 | Jerusalem Outside the Wall Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 42 |  |
 | |  |  | Outside the Wall: A Religious Tug-of-War | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
The Cenacle on Mt. Zion, also known as the Room of the Last Supper, is an example of the kind of religious tug-of-war that has gone on in this country for thousands of years. Over the centuries, a tradition grows up about some religious event occurring at a certain site – and all the religions want to get in on the act. According to a Christian tradition, the second floor of the building housing King David’s Tomb is the place where Jesus celebrated the Passover feast with his disciples before he was arrested. There is also a tradition that he appeared here again after his resurrection. The word “cenacle” means dining room. The hall we see today was built by the Crusaders, with ornate capitals and vaulted ceilings. One capital is decorated with pelicans – a symbol of Christ, based on the observation of the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder that pelicans will feed their young with their own blood, sacrificing themselves if need be. The Franciscans bought the site in 1335. In the early 15th century, the Jews tried to purchase the building to gain control of the tomb on the first floor. At that point the Muslims stepped in, banned the Christians from setting foot there, and transformed the site into a mosque honoring Nabi Daoud (the Prophet David). A “mihrab” (prayer niche) and a “minbar” (pulpit) were added, along with various Arabic inscriptions. The Room of the Last Supper is thus a mish-mash of Crusader and Islamic architecture: columns, vaults, stained glass windows, prayer niches. Even so, the room has a kind barren look. The latest addition is a rather sad-looking bronze olive tree - the gift of the Catholic association that renovated the building in more recent times. Somehow, none of this looks anything like the venue of the Last Supper in Leonardo da Vinci's painting... Leave a Comment
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| | | | Outside the Wall: A Forgotten Museum | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Rockefeller Center may be a major tourist attraction in NY, but the Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem gets few visitors these days. It is an archeology museum that dates back to the British Mandate. While completely low-tech, with none of the jazzy technologies of today?s museums, it is still an intriguing place. The day I took a cab over there, the driver could hardly believe his ears. ?The Rockefeller Museum?? he said. ?No one goes there anymore.? Violent attacks in and around the Old City have kept people away, but things seem to have calmed down lately. Admission, by the way, is free. It was 2:15 p.m. as I walked in, just as the muezzin began intoning the call to prayer from a nearby mosque. I was almost alone in the imposing stone building, a blend of British colonial and Middle Eastern architecture, built with a $2 million donation from John David Rockefeller Jr. Interest in archeology was growing, and artifacts were sent to Istanbul because Palestine lacked a museum to house them. The chosen site, Karm el-Sheikh, was directly across from the Old City walls. Work began in 1930, only to be halted for 3 years by the discovery of ancient graves. The museum finally opened on January 13, 1938, but the official ceremony was called off after one of the guests, a well-known British archeologist, was murdered by Arab villagers on his way to Jerusalem. Without being the world?s most exciting museum, the high ceilings, arched doorways, Armenian tiles, hexagonal central tower, Alhambra-inspired inner courtyard, and cavernous exhibition halls do impart a special atmosphere. Among the more interesting exhibits are carved wooden panels from al-Aqsa Mosque, a mosaic floor from Ein Gedi inscribed with an ancient curse, a 100,000-year old skeleton holding a flint scraper and a roomful of stone birds and human figures from Hisham?s Palace near Jericho. The halls were freezing when I was there in the winter, although I imagine a stroll through the museum might be a nice escape from the broiling heat in the summer. Leave a Comment Phone: 02-6282251Other Contact: 10:30 am - 3 pm, Friday - closed
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| | | | Outside the Wall: Garden Tomb [2] | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The New Testimony also tells that 'at the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no-one had ever been laid'.[John 19:41]. That garden belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, a secret disciple of Jesus, who was given special permission to bury the body of Jesus in his nearby tomb before the start of Jewish Shabbath. In this domain you can be standing above Jerusalem's third largest rain water cistern holding over 200,000 gallons[approx one million litres]. It is confirmed to be of pre-Christian origin, giving evidence of a working garden such as an olive grove, orchard or vineyard, at the time of Jesus The climax of the Grden tour: The Tomb. It was unearthed in 1867. Unfortunately its entrance had been damaged , possibly by an earthquake, and later repaired with stone blocks. Not all the archaeologistsagree about the date of the tomb, but on 1970 Kathleen Kenyon, a respected archaeologist' described it as a 'typical tomb of about the 1st century AD' The well preserved winepress was excavated in 1924 and is one of the largest found in the land of Israel. Its discovery suggests that the garden was originally an extensive vineyard, possibly the garden of that rich man, Joseph of Arimathea
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