Week 3 and Dome of the Rock

June 30, 2013  Sunday

Most of the students have gone home, and a few more "mature" diggers have arrived.  Here is one view of part of the dig site as we begin our third week.  Standing above is Yusef, our site foreman with a 5 kilo sledgehammer that he uses for breaking up big rocks.  Below him (without a hat) is Shimon Gibson, our dig director.

We miss those strong young guys and gals, and will have to get into a new routine that protects our backs!

After work, Pete and I walked along the southern wall of the Old City.  We could look down on the ruins of some old building, but we don't really know anything about it.  Nothing is happening there, and it actually has a more modern look to it than our site does.

Soon we arrived at the Israeli-controlled entrance to the Western Wall, the western remnant of the wall that surrounded the temple courtyard at the time of Jesus.  This wall remains the most sacred site to Jews today.

We had to pass through a checkpoint that included armed soldiers and a metal detector.

The men's and women's sides are separated by a fence.  (Jewish men and women are not together during worship.)  We could have gone to the wall but didn't because our time was limited.

Men pray on the left side of the wall ....

... and women pray on the right.  When Pete accidentally began to walk down the right side, he was immediately stopped by some women.

There's a large plaza behind us.

Our real purpose in coming to this part of the Old City was to visit the Temple Mount.  I think we'll have a chance to come back to the Western Wall next week.  To save time, we went back through the Israeli checkpoint and went to an Arab checkpoint.  We passed through with no problems.  As soon as we arrived up on the temple platform, we were met by an Arab man who wanted to give us a tour.  After a bit of haggling, he and Pete agreed on a price.  Pete's still in his dig outfit, complete with sweatband and suspenders.

Our guide called Pete "Brother" and he called me "Madam".  He spoke with a heavy accent, but was very knowledgable and willing to answer questions.  Somehow being with him discouraged us from taking photos, so we don't have very many.  But it's easy to find photos online, so I don't feel too bad.

We first looked at the Al Aqsa Mosque, one of the top three holiest sites in Islam (along with mosques in Mecca and Medina).  We were able to be right next to this mosque and freely look in the windows.  People were moving around, studying, and talking inside.

The Dome of the Rock mosque dominates not only the Jerusalem skyline, but also the Temple Mount.  (It was interesting to observe that all of the geometric designs are based on the number 4.  There were no 3, 5, or 6-fold symmetries.)  We were not allowed to look inside.

This website provides some more interesting information about the Dome of the Rock:  http://www.domeoftherock.net

Our general impression was that the Temple Mount is a little shabby.  We were surprised to see this pile of cardboard surrounding this structure.  Perhaps these were the cartons for a whole bunch of shade tents we saw.

This is the Dome of the Ascension, commemorating Mohammed's ascent to heaven.

The Temple Mount is open to non-Muslims for only certain days and hours.  Today it closed at 2:30 p.m., so we cut our visit short.  We took one last look as we exited to the northwest directly onto a market street full of junky souvenirs.

We didn't see anyone worshipping, or praying, or doing anything that seemed particularly religious on the Temple Mount.  (Maybe those activities happen when non-Muslims are absent.)  We might have had quite a different impression of the place otherwise.  Today it seemed like another tourist attraction or museum.

There are lots of theories about the location of the Jewish temple.  This website summarizes the most prominent theories:  http://www.templemount.org