During this week’s ATLAS Experiment Beyond-the-Standard Model Higgs working group meeting in Israel, our hosts at the Weizmann Institute of Science organized an afternoon and evening trip to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is about 45 minutes from Rehovot, so we boarded a bus around 14:00 and arrived in Jerusalem about an hour later. We were guided through the city – starting at David’s Gate, walking through the Jerusalem Market, then to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the site honored as the location of Golgatha, the “place of skulls,” where Jesus Christ was crucified and then resurrected 3 days later), then up to the rooftops above another market, then down to the Western Wall (the Wailing Wall) of the second temple built by King Herod. Our tour concluded with a second organized tour of the tunnels under the Western Wall, going about half a kilometer from the exposed “Wailing Wall” underneath the Muslim Quarter to the end of the wall, where it meets Mount Moriah, the mythological location where Abraham was to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to demonstrate his faith in God.
Below are some photos from our tour of these parts of Jerusalem.
A panorama of the locations named “David’s Tower” and “David’s Gate.” They mark a boundary of the Old City of Jerusalem. They are only named in honor of King David; they do not date from his time.A view down one street that makes up the bustling Jerusalem Market.The plaza and entrance to The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This site is honored as the site of Golgotha, the “Place of Skulls,” where Jesus Christ was crucified and later resurrected. History and archaeology place the location of crucifixions in this city at the outskirts of the city, not in what would have been a center of the city in 33 A.D. Many religions lay claim to this church; it is subdivided into many pieces, each claimed by a sect of Christianity.A panorama of the courtyard and entrance of the Church of the Holy SepulchreA view inside the subdued atmosphere of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.The Golgatha Altar, marking the traditional location where the cross was mounted on Calvary during the crucifixion. The stone encased in glass on the left is the “rock of Calvary,” marking the 12th station of the cross. The altar is Greek Orthodox.A panorama of the The Aedicule, which is home to the traditional location of the burial and resurrection tomb of Jesus Christ.A Greek Orthodox mural of the crucifixion.A panorama of the old city from rooftops near the Jewish Quarter. Visible is the Mount of Olives (far right, in the distance) and the Temple Mount (right quarter of the image, marked by the gold-domed Mosque).The remains of a Roman Cardo, a “North-South Running Road”
Our excellent tour guide in JerusalemThere are few places in Jerusalem where the literal word of the Bible and real modern life intersect in a clear fashion. This is one of them. Here are the remains of a demolished house (lower right), a thick wall (on the ground, and above it a playground in the Jewish Quarter teeming with energetic, happy children and their families. This place is mentioned in the Bible: “You counted the buildings in Jerusalem and tore down houses to strengthen the wall. (Isaiah 22:10)” This location, archaeologically, is the one place so far found where the old defensive wall thickens to repel attack from the outside, at the cost of houses right next to where the wall was reinforced.
The plaza in front of the exposed section of the Western Wall of the second Jewish Temple (the “Wailing Wall”). Visible in the panorama is the Mount of Olives and various key locations in Jewish and Muslim theology, including the place of resurrection of all Jews and both Jewish (Gehenna) and Muslim hells (Jahannam).
The plaza in front of the Wailing Wall, an exposed section of the retaining wall of the second Jewish Temple.
The tunnels running along side the Western Wall (visible in the background). They are subterranean because they support the Muslim Quarter build atop this area.A model of the Second Jewish Temple, built by King Herod. Here is the bridge atop what is now known as “Wilson’s Arch.” The bridge allowed the Priests to enter the Temple each day without mingling with the people visiting the Temple.
The place where the wall meets Mount Moriah. Here, the mountain was hewn away and, rather than building an actual wall here, was carved to LOOK like part of the wall.The plaza in front of the Wailing Wall at night. May more people have gathered to pray.
I am a husband, son, and physicist. I am Research Group Manager in the Research Division at SNOLAB and a Professor of Physics at Queen's University. I like to do a little bit of everything: writing, running, biking, hiking, drumming, gardening, carpentry, computer programming, painting, drawing, eating and sleeping. I earned a Ph.D. in Physics in 2004 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I love to spend time with my family. All things written in here are my own, unless otherwise attributed.
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