Beit Shahur - House of the Rising Sun

No, nothing to do with the popular 70's song! It refers to those who greet the rising sun as part of their work - Shepherds. Part of today was spent in the Shepherds' Fields, where tradition has it the angels announced the birth of the Saviour.

Inside the chapel at Shepherds' Field

The Chapel - Elias our Christian Palestinian Guide behind the altar

https://youtu.be/aQ9ZDmfwBc4

There are many limestone caves in the area - used by shepherds to guard their flocks at night. Tradition has it that the shepherds were at the mouth of one of these caves when the angels appeared to announce the birth of Jesus.

The Shepherds' Field Chapel

From there we went to the centre of Bethlehem, to Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity.

The Church of the Nativity - and the remains of the Christmas Tree structure!

The star marks the spot

Above the spot where Jesus was born

Where the cradle was placed

Above the entrance to the Nativity Cave

The Church of the Nativity is built over the cave of the Nativity. This church is controlled by the Greek Orthodox Church. Next to it is a Catholic Church and is built over the rest of the cave where Jesus was born. St Jerome, whose life work was translating the Bible into Latin - the Vulgate, lived in the cave under this Church and was buried there. His remains were removed, but the chapel still remains.

The Tomb of St Jerome

Near St Jerome's Tomb

Manger Square - looking toward the mosque

Herodium - Faith to Move Mountains

Looking towards Jerusalem from the top of Herodium

Tantur is near Bethlehem - you can see over the "Separation" wall the Palestinian villages (really suburbs) of Bethlehem. We took a bus, through a checkpoint to Bethlehem. First stop was the archeological site Herodium. This is a palace/fortress built by Herod on a hill top near Bethlehem.

To make his fortress stronger Herod had the neighbouring hill leveled and the spoil added to the walls of the fortress. Fully a third of the hill is the result of the moving of a mountain. The fortress/palace is visible from Jerusalem. Jesus would have been aware of it. Matthew 17: 19, 20

From the top - the far ridge is Jordan, the Dead Sea is under the haze.

A cistern

Looking down on the remains of the pool

The pool

One of the cisterns under the Palace/Fortress

Inside the Tower

David Reigned over Israel Forty Years

"The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years he reigned in Hebron and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem." I Kings 2, 11

Today we visited King David's City - this is the original city of Jerusalem. It stands outside what is now called the Old City - even though it is older! Just to confuse things, the walls of the city today date back to the Ottoman rule in Jerusalem and don't entirely correspond to the walls that existed in Jesus' time. 

King David's City covered the ridge the photo is taken on and extended down to the bottom of the gully. The Stepped Stone Structure is under me here.

From the viewpoint King David's City extends only to the palm tree - in the background is the dome of the mosque on the plaza where the Temple stood.

The Stepped Stone Structure which is thought to be the remains of the palace of David. From here he might have watched Bathsheba bathing... 2 Samuel 11

Some of us went into Hezekiah's tunnel - a tunnel dug under King David's City to provide a safe source of water for the city even when it was under siege. The tunnel traverses the ridge on which the city was built for a distance of 530 metres. The tunnel still carries water and is quite narrow and low. It is also very dark...  It empties into the Pool of Siloam - where Jesus sent the blind man he had cured to bath before going to present himself to the priests. This may have been a ritual pool where pilgrims bathed before "going up to Jerusalem."

A cistern leading to Hezekiah's tunnel - constructed in the 18th Century BCE

Emerging from Hezekiah's Tunnel - by the pool of Siloam - Some other participants in the Programme

We also visited the Western Wall - one of Jewry's most holy sites - possibly due to it's proximity to where the Temple once stood. It is part of the support wall for the Temple site.

The Western Wall - the Wailing Wall

The hat is obligatory!

The Western Wall in relation to the Dome of the Rock

Jerusalem, Jerusalem...

I arrived in Israel from Rome on the 26th of January. I was prepared for the weather to be a bit cooler, what I wasn't prepared for was snow (!) falling on the road up from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The weather was terrible - and continued the next day. We had snow and sleet and freezing rain. So there aren't so many good photos from the first full day.

The Old City

The Mount of Olives

I'm at Tantur Ecumenical Institute, which is on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Day two was clear and cold.

The Tower - what's left of the Knights of Malta Hospital originally on the site.

It was certainly cold...