May 7, 2002

Sites in Old Jerusalem

[East Jerusalem, Palestine] JZ is back in town, so we met this afternoon, and he gave me a good walking tour of some sites in the Old City of Jerusalem that I had not visited.

We met at the Dormition Abbey where he is staying. First we went to the monastery's midday prayer. It was a singing chanting prayer in German. I followed along as best I could, but I was perfectly content to listen to the Abbot's melodic voice. I thought he was a great singer, and I told him so when I had the chance after the service. He smiled and thanked me, then sort of bowed his head in a humble manner. I joined JZ and the monks for lunch. We had a typical German lunch -- meat, potatoes, and beans. After lunch, we all pitched in to clean up and wash dishes.

I had never been to the Dormition Abbey, so we visited some places around there.

The traditional site of the Tomb of Mary, mother of Jesus, is in the basement of the church.

In a nearby building is the Upper Room, the location of the Last Supper.

The Upper Room was once an Islamic mosque. You can tell by the Islamic alcove pointing in the direction of Mecca.

The Cardo, an old main street through Jerusalem

Jewish boys praying at the Tomb of David

Zion Gate, pockmarked with bullet holes from past wars.

In addition to these places, JZ and I visited an old Syrian Orthodox church. The guide at the church told us that it was the oldest Christian church in existence, dating back to the first century. The thing that interested me most in the church was an old painting of Mary and Jesus. We were told it was painted by Luke from his personal visits with Mary and Jesus. If what we were told is true, it could be the earliest know image of Christ. I had to gather a couple of large postcards of the painting to send to my former instructors, Dr. Thangaraj and Dr. Kirton. They both keep collections of images of Christ.