„To them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.“
– Isaiah 56:5
Yad Vashem
State authority and religious rules
Visiting the old city of Jerusalem feels suprisingly safe. I thought that roaming those narrow, roofed streets wouldn’t be a good idea at late evening or morning, but it proved to be pretty unproblematic. This is due to the friendly people and the Israeli police and soldiers that secure the area. But these state authorities don’t seem to be accepted everywhere.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The most important Christian site within the walls of Jerusalem, Israel. Here Jesus is said to be crucified and buried. In fact it is not one church, it is a collection of churches unified within a stone labyrinth. When you follow the signs throughout the streets of the old city, you get into a compound where you can’t imagine the typical structures of churches.
Vivid life on ancient ground
There are not many places I would classify as a must-see during lifetime – but the old city of Jerusalem is definitly one of those. The place is bordered by the old city walls from the 16th century CE and you can really imagine how it would be to stand in front of it as a crusader. The streets are narrow, in some parts mostly covered and you’ll ask yourself how people can live here.
Continue reading “Vivid life on ancient ground”Floating
The Dead Sea is a lake 400 m below sea level – the lowest point of the world. It is kind of a different climate zone and as everybody has heard of – it has very special water conditions. The lake has a very high salinity (28-33 %) and the bottom seems to consist of pure salt. The water is brought in by river Jordan and there is no outflow; the water simply evaporates here.
Continue reading “Floating”Masada will never fall again
When you follow the Dead Sea down to the south, half way between Ein Gedi and Sodom (yes, truly) you will find the escape fortress of Herod the Great on a plateau. The fortification has been built between the years 37 and 31 BCE for the event of an revolt and it received big significance for the Israelis by the siege of the Romans in 73/74 CE.
Meet the IDF
When you drive along the Dead Sea, shortly before Ein Gedi, the street leads you back from Palestine to Israel – and you have to face another IDF checkpoint. As I remembered those checkpoints from eastern Europe I prepared my passport and visa and waited for a tough questioning or thoroughly inspection.
Dead Sea Scrolls
If you leave Jerusalem to the east on motorway 1 you first pass an IDF checkpoint and see the wall separating both zones. If you don’t turn north to Jericho but continue towards the Dead Sea in the south you will first pass Qumran, well known for its findings in 1947. The Dead Sea Scrolls excavated during years of archaeological work are the second oldest scriptures and proved helpful in exegesis.
Continue reading “Dead Sea Scrolls”Church of the Nativity
According to the Bible Jesus was born in Bethlehem, now belonging to the Palestinian autonomy area in the Westbank. The place now marked as the birthplace has already been used from the 2nd century CE on. You can enter the Church of Nativity through a 1.20m high door – making every visitor bow down.
Continue reading “Church of the Nativity”Checkpoint 300
If you want to go to Bethlehem from Jerusalem, you can simply watch out for a Palestinian taxi at the Damascus gate. Or if you are travelling by rental car you can enter the most important border crossing into your GPS: checkpoint 300. At this point you can park your car and get via taxi to the town – but be sure to negotiate the price before the ride.
Continue reading “Checkpoint 300”