The past three days (one day removed) marked what will probably be my last trip to Jerusalem- by many accounts the world's holiest city. I had two big ticket items on my agenda: to go up to the Temple Mount and to check out the Israel Museum. Both goals were accomplished and were as amazing as I had hoped.
On Monday morning, Elan ( a buddy who I stayed with in Jerusalem) and I went up on the Temple Mount, located behind the Western [Wailing] Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. The complex is currently controlled by Islamic religious authorities and admittance is limited to certain hours of the day. Currently, the Temple Mount (30 acres in size) houses the Dome of the Rock - a structure that is built around the rock that Abraham supposedly brought his son Issac, at the behest of God, to sacrifice, and the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third most holy site in Islam after Mecca and Medina.
Thanks Elan!
The Temple Mount originally housed the Great Temple (the holiest place for Jews), built by Solomon in 960 B.C.E., which was destroyed by Babylonian invaders in 586 B.C.E. The Second Temple, was built under Persian occupation- beginning in 540 B.C.E. and then vastly expanded between 37 B.C.E. and 4 C.E. under Roman occupation by Herod, who's father was a Jewish convert. Upon completion it was the most massive religious complex in the Eastern Roman Empire (Frommer's). The Second Temple was famously destroyed during the years of Jewish rebellion against Roman occupation in 66 C.E. resulting in the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E.
In the 7th and 8th centuries, respectively, under Muslim rule, the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque were constructed.
That's the briefest possible way to describe some history about the Temple Mount. Let's just say it is incredibly important, controversial, and I'm leaving out lots and lots information. The Dome of the Rock is marked by it's amazing gold-gilded Dome, seen from many points in Jerusalem. I heard the Al Aqsa Mosque once had a gold dome as well, but the dome was not maintained.
Currently, non-Muslims are not allowed entrance into the Dome of the Rock or Al Aqsa Mosque because of the political situation, but in the past, visitors had been allowed inside and were even allowed to take pictures.
On Monday morning, Elan ( a buddy who I stayed with in Jerusalem) and I went up on the Temple Mount, located behind the Western [Wailing] Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. The complex is currently controlled by Islamic religious authorities and admittance is limited to certain hours of the day. Currently, the Temple Mount (30 acres in size) houses the Dome of the Rock - a structure that is built around the rock that Abraham supposedly brought his son Issac, at the behest of God, to sacrifice, and the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third most holy site in Islam after Mecca and Medina.
Thanks Elan!
The Temple Mount originally housed the Great Temple (the holiest place for Jews), built by Solomon in 960 B.C.E., which was destroyed by Babylonian invaders in 586 B.C.E. The Second Temple, was built under Persian occupation- beginning in 540 B.C.E. and then vastly expanded between 37 B.C.E. and 4 C.E. under Roman occupation by Herod, who's father was a Jewish convert. Upon completion it was the most massive religious complex in the Eastern Roman Empire (Frommer's). The Second Temple was famously destroyed during the years of Jewish rebellion against Roman occupation in 66 C.E. resulting in the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E.
In the 7th and 8th centuries, respectively, under Muslim rule, the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque were constructed.
That's the briefest possible way to describe some history about the Temple Mount. Let's just say it is incredibly important, controversial, and I'm leaving out lots and lots information. The Dome of the Rock is marked by it's amazing gold-gilded Dome, seen from many points in Jerusalem. I heard the Al Aqsa Mosque once had a gold dome as well, but the dome was not maintained.
Currently, non-Muslims are not allowed entrance into the Dome of the Rock or Al Aqsa Mosque because of the political situation, but in the past, visitors had been allowed inside and were even allowed to take pictures.
Al Aqsa Mosque- notice the crescent moon on top (symbol of Islam).
Monday afternoon I headed to the Israel Museum. Unfortunately, the majority of the Museum (including the permanent collection) is closed due to an expansion and is only set to reopen in 2010. Even still, the museum was one of the coolest places I've been in Israel. The first thing one sees upon entrance is a 1:50 scale of Jerusalem in the years before the destruction of the Second Temple (seen in the image as the largest structure in the model on the right). The model is a really interesting and well-researched piece that has been changed and added to as more is revealed about Jerusalem in the early part of the Common Era.
Second Temple Period Model.
Mike D should recognize this piece. After Robert Indiana's "LOVE" piece was a success (in English) he was commissioned in 1977 to create a similar structure in Hebrew for the sculpture garden. Love in Hebrew is "Ahava."
Second Temple Period Model.
The museum also features a great sculpture garden with large pieces of artists from around the world.
The most incredible attraction at the Israel Museum is the Shrine of the Book- the location of the Dead Sea Scrolls visible to the public. The Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest existing copy of the Hebrew Bible aka the world's oldest preserved Monotheistic text! The scrolls, dating to roughly 2,000-years-ago were discovered in a cave about 30 km from the Dead Sea by a Bedouin. Prior to the discovery of the scrolls in the 1940s and 50s, the most ancient Jewish texts only dated back to the 9th century.
The Aleppo Codex (which has as cool a history as its name would imply) is also displayed in the Shrine of the book. Written in the 10th century, the Codex is considered to be the most authoritative Jewish text in the tradition of Masorah - the way that canonical Hebrew texts were copied and passed down. One of the reasons the text is so cool, besides its historical and religious importance, is that it was plundered during the first crusade and brought to Egypt, then it was brought to Aleppo, Syria in the 1400s, then in 1947 Muslim rioters burned down the synagogue where it was believed to have been held. It was smuggled back into Israel in 1958 (because it had been taken out of the synagogue only days before the rioting) and has been made public and studied ever since.
Unfortunately, but understandably, pictures are not allowed inside the underground, temperature-controlled Shrine, but I did take a couple of pictures of the cool architecture above ground on top of the Shrine.
Under this dome are two of the (arguably) most significant pieces of Jewish religious history.
The Aleppo Codex (which has as cool a history as its name would imply) is also displayed in the Shrine of the book. Written in the 10th century, the Codex is considered to be the most authoritative Jewish text in the tradition of Masorah - the way that canonical Hebrew texts were copied and passed down. One of the reasons the text is so cool, besides its historical and religious importance, is that it was plundered during the first crusade and brought to Egypt, then it was brought to Aleppo, Syria in the 1400s, then in 1947 Muslim rioters burned down the synagogue where it was believed to have been held. It was smuggled back into Israel in 1958 (because it had been taken out of the synagogue only days before the rioting) and has been made public and studied ever since.
Unfortunately, but understandably, pictures are not allowed inside the underground, temperature-controlled Shrine, but I did take a couple of pictures of the cool architecture above ground on top of the Shrine.
From another angle. The colors and shapes of the building are based on the imagery of the Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness ( a manual on conducting war- very end of days). It is believed that when writing the scrolls, the scribes viewed themselves as the Sons of Light and the others (even some Jews) as the Sons of Darkness.
This trip would have been perfect had I not gotten food poisoning from that shawarma or hot dog, or something else. We'll call it "Sam in Egypt" bad. At least it wasn't "Pavel in Egypt" bad. Also, it's looking like this will be my last post in Israel (wow!) because the rest of my trip is going to be away from a computer in the North. I'll try to keep twittering some updates and pictures in the meanwhile, but otherwise my followup and catchup posts are going to be in Needham, MA (yay....).
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