Friday, August 14, 2009

On top the Temple Mount


Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem

The Wailing Wall/Bar mitzvas


The Western "Wailing" Wall (the remaining portion of Herod's temple at the time of Jesus). Friday night marks the beginning of shabbat, so there is an especially large crowd of Jews come to pray at the wall. The groups of soldiers and youth dancing/singing in circles was especially fun to see.


A bar mitzva procession (part 1)


Bar mitzva procession (part 2)

BYU Jerusalem Center


BYU Jerusalem Center organ


BYU Jerusalem Center view of the Old City (from Mt. Scopus/Mt. of Olives)

Galilee


The Sea of Galilee


Mt. of Beatitiudes

Nazareth


Basilica of the Annuciation


Inside the Nazarene Basilica

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Qumran Caves and Masada


Qumran caves (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found)


Looking down on the cable cars we took up to Masada. Masada is a very tall plateau on which Herod built a fortress. When the Jewish rebels fled Jerusalem in the first century AD, they came here, but they were pursued... It's a good story. Look it up.


The remains of Herod's 3-tiered palace on Masada

Bethlehem







Inside the Church of the Nativity


The traditional site for the birth of Jesus. Here pilgrims bow down and reach their hand into the hole in the ground, so as to touch the rock on which Jesus was born.

A model of ancient Jerusalem


A huge model of Jerusalem at the time of Christ.

Golgotha and the Garden Tomb


One of the two traditional sites where Jesus is thought to have been crucified. (On the skull-shaped hill, not in the bus parking lot.)


One potential site for the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, where Jesus' body was taken.



Inside The Garden Tomb

Mt. Sinai (panoramic), pt. 3

Mt. Sinai sunrise, pt. 2

Mt. Sinai sunrise pt. 1

Adventures in Israel - Tel Aviv