Thursday, June 18, 2009

Walking the Old City Walls - Part 2

A short distance past the Damascus Gate, you can see the side of a hill that the city has encompassed. Looking closely at a portion of this hill, you can see how the rock formation resembles a man's face. Traditionally, this is known as Golgotha (Place of the Skull), the location of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. John 19:17-18.

From the Old City Walls, this is traditional Golgatha with a bus station just below it. For the previous photo, I zoomed in on the right hand side of the rock formation. And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, Matthew 27:33.

When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. Luke 23:33.

More aerial photos of traders and merchants right over the Damascus Gate. Once or twice the traders and merchants of every kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem. Nehemiah 13:20.





The bald heads look like me but I'm taking the photo.

An Arab lady with her hands full from shopping balances more purchases on her head.

The gray domes are the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

In the Arab quarter of the Old City, this patio was right next to the walls.

More buying and selling across the street from The Old City.

Young Arab boys getting ready to play basketball.

East Jerusalem with Mt. Scopus and Hebrew University in the distance on the left. Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mt of Olives in the distance on the right.

Rockefeller Museum across the street from The Old City. In 1967, when the IDF Paratroopers were liberating Jerusalem, Rockefeller Museum was a temporary fortress for them while fighting the Jordanian Arab Legion who was in the Old City. No Palestinians were around. Between 1948 and 1967, the Arabs who lived in East Jerusalem and the West Bank were actually citizens of Jordan. King Hussein relinquished all authority over these areas in the mid-80's.

An Arab girls basketball team getting ready to practice with the Mt of Olives in the background.

Augusta Victoria Hospital on top of the Mt of Olives has an interesting history. From Wikipedia: "Augusta Victoria was built in 1907 as a center for the German Protestant community in Ottoman Palestine. The complex, completed in 1910, included the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension with a 65-meter belltower and a hospice for Christian pilgrims. The complex was named for Augusta Victoria, wife of German Kaiser Wilhelm II, who visited Jerusalem in 1898. "

Young Arab boys playing football (soccer) with the Islamic Shrine in the background.



The Mt of Olives with a street that ascends from East Jerusalem. The traditional pathway for the triumphal entry is more of a walking path that leads to the Garden of Gethsemene. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,"Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!"Matthew 21:8-9.

Lion's Gate just ahead. The end of the walk.

At the base of the Mt of Olives is the Russian Orthodox Church with the golden onion domes and the Church of all Nations adjacent to the Garden of Gethsemane. They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here until I have prayed." Mark 14:32.









This photo was not from the walls but from the street as I was walking along waiting for a taxi to come and rescue me from my journey.

Last Sunday morning I noticed this interesting political ad on King George Street. I thought I would take a photo before someone painted over it.

It was actually a quadrant of four posters on a very busy street. By the time I went home later in the afternoon, someone had painted over it. But I got my photos.

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