Streams of the Desert: 1st Field Study

Sunday afternoon, after church and lunch, 50 of us trooped outside to the garden where we begun our first field study. Yay!

We don't call them "field trips" because they're not like the third grade trip to the zoo. We are doing a ton of studies out there. The field is essentially our classroom. :)

So we talked about the historic location of ancient Jerusalem (which is actually a little southwest of where current old Jerusalem is), noted valleys and mountains around, and then we went in the Zion Gate to the Jewish quarter where we spent a good chunk of time.

One of the odd things I've noted, and other people have noted, is how you can tell which quarter you are in. It's strange, and some of the clues are subtle, and some are blatant, but you can tell. In the Christian quarter (if you're looking at Jerusalem from the top, it is the northwestern quarter), I've noticed a lot more relic-type shops and The Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Shops are geared more towards Christian tourists (though there are a LOT of tourist shops). And street names tend to be more Christian too.

In the Armenian quarter (southwestern quarter), there isn't a whole lot going on. There are some shops, especially closer to the center of the city. Lots of things are in... whatever the Armenian language is. And it seems to be quite a bit quieter than the other quarters.

I'm going to skip out of order of my counterclockwise rotation and go to the Muslim quarter. I have not ventured very far into the Muslim quarter, but you can ENTIRELY tell that it is the Muslim quarter. First of all, everything is in Arabic. Second of all, there's a general atmosphere that you can pick out. It's very dirty and run-down. Honestly, it was a little scary when I saw it the first time. It didn't help that we were right on the edge when the Muslim call-to-prayer was going on, but still.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Jewish quarter. Along with all the men and boys (even the little ones) running around in kippas with tzitzit (tassels) waving), the quarter itself is very new-looking and clean for the most part. That's because at some point, all the old buildings in the Jewish quarter got blown up. So the buildings now are new. Also, we know the most archeologically about the Jewish quarter because they did digs and such before rebuilding. Quite neat.

So, onward to where we went.

We went through the Zion Gate, which is on the south side of Old Jerusalem near modern Mount Zion. I say "modern Mount Zion" because it's not the same Mt Zion in the Bible. Go figure. :) Anyway, we went in the gate, made several turns, and ended up on the highest point of the Jewish quarter. We talked about it a bit, and then we prepared to go off again, with our instructor saying cryptically with a grin, "Watch very carefully which way we go, because you're going to want to come here again." And with that, we hurried off after her, all fifty of us.

Well, she was right. She led us to an area that overlooked... the Western Wall. *grin* Right beneath us was a deep pit area with boarded walks, I suppose where people go to study the dug out area. And then beyond the Western Wall was, of course, the Temple Mount.

I am soo sorry I don't have pictures. I didn't want to take my camera on this field study because (1) it was our first one (2) I can go back to all the places we looked at (3) I honestly hate looking like a tourist. >.< Hehe. Okay, okay, I'll get plenty more pictures for you, I promise!

That's about all I want to talk about for now, so here are some pictures for you. :)

Shalom!