Jerusalem is a sacred city for the world's three great monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This slide presentation covers the heritage of each - and much more - on a journey through the past 3000 years of Jerusalem's history. In this archaeological tour of the Holy City you:

• Visit the City of David Archaeological Park and walk into an ancient, underground water system that may have played a key part in the events from which Jerusalem's 3000th anniversary in 1996 was dated.

• Walk the entire 1800-foot length of Hezekiah's Tunnel (dug in about 700 BC), lit only by handheld flashlights, sometimes wading through water 3 1/2 feet deep in a narrow space less than five feet high!

• Look into the remains of a 7th Century BC house with a bathroom addition.

• Visit ancient burial caves and tombs in the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys adjacent to the city.

• View models of the Second Temple and Temple Mount as it appeared 2000 years ago.

• Visit the 2000-year old Western Wall, the most sacred site in Judaism.

• Walk through the Western Wall Tunnel to see the original, 1st Century BC street, and Temple Mount retaining wall building blocks weighing between 400 and 600 tons!

• Visit the Ophel Archaeological Park adjacent to Temple Mount, where remains of buildings cover a span of over two thousand years from 900 BC to 1200 AD. See close-ups of Robinson's Arch, the double and triple gates, the monumental staircase, and the straight joint.

• Visit the archaeological remains, including beautiful mosaic floors and fresco walls, of two large Jewish homes destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 AD and see the scorch marks and other evidence of the fire set by the Romans.

• Walk along the restored Cardo, the main shopping street of ancient Roman and Byzantine Jerusalem.

• Go into a part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre not open to the public to see a drawing left by a visitor to Jerusalem almost 1700 years ago during the construction of the original church by the Emperor Constantine.

• Visit the Al Aqsa Mosque and the magnificent, 1300-year old Islamic Dome of the Rock.

• See churches and other buildings with unique Crusader Period architecture from the 12th Century.

• Visit the ornate, 800-year old Church of St. James, headquarters of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem.

• Walk the back streets of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, and around the inner perimeter of Temple Mount, to see exquisite examples of 700-year old Islamic architecture from the Mamluk Period.

• Walk through the gates to the Old City and along the top of the entire length of the Old City wall, last rebuilt in 1540 by the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent.

• Walk the streets and alleys of today's Old City to see the bustling marketplaces, the merchants and street vendors, and the people who live and shop there.

• Walk through Mea Shearim, home of the most orthodox Jews.

• Walk through some of the newer shopping and residential areas that now surround the Old City.

• Finish the journey through 3000 years of history with some stunning views of the Old City from the Mt. of Olives and from the top of the Citadel tower - the base of which was built by Herod the Great over 2000 years ago.

If you would like to arrange for a presentation on Jerusalem, the Holy Land or another travel topic for a church, synagogue or other organization, please contact me by telephone at (714) 731-6717 or by e-mail at LJAMES1@ix.netcom.com.

© 1997 ljames1@ix.netcom.com

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page