Homework for the Holy Land: Day 8: And I am Officially a Pilgrim

You know that feeling you have on the last day of any event you have found wonderful and marvelous and stupendous and...and...and...  That feeling tagged along today.

We began the day at the Garden of Gethsemane and the adjoining Church of All Nations/Basilica of the Agony.  The Garden of Gethsemane is where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus experienced the agony of anticipating what lie ahead for him: betrayal; crucifxion; death.  And, according to tradition, the disciples slept while all this was going on.  Now, perhaps this was Jesus's comfort level.  He didn't want his disciples to see him experiencing an agony that was so severe, he sweated blood.  I get that.  Sometimes my preference is to hole up somewhere by myself and let it all out rather than doing that in the presence of those I love and who love me.  Or it could be the disciples were exhausted from all the travel they'd been doing.  Or maybe they had a little too much wine with dinner.  Who knows.

The Garden of Gethsemane is one of the truly limited number of Biblical sites where the story is can be corroborated by evidence.  Loren (tour guide) says there must be two independent documentations before a fact can be considered a fact (unless, of course, you are a Republican in Washington, but I digress).  Some of the olive trees in the Garden are over 2000 years old, among the oldest in Israel--and there are a boat or two load of olive trees throughout the country.  It is believed that the oldest trees, though younger than when Jesus was in the Garden, have their parentage or roots in trees that were there then. 

They are mighty creations as this is a mighty site (in my opinion).

Multi-national donations to build the Basilica of the Agony between 1919 and 1924 on the foundation of a 4th century and 13th century church gives this edifice its second named, Church of All Nations.  This is rather remarkable considering the remainder of not only the Old City but most of the religious and historical sites are carved up among countries or religions, with each laying hard and fast claim to their pieces of property.  This church adjoins the Garden.  It has some beautiful mosaics over the altars.   Alabaster panels dyed violet were used for the windows to evoke a mood of depression analogous to Christ's agony, and the ceiling is painted a deep blue to simulate a night sky (Wikipedia).

Our next stop was at the Garden of the Tomb, an alternative site to the crucifixion.  The scholars who believe the crucifixion took place here point to the presence of a rock formation that looks like a skull, which is the translation for Golgotha (skull in Aramaic), the place where Jesus was crucified.  According to Loren, there is no evidence to suggest that Jesus was crucified anywhere other than where marked at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  This was a lovely garden area and this artifact caught my eye.

This is an ancient wine press.  I'm hoping the Spousal Unit will build one in our backyard this summer.

At the Garden of the Tomb, we pilgrims held a Eucharist ceremony that held a special significance for all, receiving communion together, thanking God for our trip.  Sigh.

We lunched at the Mahane Yehuda open air market, where a group of us chose items off a menu at a Lebanese restaurant.  Sitting there, listening to the music and voices careening through the streets and stalls, I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie.  

Seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls was next on our agenda.  No pictures of the scrolls are allowed in the museum.  Previously we had visited Qumran where the scrolls were discovered in a cave.  How amazingly well preserved these documents are!  I feel very fortunate to have seen these important relics.

At the museum is a scale model of Jerusalem in the second temple period.  I am so glad I saw this, because at this late date, I'll admit I was placing buildings and locations individually as opposed to seeing the interplay and relationships between them.  I came away with a lot of these dots now connected.  It took a while to have the "a-ha" moment, but I believe the light bulb finally went on in a few situations.

Overview of Jerusalem in Jesus's time

The temple built by Herod.  Tradition holds that Jesus was sentenced to death in the area of the 4 towers on the right.

The minority opinion, and one that our guide, Loren, holds is that Jesus was sentenced here in the praetorium.  Praetoriums are not located in the temple area; rather they are in the palace area.  The above shows Herod's temple.  The praetorium is at the left.  The book of Luke states that Jesus was taken to the praetorium in Herod's palace.  The distance from the praetorium or the towers is equidistant to the site of the crucifixion.

The museum is adding an antiquities museum where it will showcase its world's largest collection of antiquities.  I thought this was a cool design as it mimics the canopies that are spread over dig sites in the desert.

They're calling us to the gate.  One final photo.  And it gives me goosebumps.