some First Temple tombs, we took a look at the neighborhoods of Mishkenot Sha’ananim and Yemin Moshe, two of the first Jewish residential areas outside of the Old City. We finished up at the Jerusalem International YMCA down the street from our hostel, known as a center of multicultural Jerusalem and one of the most beautiful YMCAs in the world.

Outside David’s Tomb.

Welcome to our class blog Jerusalem: Holy City in Time and Imagination.

On Thursday (March 7, 2019), our class will leave for Jerusalem. We have spent the last eight weeks in the classroom getting ready for our trip, studying the history of Israel, ancient and modern, and learning about the history of Jerusalem since David captured it from the Jebusites 3000 years ago.

While in Jerusalem, we will try to post photos and descriptions of our daily excursions here, so visit us often. In case you need to reach us, the best way to do so is via email:

Matthias Henze: mhenze@rice.edu;

Melissa Weininger: mirele@rice.edu.

We hope you will follow us on our trip through this blog and share in our adventure.