Walking on the Wall … Museums … Christian Denominations

These past three days I did a number of secular things which would help me know Jerusalem a little bit better. On Monday we began a series of excursions with Professor Eugenio Alliata OFM. With him we will be visiting a number of sites in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. The first of these visits took us to the North Side of the Wall surrounding Jerusalem. It’s interesting that around the Wall of Jerusalem there is a rampart which one could walk. It helps you see certain areas of the City which you would never realize that they existed (for example, some open spaces, like two football [soccer] grounds in the Muslim Quarter). Theoretically, there is the possibility to walk all around the City (some 4.5 kilometers) but the rampart of the Wall on the Mount of the Temple is closed for security reasons. Monday’s walk took us from Jaffa Gate to St Stephen’s or Lion’s Gate, overlooking Mount of Olives.

Let me just mention one historical fact that Prof. Alliata spoke to us about when we were on Jaffa Gate. It has this name because it leads to Jaffa. Pilgrims coming over to visit the Holy Land or other persons, like merchants, used to come in Jaffa Harbour where they used to be searched by the Turks. Every traveler had to buy, at Jaffa, a donkey and driver. Pilgrims had to travel in groups led by a Franciscan Guardian. At one place the Custodian of the Holy Land would address the pilgrims and lays before them a set of rules which they were to observe. Once they reached Jaffa Gate they would again be searched by the Turks. While in Jerusalem they used to reside in the Foresteria of the St Saviour’s Monastery (right where I being hosted by the Franciscans – rest assured that the conditions now are far better than in those days!!) run by the Franciscans. There exists a record of those who resided here, the Navis Peregrinorum (holding data between 1561 and 1695). Just to have an idea, in 50 years some 1900 pilgrims came to Jerusalem!

Walking on the wall took us past the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Monastery of St Saviour, a Muslim School and many other small buildings of the Christian and Muslim Quarters. We walked upon a number of gates: Jaffa, New, Damascus, Herod’s (Bab el-Zahira or Sahira), St Stephen’s (Lion’s).  It helped us appreciate too the Jerusalem outside the walls. Prof. Alliata told us that, especially in the 19^th century many countries created ‘colonies’ outside the Walls for their citizens to stay either permanently or when they were visiting. He told us that then the idea of National Pilgrimages began. Sometimes these would be very big: a pilgrimage could have between 200/300 to 900 persons! Countries which have colonies here are, amongst others, Russia, Germany, France, Greece, America.

Next week we will do the other half of the wall.

On Tuesday I went over to the Israel Museum. It’s a modern Museum. There are a number of things of interest here. However, I would like to mention here the Shrine of the Book, dedicated to the discovery of scrolls made casually in 1947 in a cave close to the Dead Sea. That is why they are called the Dead Sea Scrolls. A major find here was the whole scroll of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. It is claimed that, today, this is the oldest biblical document ever found. These scrolls belonged to an ascetical group of Jews called the Essenes. Some theorize that John the Baptist formed part of this community.

Another interesting thing in the Museum is the large scale (1:50) model of Jerusalem towards the end of the Second Temple Period (the time of Jesus). It helps you to picture almost realistically the Jerusalem that Jesus knew and where he offered himself for our salvation. Other important sections of the Museum include the Archeological Sections (in the guide there was an indication that one exhibit shows a nail pierced through a human anklebone coming from a crucifixion that happened in the first century before Christ – unfortunately I did not find it, although a Friar today told me that he did see it), the Judaica sections (with very interesting pictures and movies on the life and customs of Jews yesterday and today) and the Arts section. I did not have enough time to visit the Museum thoroughly. So I might have to make a return visit!

The Large Scale Model of Jerusalem at the end of the Second Temple Period 

One of two amulets found in a tomb. It is claimed that these amulets
bear the oldest biblical text ever found (even older than the Dead Sea Scrolls).
On this amulet there is the text of blessing found in Numbers 6,24-26.

Today, I went to visit another museum, that belonging to the Franciscans and which is found at the Flagellation (Scourging) where the Studi Biblici Francescani (where I am doing my courses) is housed. Although the presentation is not as professional as the Israel Museum (however, one should note that the entry ticket to this latter Museum is €10 [50 shekels] and in the Franciscan Museum €1 [5 shekels]), I found the exhibits there to be extremely interesting. They are the fruit of the work of a number of Franciscan archeologists who have worked on a number of sites since the 19^th Century. We owe so much to their great work of patience and precision. One particular exhibit that attracted my attention is the different coins to which mention is made in the Gospels. There is also an indication of where one finds the reference in the Gospel.

Some of the coins found with an indication where reference is found to them in the Gospels.

This afternoon, then, I went over to visit a number of Churches belonging to other Christian denominations: the Anglican Church found very close to Jaffa Gate, the Syrian Orthodox Church (which claims to be the house of St Mark and the place of the Last Supper and of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles) and the Armenian Church dedicated to St James, which also claims to have the tomb of St James (this Church only opens between 3.00pm and 3.30pm every day and Saturday in the morning). It’s interesting that while I was visiting a Spanish group was there too and one woman began to be irritated because St James is buried in Santiago de Compostella! In the Syrian Church, our guide was a woman who spoke with great passion and love towards our Lord. She was explaining to us the details of the Church and particularly a painting of Our Lady with Jesus by St Luke. What is interesting in this painting is that Jesus is shown as a grown man and not as a child. The interpretation given by this woman was that Luke knew Jesus only as a grown up and not as a child. She also said that a number of miracles happened before this image. She recounted a number of interesting stories, always ending: Praise be to God!

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very blessed YEAR OF THE FAITH!

Our Lady with Jesus (as a grown up) in the Syrian Orthodox Church, Jerusalem

The inside of the Syrian Orthodox Church, Jerusalem,
which claims to be St Mark's house and the Cenacle
where the Last Supper and Pentecost took place.

The interior of the Armenian Orthodox Church, Jerusalem

The Tomb of St James in the Armenian Orthodox Church