DAY  17

Saturday, 23 January

We have an early breakfast, then most of us meet for a cab ride to the Old City, which we enter by the Dung Gate. After a short walk and a long wait in line liberally interspersed with security checks, we enter the compound which houses the Dome of the Rock. First we see Al-Aqsa Mosque, lovely and grand with turquoise and mother-of-pearl inlaid ceilings. We walk in our socks (our shoes had been removed at the entrance) on plush oriental carpets throughout the mosque. Built over an older, wooden mosque, Al-Aqsa was completed in 705 A.D., and has since become a center for worship and prayer in the Muslim world. Next is the Dome of the Rock, similarly ornate inside. Work was begun on this structure in the late 600’s, and it has remained virtually unchanged for over thirteen centuries. In the center of the building is a wooden wall, just low enough so that people can peer over the top. The wall surrounds the peak of Mount Moriah, where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac at God’s request, until his hand was staid by the voice of an angel; Abraham, father in faith to Jews, Christians and Muslims, had passed the test. For Muslims, Mount Moriah holds further significance; they believe that it is from this spot that Mohammed ascended into heaven. We are told that the Muslims only began to believe this about Mount Moriah after they decided that Jerusalem should be a special place for them too, not just Christians and Jews; at any rate, there is a place where you can reach your hand through and opening in the wooden wall and touch the rock, which is indented, according to Muslim belief of whatever date, by the footprint of Mohammed as he lifted off fro the mountain and entered heaven.

The Dome of the Rock. Al-Aqsa Mosque is the smaller, darker dome to the left.

The complex housing the Dome of the Rock, also called the Noble Sanctuary

The approach to the Noble Sanctuary: Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock

We next went on a whirlwind tour of the market, and finally met up with the rest of the group at the Church of the Dormition, a neo-Roman Church constructed to imitate the one built by Charlemagne in Achen. Inside, the floor is covered with a design in three circles: the first represents the Trinity, the second the prophets, and the third bear torches representing the disciples as well as the symbols for the evangelists. The Church’s walls are punctuated with numerous small chapels; below is a crypt where I light a candle. The Franciscans built a chapel here in the fourteenth century; the modern edifice was constructed by Emperor Wilhem II in 1910 to commemorate the place where tradition holds the Mother of God “fell asleep.”

The approach to Dormition Abbey, Jerusalem

Wandering next through the limestone streets of Jerusalem, we reach the Citadel, the Tower of David. We see a film on the history of Jerusalem and tour the museum, which has a different level and room for each era, so that one is literally walking through history. Climbing up to the roof, we have an unencumbered view of the city; at 12:00 is the Dome of the Rock, at 1:00 the Church of Mary Magdallen; Dominus Flevit at 2:00, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at 10:00.

The view of Jerusalem from the top of the citadel.

We descend a spiral staircase, and outside I pause for a cigarette in the Citadel’s courtyard.