Posted by Tally, Celine and Lillian and Mom
Thanks to all who sent us your answers. We enjoyed reading them and even learned some more about the items we chose to include in our Trivia Challenge. The winner of the challenge was Kathleen. Congratulations!
Before we give the answers we want to share with you a couple of things we have done lately.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love her prosper! Ps. 122:6
Dome of the Rock
We finally were able to get in to Temple Mount to see the Dome of the Rock. In the 4 months we have been in Jerusalem, the Temple Mount has been closed a lot to visitors because of rocks being thrown at the visitors. Every time we planned to go, we would get there and find it closed.
To be clear, the Temple Mount is the entire grounds which the Dome of the Rock, along with rooms for scholars, sheikhs and religious court offices, and a museum sit. This walled area takes up 1/6 of Old City. It shares its south and east walls with Old City. Herod the Great enlarged, built retaining walls and built the Second Temple on the platform that exist today. Herod’s Temple was destroyed in 70AD. After which palaces, a Temple to Jupiter and a church were built. It wasn’t until 687-691AD that the last Temple ruins were completely destroyed and the The Dome of the Rock was constructed.
The Dome of the Rock was built to serve as a shrine for pilgrims. Adjacent to it stands the Al Aqsa Mosque that was built in 709AD. It has been destroyed and rebuilt because of earthquakes because it is sitting upon the “fill” from Herod’s retaining wall built around 19BC.
It was great to finally get in and see where the Temple once stood, firsthand. What is also important to remember is in 1967, the Jews made a decision not to destroy the Dome of the Rock as a gesture of peace to the Palestinians and allow control of the mount to stay in the hands of the Palestinians.
The Cotton Market is a souk within Old City that also serves as one of the entrances to the Temple Mount. However, only Muslims are allowed to enter through it. Non-Muslims, like us, are allowed to exit the Temple through the Cotton Market which is what we did. It is no different from any other souk except that it opens to the Temple Mount. I’ve included pics for my brother, Calvin. When he visited, the Temple Mount was closed most of the time because of riots.
Beit Shemesh and Ashkelon
Sunday, we spent the morning hiking through Beit Shemesh. We had a little rain but it was a great hike. Beit Shemesh was a Biblical city that was on the border of Judah and Dan Territories. It was one of the 13 cities the Israelites assigned to the priests descended from Aaron. It is also the city the Ark of the Covenant was led by the 2 cows after the Philistines had plagued by its presence. King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah, in Beth Shemesh. There are springs there that definitely made it desirable. However, the the Babalonians sealed the springs which weren’t opened back up until 2004. The waterworks in Beit Shemesh were very advanced.
We then got back on the bus and rode to Ashkelon, a coastal city on the Mediterranean Sea. On the way, we drove through the Elah Valley, which lies in the Shepelah (Hill Country) just before you get to the coastal region. The Elah Valley is where the Philistines and Israelites were going to fight but little David, son of Jesse, killed the giant, Goliath, with just a sling-shot and stone. Goliath’s grave sight is thought to be at the park we ended our hike at in Beit Shemesh. It is certainly possible but not certain.
Ashkelon has a long history being occupied chronologically by Canaanite, Philistine, Phoenician, Iranian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic and Crusader. In 2000 BC, Ashkelon was a thriving city with the oldest city gate in the world—8 feet wide. It stands 2 stories high even in ruin.
The beach was beautiful, the weather was sunny with a cool breeze and great waves. Eric and I took a walk down the beach finding really cool ancient walls in ruin as well as many marble columns laying in the sand as the water would rush over them. I can’t figure how to fit them in my suitcase. Wouldn’t that be a great souvenir? To top it off, we had gone with the school which meant we didn’t have to drive or pack lunch. On the way home, Lillian got the treat of a lifetime, the guy leading the trip treated everyone to a McDonald’s ice cream cone—like he was reading her mind.
For recognition of the Lord’s sovereign majesty will fill the earth just as the waters fill up the sea. Hab. 2:14
Trivia Challenge Answers
Thanks for playing!
Shalom Ya’ll!
4 comments:
Didn't do to bad. I think I only missed one of the ones I filled in. But I left 3 blank, and I forgot to answer a couple of the * questions.
Oh well, it was fun, and I learned while searching.
I only missed a couple, but I didn't find out about it until today...we were gone when the contest was posted and I forgot to catch up... :(
Our son got milk from bags in China! Now he's going to live in Spain for a year...
I want to go to Israel!! (stomps feet...pouts... knows it won't do any good!!! LOL
I loved Colleen's wanting to bring home ancient marble columns in her suitcases...I would, too! :)
What memories you all will have. If I were there and had to leave, I would probably hide in the airport and miss my flight home. "Oops!! Oh well, I'll just have to stay now and become a citizen..." Right? Of course, right!!
Shalom, beautiful family!!
Yee hee! I won :) I'm so sad though that I didn't get a chance to have the girls go through it and try too. I'm going to try at some point anyway just so they can learn all the stuff.
Do I keep repeating myself when I say "I am sooo jealous!!" LOL. How COOL to swim in the Mediterranean Sea!! I'm sure Tally and Celine will appreciate it and they look like they are having a really good time. I feel so sorry that Lillian might not remember most of it :(
Love you!
Congratulations, Kathleen!!! I thought that was a really hard test. I was stressing out over it. So glad Kathleen won the contest so now I can sleep at night!!
What a wealth of knowledge you all have learned firsthand about these people who live on the other side of the world. I'm betting they will forever hold a special place in your heart!!!
Love, Mom
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