The Via Dolorosa
We arrived in New York this morning at about 5:30. Fortunately, our motel was happy to take us in. This gives me a chance to catch the blog up with pictures from before we left.
Saturday morning, Amy and I traveled the Via Dolorosa, "The Way of Tears." It marks the path tradition says Jesus took from the time of his condemnation, through His crucifixion, and to his burial. It ends a the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which may very well mark the physical location of Jesus' crucifixion and burial.
Throughout the tour, my emotional reaction to what I saw had been strictly one of a detached spectator. It was only on this last day, including our visit to the magnificent church, that the emotional power of where I was truly hit me. This was despite the fact that we were on a quickly moving tour, requiring our attention on the tour guide lest we become lost.
Unfortunately, many pictures didn't come out the way I'd hoped, and other sites just didn't present themselves as good photo ops for an amateur like me. But I did my best.
We began our tour at the Lion's Gate of the Old City.
Here's the map. Click for an enlarged image.
And here are the stations.
Each station was marked like this.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was large and very complex. Here is a "church within a church." It is in poor repair, and needs external supports to hold it together.
One of many very beautiful locations within the church. (Don't remember what this one was.)
The church is divided into sections maintained by different churches: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Armenian Apostolic. Apparently, they don't always agree on things like how to get maintenance done.
This is the tomb maintained by the Armenian church. It was the least visited, but apparently with the strongest case for authenticity.
Afterwards, Amy and her friend went shopping in the Old City. They met this very personable Greek Orthodox shopkeeper in the Christian Quarter.
We saw this boy carrying fresh baked bread for his family shop.
Not visible in the picture are the assault rifles these two young girls are carrying. You can tell the one on the right has an attitude from the way she's smoking cigarettes.
I never thought I'd see this.
These are the walls of the Old City. They were built by the Muslims in the 1500s by Suleiman the Magnificent. In some places they do, and other places do not follow the walls of cities from Jesus and David's days.
This is the Hinnom Valley. Before the exile, King Manasseh sacrificed children to the Canaanite gods (e.g., Molech) by burning them to death here. According to the Bible, practices of human sacrifice justified destruction of the Canaanite nations and the first Hebrew temple. The destruction of the temple was followed by the Babylonian exile, which cured the Hebrews of idolatrous practices. By Jesus' time, the valley was used as a garbage dump called Gehenna. The garbage was infested with maggots, and was continuously burning. The combination of the destruction of human life, the worms, and the unending fire led to the picture of Hell amplified by Dante.
Saturday morning, Amy and I traveled the Via Dolorosa, "The Way of Tears." It marks the path tradition says Jesus took from the time of his condemnation, through His crucifixion, and to his burial. It ends a the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which may very well mark the physical location of Jesus' crucifixion and burial.
Throughout the tour, my emotional reaction to what I saw had been strictly one of a detached spectator. It was only on this last day, including our visit to the magnificent church, that the emotional power of where I was truly hit me. This was despite the fact that we were on a quickly moving tour, requiring our attention on the tour guide lest we become lost.
Unfortunately, many pictures didn't come out the way I'd hoped, and other sites just didn't present themselves as good photo ops for an amateur like me. But I did my best.
We began our tour at the Lion's Gate of the Old City.
Here's the map. Click for an enlarged image.
And here are the stations.
Each station was marked like this.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was large and very complex. Here is a "church within a church." It is in poor repair, and needs external supports to hold it together.
One of many very beautiful locations within the church. (Don't remember what this one was.)
The church is divided into sections maintained by different churches: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Armenian Apostolic. Apparently, they don't always agree on things like how to get maintenance done.
This is the tomb maintained by the Armenian church. It was the least visited, but apparently with the strongest case for authenticity.
Afterwards, Amy and her friend went shopping in the Old City. They met this very personable Greek Orthodox shopkeeper in the Christian Quarter.
We saw this boy carrying fresh baked bread for his family shop.
Not visible in the picture are the assault rifles these two young girls are carrying. You can tell the one on the right has an attitude from the way she's smoking cigarettes.
I never thought I'd see this.
These are the walls of the Old City. They were built by the Muslims in the 1500s by Suleiman the Magnificent. In some places they do, and other places do not follow the walls of cities from Jesus and David's days.
This is the Hinnom Valley. Before the exile, King Manasseh sacrificed children to the Canaanite gods (e.g., Molech) by burning them to death here. According to the Bible, practices of human sacrifice justified destruction of the Canaanite nations and the first Hebrew temple. The destruction of the temple was followed by the Babylonian exile, which cured the Hebrews of idolatrous practices. By Jesus' time, the valley was used as a garbage dump called Gehenna. The garbage was infested with maggots, and was continuously burning. The combination of the destruction of human life, the worms, and the unending fire led to the picture of Hell amplified by Dante.
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