Israel and Jordan, 2011—Day 10

The Garden Tomb. The Garden Tomb is an alternative to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as the actual site of Jesus’ burial in Jerusalem. It was discovered in 1867 and is especially popular with Protestants as a place of devotion. In the 19th century, a number of scholars disputed the identification of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with the actual site of Jesus’s crucifixion and burial. In1842, Otto Thenius proposed that a rocky outcrop outside the walls was Calvary (Golgotha), the place of the skull. The Garden Tomb itself was discovered in 1867, and was soon identified as the burial place of Jesus, mainly because of its location in the area that had been identified as Calvary. Another factor in its favor was the recent discovery the tombstone of the deacon Nonnus in the nearby Church of St. Stephen, which mentioned the Holy Sepulchre. Since that time, some Protestant piety has encouraged this identification, although the wardens of the property (The Garden Tomb Association) stress that it is the resurrection of Jesus, not the issue of finding the exact spot of his burial, that is important. Inside of the tomb are the partial remains of a burial bench. The date of the tomb is not certain, but it may, in fact, date to the late Old Testament era, and thus would not have been a “new tomb” (Matthew 27:60; John 19:41) at the time of the crucifixion. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit here, and especially liked having Holy Communion in the garden, with accompanying devotional and songs. It was quite a moving and contemplative experience.
Kibbutz Ramat Rachel. Our guide took us to Kibbutz Ramat Rachel for lunch, but we were a bit early. As a surprise, and somewhat of a joke, we renewed exchanging our wedding vows at a site overlooking Jerusalem, before the great lunch. Kibbutz Ramat Rachel is situated on a hilltop overlooking the magnificent panorama of Jerusalem’s Old City, the Dead Sea, and the Judean Hills.
Israel Museum. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem was founded in 1965 as Israel‘s national museum. It is situated on a hill in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Museum has extensive collections of biblical archaeology, Judaica, ethnography, fine art, artifacts from Africa, North and South America, Oceania and the Far East, rare manuscripts, ancient glass and sculpture. Many of its benefactors are American Jews from New York, New York. One of the recent additions to the Museum is the Second Temple Era model of Jerusalem. This incredible model reconstructs the topography and architectural character of the city as it was prior to 66 AD, the year in which the Great Revolt against the Romans erupted, leading to the eventual destruction of the city and the Temple. It was one of the most educations parts of our Jerusalem tour. Originally constructed on the grounds of Jerusalem’s Holyland Hotel, the model, which includes a replica of the Herod’s Temple, is now a permanent feature of the Museum’s 20-acre campus, adjacent to the Shrine of the Book. Regrettably, we have no pictures of the the Shrine of the Book. It is a uniquely designed building on the museum campus, houses the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered 1947–56 in 11 caves in and around the Wadi Qumran, and artifacts discovered at Masada. The shrine is built as a white dome, covering a structure placed two-thirds below the ground. The dome is reflected in a pool of water that surrounds it. Across from the white dome is a black basalt wall. The colors and shapes of the building are based on the imagery of the Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness, whereas the white dome symbolizes the Sons of Light and the black wall symbolizes the Sons of Darkness. The interior of the shrine was designed to depict the environment in which the scrolls were found. There is also a permanent display on life in the Qumran, where the scrolls were written. The entire structure was designed to resemble a pot in which the scrolls were found. As the fragility of the scrolls makes it impossible to display all on a continuous basis, a system of rotation is used. After a scroll has been exhibited for 3–6 months, it is removed from its showcase and placed temporarily in a special storeroom, where it “rests” from exposure. While no photographs were allowed, we were able to view a continuous scroll containing the Book of Isaiah. After viewing the Dead Sea scrolls, I sat in a coffee shop recuperating from the upper respiratory infection while Kay and most of the others toured a wing containing a large collection of paintings representing a wide range of periods, styles, subjects and regions of origin. Painters in the collection include such international figures as Rembrandt and Camille Pissarro as well as such Israeli and Jewish artists as Abel Pann and Marc Chagall. Should we ever visit Jerusalem again, the museum is a place at which we’d like to spend considerable more time. Sculptures on the grounds were amazing, including Rodin, and a huge apple core.
Folk Festival at the YMCA. We bought tickets to a folk festival at the Jerusalem YMCA featuring song and dance, and other cultural activities of Jerusalem and Israel. I opted to stay in the hotel, but Kay attended.