What a place! Never having been to Israel in the past I didnt think too much about it when opportunity came to visit on business. No time set aside for tourist antics – just work. Until I got there and realised how much history and relevance there is in that little country.
So with some deft re-scheduling I managed to taka a one day break from the crazy party scene in Tel Aviv and venture inland to the Dead Sea and Jerusalem.
I can float!
All my life I had been fascinated by stories of floating on top of the water in the Dead Sea, and at last I had the opportunity to prove this to be true. Its an amazingly strange place! If I float vertically (in itself not that easy) the water is at breast level. Try doing that in your swimming pool!
Yeah - a floater
Also strange is to see all the salt – encrusted on items in the water and forming coarse balls underfoot. Just dont have any scratches on your body, or get it in your eyes (it hurts like hell!!!).
Did you know that the dead sea is below sea level? More than 400m below sea level in fact! It bills itself as the lowest land on earth although a scan of the internet reveals the Bentley Subglacial Trench as being lower (I’m not going there!).
Lowest place on Earth
From the Dead Sea we drove back past Massada and along the west bank to Jerusalem. I never realised how close the West Bank (with the barbed wire entanglements and walls erected by the Israelis) is to Jerusalem.
Aha – the Holy City. A city not just of importance to Jews, also Arabs/Muslims and Christians! All sharing the same religious beliefs about the area and dividing the city between all parties. A truly fascinating place.
We start with Arab markets – extensive markets much like those found in Morroco except that the floors and walls are all Jerusalem stone which gives it a slightly cleaner appearance.
Hilly and the Sweet Store
Despite all the Israeli Palestinian issues, people of all backgrounds seem to mix with amicability in this city.
It was fascinating to see a pilgrimage – people from eastern Europe (I think) tracing their religious origins through the old markets. Note the bare feet, and the cross being carried by some of the men.
Pilgrims going through the city
Last stop was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The site is venerated by most Christians as Golgotha, (the Hill of Calvary), where the New Testament says that Jesus was crucified, and is said to also contain the place where Jesus was buried (the sepulchre). The church has been an important pilgrimage destination since at
Christians kissing the stone of annointing where Jesus was prepared for burial
least the 4th century, as the purported site of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Today it also serves as the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, while control of the building is shared between several Christian churches and secular entities in complicated arrangements essentially unchanged for centuries.
Within the Rotunda on the west is the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre. The Edicule has two rooms. The first one holds The Angel’s Stone, a fragment of the stone believed to have sealed the tomb after Jesus’ burial. The second one is the tomb itself. Under the status quo the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian Apostolic Churches all have rights to the interior of the tomb, and all three communities celebrate the Divine Liturgy or Holy Mass there daily. It is also used for other ceremonies on special occasions, such as the Holy Saturday ceremony of the Holy Fire celebrated by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.
The Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre
To its rear, within a chapel constructed of iron latticework upon a stone base semicircular in plan, lies the altar used by the Coptic Orthodox.
More on Tel Aviuv and the most vibrant nightlife in the world another time – this must go to press and time marches on!
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