Jericho, Qumran, and the Dead Sea

Today was yet another full and fascinating day!  I started out the day by visiting the Garden Tomb here outside of the Old City.  This site is another site that purports to be the place of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.  It was very peaceful and beautiful in a garden setting, which is an utter contrast to the cacophany of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  This place seems to be a Protestant/Evangelical counter to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  But check out the pictures of the rock quarry and a tomb, and see if you think it might fit better with Golgotha, the place where Jesus was supposed to have been crucified.

Then it was on to the Old City to do some souvenir shopping.  Got some cool presents for the family!  Visited as well the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer - absolutely beautiful cathedral in the old City.  Very peaceful.  Went back for another visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - it was much less busy than before, so that felt more meaningful.  I wanted to visit these sites again, because for me as a Christian, this trip is not only about the Israeli/Palestinian narrative, its a chance to visit sites that are important for my faith, and I would like the trip to be impactful in those terms.  Today without the crowds, and on my own, I was able to connect more to the significance of these places for my religion and my beliefs.

In class today, we met with Salim Manayer, a Palestinian peace-maker and academic from Bethlehem Bible College.  He is a Palestinian Christian, and this group used to make up as much as 25% of the area - now they make up 2%.  Why?  Most Palestinian Christians are a little wealthier Palestinians in general, and because of the occupation have chosen to leave the country.  They are an important minority to figure into the equation here.  Interestingly Palestinian Christians are most connected to Eastern Christianity, rather than the Western Christianity which we in the States are more used to.  This means they are closer theologically to Eastern, Greece, and Russian Orthodoxy than to the Catholic Church and Protestantism.

After lunch we headed to Jericho, which is in mainly Palestinian controlled lands.  Jericho overlooks the Dead Sea, and is hundreds of feet below sea level and very hot!   Our guide showed us:

• The Mount of Temptation - where Jesus is reported to have been tempted.
• The Spring of Jericho, which for 10,000 years has supplied Jericho with its water.
• A fancy Coptic Church, whose name I can't remember - though it did have icons painted with pure gold!

Then we visited Qumran, the site of the discovery of all of those fragments from Isaiah and other books of the Bible.  Its a fascinating archeological site, though I had seen the actual scrolls when they had come to San Diego on an exhibit a few years ago.

Finally, it was on to the Dead Sea.  We changed into our swimsuits and lounged in the water - of course we could only float and cover ourselves with mud!  But it was a fun and relaxing time - a nice break from the very serious issues we are discussing.  On the way back a bunch of the students were dancing in the aisles of the bus - kind of like Seminarians Gone Wild!  Good times...