Herodian Field Trip!

Or at least that's what I've been calling it...I can't really remember the official name, but the Field Trip was called the Herodian Field Trip. (November 8, 2009)

First, we went to the Kotel Tunnel. That is the tunnel that runs the length of the Western Wall of the temple mount. It is underground for the most part, since the city has been built up around the temple mount. So, we were walking underneath the Muslim Quarter, and it was so great to get to see all the actual Herodian stone. How you know it's Herodian stone is because they are hewn ashlars, meaning that they're semi-rough hewn stone, with a smoother border around all the edges. Herod was really particular about the stones of his temple, and so he had all the stones very specially hewn.

I'm going to demonstrate a lot of these in pictures. So here goes! Also. a lot of these pictures look alike...but that's just what happens when it's just you and a tunnel of rock. Can I just say that I was super, super excited. 2000 year old stones do that to me.

This woman randomly came up to us before we went into the tunnel and was telling us how to be healthy. We are supposed to drink two glasses of water at every meal, when we go to sleep, and after we go to the bathroom. Also, if we eat paprika and something else... It was interesting..

Entrance to tunnel...you can see two Jews with Kippahs on, because some Jews go into the tunnel to worship instead of the western wall courtyard, cause it is closer to where they holy of holies would have been.

These are Herodian blocks! You can see how excited I am!

And again...

One more time...
There were different things we saw too, like Herodian columns, and part of the quarry where they got the stones, and was for some reason left unfinished. Also we learned how they hoisted the stones. They were huge! They cut them out of the rock, and then used pullies to lift them onto carts, and then attatched pullies to oxen and had the oxen drag the big stones over to the wall with logs under the platform that they're on. And then at the wall they used pullies again to lift them up. It was so cool!

After the Kotel Tunnel we went over to a place called "The Burnt House." It is a archaeological site they found that has evidence of the burn period, when the 2nd temple was destroyed, and how the house was probably a house of Levites, who were priests. There was a dramatic movie about it, which was really cool actually. It kind of showed the history a little bit, it was good.

The cool thing about this house is that they display it with all the artifacts that they found in it, so you can see the burnt soil color on the floor, and the artifacts.

The reason they think that this is a priestly house is because they have those tables, with stone tablets and bowls and stuff, which is common only in Priestly homes because stone dishes can't be defiled or made impure, so priests would use them to make the incense for the temple, etc.

After the burnt house my group went and saw "The Broad Wall" It is remnants of a wall built by Hezekiah and then later restored by Nehemiah in the second temple period. It's really cool. At least to us Old Testament nerds, as I have now become. The best part about archaeology in the Old City is that most of it is impossible to behold. People still live there, and therefore don't want people digging around in their basements. So wherever there is just a little bit of open space that has been left to show findings, it's a huge deal. We love it. Here is a picture of my broad wall...

This is the broad wall, and that little measurement thing on the wall is how high it is estimated that it used to be.

Me and the broad wall. I told you. Me and ancient stones. We're tight.

Next we went and saw the Cardo in the Old City. It was the one that the old Byzantine map in that church in Jordan helped archaeologists discover. And we got to go see it! They found the columns and have reconstructed just a little strip of it.

Some of it is inside... There are about three parts. This is the first. And you can see the remnants of the columns..

Part number 2....

And part number three...just in case you all don't remember, the cardo is the main street with columns along the side with shops all the way down it. There was one in Jerash.

After that we went over to the Herodian Archaeological Park. This is the place where they have the steps that Christ walked on to the entrance to the temple. I took a bunch of pictures and my camera died right before I got to the steps...but I got a girl named Chelsea to take some of me, and I'll get them from her soon.
Here are the other pictures!

This is a famous arch called Wilson's Arch. It used to be a great staircase to the temple. There is another one called Robinson's arch. Well, they used to be arches...now it's just the remnants of arches.

Same picture..with me!

This is the trumpeting cornerstone. Where someone used to stand and play the trumpet at the appropriate times, I believe to call to the temple, or announce certain holidays or what not.

Brother Brown and me. He was being really silly, and all of us were laughing. He's really opened up this past month. It's great!

This is one of the shops they have discovered outside the temple, where people would've come to buy things for sacrifices. When Christ purged the temple, it was because the shop keepers had slowly crept up onto the temple mount, selling their goods.


This is the archway that Christ would've used to enter the temple. You can see the top of the arch. Also, when Neil Armstrong came to Jerusalem he asked archaologists where the best place would be to stand where Christ stood, and they told him this stone, underneath this arch. And when he was standing there, he said, "To me this is a more significant place to be standing than on the moon." Or something like that. Cool, right? And I stood there :)

That was the end of that day, except after that I went to the Temple Institute with some people, which is an organization that has started to rebuild all the vessels of the temple so that when the 3rd temple is rebuilt, they can immediately put the vessels in and start offering sacrifices. I'm sorry, but no pictures were allowed. So, everyone google "Temple Treasures" or "Treasure of the Temple, The Temple Institute" and maybe you can come up with some pictures.