A more gentle day outside the Old City after the emotional day inside the Old City yesterday. We took a bus to the top of Mount Scopus, the site of Hebrew University. From there, we had great views of Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, and the Judean Wilderness.
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| Jerusalem from Mount Scopus. Note the Old City Walls enclosing the gold Dome of the Rock (Muslim) on the left and the green double-domed Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Christian) on the right. |
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| Hebrew University. |
We then went to the Orient Restaurant for an authentic Arabian “zarb” lunch. Why are we doing so many Arabian things? Because our guides, like us, are Christian members of the Anglican Communion who also happen to be Arabian, i.e., Palestinian. Palestinian Christians say they are among the first Christians and trace their lineage to Pentacost as recorded in the Book of Acts. Of course, the Jewish followers of Jesus also were among the first Christians.
From there we went to Herodion, the combination fortress/ palace built by Herod the Great. Herod was a Jewish ruler of Judea during the Roman Empire. He was the puppet of the Romans and generally hated by the Jewish populace. He was a paranoid psychopath who killed two wives and two sons because he believed they were a threat to him. According to the Gospel of Matthew, he was visited by the three Magi who told him of the birth of Jesus and, as a result, he ordered the slaughter of the innocents. Herod was also a great builder who constructed many massive projects, including his combination fortress/palace which he named after himself.
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| Church visible on the way to Herodion. |
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| Ruins of columns and wall. |
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| View from Herodion. The palace stood on an artificial mountain built by Jewish slaves. |
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| Ruins of baths seen from Herodion. |
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| Inside the palace ruins. |
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| A view of the Dead Sea from Herodion. |
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