25 July 2011

It isn't everyday that you see a hoard of eighty Mormon students walking through the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.

Today was the exception. Promptly at 8:30 in the morning, we loaded vans and buses bound for the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. Dropping us off at Dung Gate, we climbed up stair after stair through the already sweltering heat to reach our destination: the Wohl Museum. Among Jerusalem's many archaeological sites, this is the only one "where the visitor can stroll along a residential quarter of Jerusalem at the end of the Second Temple period and experience an echo of the pulse of life which once beat there" (Avigad Nahman). Built over a strip of the Upper City excavated during 196901983, the Wohl Museum preserves six priestly houses in addition to some of their contents. Each house has at least one ritual bath, mosaics, frescoes, stone vessels, and pottery. The entry into the museum leads directly to the Western House, where the ritual bath shows remains of plaster (to prevent seepage). The impressive fresco has a rosette, a wave crest with palmettes, and an unusual spindle-shaped bottle. The corridor leads to an exhibit of First Temple-era storage jars and Hasmonean-era pottery. The architectural and artifact exhibit demonstrates Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian styles as found in Jerusalem and displays pottery and stone jars. The Middle Complex preserves remnants of two house. The largest, most impressive house is the Palatial Mansion where remains of burnt plaster, frescoes, and beams can be found from Roman destruction in 70 CE.

In addition to the Wohl Museum, we also visited the Burnt House. This home saw the same fate as each of the homes preserved in the Wohl Museum: destruction by the Roman soldiers prior to the destruction of the Temple. At the Burnt House, we were privileged to watch a movie illustrating this destruction; this was easiliy one of the worst yet most entertaining movies I have ever seen inside of a museum. It was great walking around the museum and viewing the different sites, but I was happy to get out into the open air and move on to something more pleasant and uplifting...

The main public access to Herod's Temple Mount complex would likely have been the setting for Jesus' various entries into and exits from the Temple. Archaeologists found data about Herod's construction techniques and inscriptions from the Temple Mount as well as details about the system for entering and exiting the Temple. The Ophel Park (or Davidson Archaeological Park) lies immediately below the south end of teh Temple Mount. In lowering the ground level along the southern end of the Western Wall, archaeologists found pristine ashlars in the walls's lower courses; they also found ashlars from the upper courses which had fallen onto the Herodian street during the Roman destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Near the southwest corner, the famed 'pinnacle of the temple', archaeologists uncovered a stone bearing the phrase 'trumpeting place'. It is at this site that many scholars, religious leaders, and archaeologists believed Christ was tempted by Satan in Matthew 4:5-7 and Luke 4:9-12. These ruins, these streets in the park were used during the time of Christ. It was on these streets that Christ ascended and descended from the Temple. As we sat on the staircase of the Temple Mount, Brother Judd shared some thoughts on the life of the Savior and our proximity to Him. It is amazing that I was sitting where He once stood and taught, where He healed the sick, and where He blessed those in need of comfort. We are always moving a mile a minute so it is difficult to take a step back and realize where we are, where Jesus once was. Jesus was here. He lived in this very city. He walked these streets. Jesus Christ is my Savior, my Redeemer. I know He lives; and I challenge each of you to find it out for yourself. You don't need to stand on the same street he walked on every day; you don't need to see where He healed the blind or raised the dead. All you have to do is turn to the Father in prayer, in faith, and trust in Him. You won't be turned away.

We were left the rest of the day to do as we pleased. I chose to wander through the city of Justin, Megan N., Morgan, Wayna, and Kymberly. We ended up on Christian Quarter Street, where I purchasd a few gifts for family members and a couple of items for myself. It was fairly relaxed. As we left the Old City, we stopped for gummies and music, and were separated by the crowds until returning to the J.C. I went with Megan and Justin to Saladin street, where we stopped in at Omar's so that I could purchase a nativity set for my parents. (It was really cool because I got to call and talk to my dad...he was awake at 6am...strange man that one is! Haha!) For lunch, I stopped and grabbed a falafel from my favorite place in Jerusalem and then we headed back to the Jerusalem Center. It was a day to just mosey around the city and I thoroughly enjoyed it. These next three weeks are going to be for me to say goodbye to a city I have grown to love and that means more than visiting sites; it means wandering and getting lost in new places and seeing the city for what it is undertneathe its touristy exterior.

The evening was spent as all the others: studying, blogging, playing the piano, and hanging out with friends. It was nice to get a few more things done, but I am still very behind on my blog. Galilee really set me back! Haha but I'll catch up eventually. It's my family that is suffering, not me. I am well aware of the different things I did while in the Galilee. Lol :) My last FHE was held tonight. It was weird saying goodbye to this group of people. Sam and Fenton (our Ma and Pa) shared their testimonies on the Savior, and then we had a short activity where we wrote notes to one another. It was the perfect way to end FHE, to say goodbye to that group of people. It also made me realize that those are the first of many goodbyes...my days here are numbered..

One last commment:
This semester, I did a little experiment. In one of my classes, our grades were based off of two papers (with the final paper being weighted far greater than the midterm paper). With this in mind, I made a choice at the beginning of the semester. I never did any of the readings; I barely listened to any of the lectures. I received my final grade today. I received a 97 (A), one of the highest grades in the class. I am not sure what this means exactly, but I am glad that I didn't stress myself out over a class that I didn't even need to attend to pass. I won't complain though. An 'A' is an 'A'; I will happily take my grade and run with it!